Yorkshire Dales Walks
Grassington Moor
Date: 16th Aug 2014
Distance: 10.1 miles
Ascent: 1338 feet
Time: 4 hours 20 mins
With: Lisa
Start Grid Ref: SE002637
Walk Summary:
An extended walk on the pastures and moors above Grassington visiting the extensive remains of some old mine workings and returning via Hebden Beck and the Dales Way.
Route Summary: Grassington - Chapel Street - Bank Lane - Kimpergill Hill - Bare House Lane - New Pasture Edge - Old Moor Lane - Grassington Moor - Cupola Corner - Hebden Beck - Hebden - Mill Lane - Dales Way - Sedber Lane - Grassington
Photos: Click on the photos below to enlarge.
Walk Detail: Grassington is my wife's favourite place in the Dales so when our daughter was having a sleepover at her Granny's I took advantage of the fact to book a night staying over at the Devonshire Hotel (highly recommended) followed by a walk up to the fascinating mining remains on Grassington Moor.
We'd actually been on to Grassington Moor twice before but the last time was on my birthday almost eight years ago (how fast time seems to go). Both the previous walks had been in the 5-6 mile bracket but on this occasion I decided it would be nice to extend and vary the route a bit more to let us also include some paths we'd not previously trodden as well as revisiting some old favourites.
Starting from the Devonshire Hotel we walked up the main street to Town Head before leaving Grassington via Chapel Street and Bank Lane. From a junction of paths we took the option heading north across the area marked as Kimpergill Hill on the map. The grassy path, initially between drystone walls, climbed nicely up through limestone pastures. One thing to note is that it is easy if not paying attention, as I initially wasn't, to continue following the path alongside the wall at grid ref SE002653 and miss the point where actual right of way branches off and climbs to a small gate stile.
Once we'd backtracked and were back on route we crossed another couple of pastures, including one that contained a sizeable number of cows, passed a pair of prominent limestone boulders and arrived on Bare House Lane. Here the views opened up to the north towards Capplestone Gate and Great Whernside. Turning south-east along Bare House Lane we then made a short detour to the trig point on New Pasture Edge. I found it quite amusing to think of my first visit to this trig point nine years ago, before the introduction of access land, when I had very tentatively made my way to this trig point for fear that I'd be caught trespassing.
The moor surrounding the trig point was covered in swathes of beautiful purple heather though sadly at this point the sun was stubbornly refusing to break out over us. It did finally begin to break however a short while later as we made our way on to Grassington Moor via Old Moor Lane for a short loop around the mines which included the obligatory visit to the magnificent chimney and flue.
Unfortunately at some point around Coalgrove Beck Reservoir I lost my leather hat that has accompanied me on so many walks over the previous year and a half. It was a very windy day and as it was struggling to stay on my head Lisa put it in my backpack, somehow it managed to fall out and despite a search we couldn't find it - no doubt it had been blown out of sight by the wind.
Putting this disappointment aside we continued on our way to the remains of the Cupola Smelt Mill before enjoying a super walk to Hebden alongside Hebden Beck. From Hebden we walked a short way along Mill Lane to reach the Dales Way which we followed all the way back alongside the Wharfe to Linton Falls and thence back to Grassington via Sedber Lane.
This was a fantastic walk and one I'd highly recommend. The area of the mines is really fascinating and the route also featured a nice variety of riverside, beckside and moorland scenery, not to mention the limestone pastures at the start of the walk.
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