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Saunterings:  Walking in North-West England

Saunterings is a set of reflections based upon walks around the counties of Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire in North-West England (as defined in the Preamble). Here is a list of all Saunterings so far.
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215.  On the Old York-Lancaster Road from Hellifield to Settle

strip-map      All the fields are white (all the fields are white)
     And the hills are grey (and the hills are grey)
     I’m off for a walk (I’m off for a walk)
     On a winter’s day (on a winter’s day)

When it snows it is usually the other way about: the hills are white and the sheltered valley fields stay green. But on a dark frosty morning the fields were a uniform ghostly white.

I was not California Dreamin’. I was looking forward to a first walk in the Yorkshire Dales for eight months. The dark skies gradually turned orange and then blue as the sun appeared. The bus was full, everybody (except me) engrossed in their phones. But at Kirkby Lonsdale the bus emptied as everybody (except me) left to go to school. By the time I reached Hellifield the sun had risen in an almost cloudless sky, although there was still ice on the puddles.

I planned to walk from Hellifield to Settle. This walk is depicted on one of the famous ‘strip-maps’ published by John Ogilby in 1675 (the relevant strip is shown to the right, Settle at the top). This publication was the first attempt to describe the roads of England using accurate distances and bearings. The maps included details of important points along the way, such as villages, bridges, road junctions and hills. In the first edition 73 roads were described, including only one in our region, that is, the road between York and Lancaster, part of which ran between Hellifield and Settle.

pendle The map is said to show the 1675 road passing right by Hellifield Peel, visited in Sauntering 66 (but I can't read the map: it could say ‘Hellifield Forde’). The road then probably continued along where the present A682 runs or perhaps a little to the north, through the then-small village of Hellifield, where the present A65 runs.

I didn’t really want to walk along either A-road. I wanted to get onto the fields. So I cut across the fields south of the once-grand Hellifield railway station. In these fields lie the Hellifield Flashes, large ponds that are important for wading birds. Locals continue to resist proposals to build holiday lodges on these fields. Unfortunately, developers are keen to build just outside National Parks in order to avoid the restrictions within.

The Yorkshire Dales border lies just to the north of the railway line and I crossed it after passing under the line. I walked on to Little Newton, in peace apart from an annoying, barking dog. Although I was now within the Dales, the most prominent hill to be seen was Pendle to the south (shown above left).

From Little Newton (there is no accompanying Big Newton), the track west turns into New House Lane, which is surfaced beyond Fern Hill, a striking white mansion – most houses hereabouts are of grey stone. The lane skirts around Long Preston to the north, eventually reaching Green Gate Lane. It was here that I joined the York-Lancaster road, as depicted by Ogilby (Wright, 1985). The road runs due north for four miles or so before dropping into Settle.

The road, surfaced now but a track then, of course, rises steadily but not steeply. It is a somewhat relentless plod but it is enlivened by the wide views that open out once we pass the high stone walls that enclose the road to begin with (and that weren’t there in 1675). In particular, there’s an excellent view of the Long Preston Deeps, described in Sauntering 145.
long preston deeps

The Long Preston Deeps, with the old York-Lancaster road in the foreground

After a mile I reached The Edge, where there’s a patch of scrubby moorland that gives an idea of the terrain crossed in 1675. The present road continues, still surfaced, as Edge Lane. Eventually the surfacing peters out and the road continues as a track, which helps us better imagine the 1675 travellers. The track has heather and gorse alongside, as it probably did for most of the way in 1675.

At Hunter Bark the track reaches its highest point, with a trig point just west of the track given a height of 315 metres (although the actual highest point is apparently 319 metres). It is therefore a climb of about 170 metres from Long Preston and it is natural to wonder why the York-Lancaster travellers of 1675 preferred to struggle up here rather than follow a line somewhere near where the present A65 is. I can only assume that the latter was too boggy in 1675.
m bay1

Approaching the highest point of the old York-Lancaster road between Hellifield and Settle

It is also natural to wonder why there was so much traffic along this road that it is the only one in the region depicted by Ogilby. Apart from walkers and horse-riders, there were also the stage-coaches, which began in the 1600s but with no windows and little suspension, carrying up to eight passengers "in acute misery", according to Wright (1985). An Act of 1662 imposed a weight restriction (30 cwt in summer, 20 cwt in winter), with no more than seven horses – presumably to reduce damage to the tracks. Whatever the purpose of travel, at least it seems that York and Lancaster had patched up their differences after a disagreement over some roses (1455-1487).

The strip-map shows Hunter Bark as a formidable hill, although it is, of course, lower than many nearby hills. I haven’t checked the route carefully but Hunter Bark is probably the highest point of the whole York-Lancaster road. I walked to the trig point to admire the view, which was extensive although cloud had gathered to the south and on Ingleborough (and probably on Pen-y-ghent too, although I’m not sure that the latter can be seen from Hunter Bark).
from hunter bark

Looking towards Ingleborough from the trig point on Hunter Bark

The road to Settle continues as a track until reaching its outskirts. At a T-junction, the York-Lancaster track continues to the left, as Mitchell’s Lane, but I turned to the right, along Lambert Lane. I wanted to see Scaleber Force, within the Scaleber Wood Nature Reserve. This is a 12-metre waterfall, with the waters of the waterfall running in a deep gully south to continue to the east of the York-Lancaster road to eventually pass Long Preston and join the Ribble.
from hunter bark

The track leaving Hunter Bark for Settle

dales colours

Colours of the Yorkshire Dales: Preston's Barn on Lambert Lane

Scaleber Force

Scaleber Force

     All the fields are green (all the fields are green)
     And the hills are grey (and the hills are grey)*
     I’ve been for a walk (I’ve been for a walk)
     On a winter’s day (on a winter’s day)

*grey-white, really, where there's limestone.

    Date: January 30th 2025
    Start: SD854566, Hellifield  (Map: OL41)
    Route: (linear) W, NW – railway line – NE, N – Little Newton – W along New House Lane – Long Preston – NW, N along Green Gate Lane and Edge Lane – Hunter Bark – N, NE on Lambert Lane, SE – Scaleber Force – NW, W – Settle
    Distance: 8 miles;   Ascent: 180 metres

The following item:
     216.   The View from Smearsett Scar
The two preceding items:
     214.   The Shining Levels of Morecambe Bay
     213.   The Gressingham Puzzle
Two nearby items:
     133.   The Limestone Hills East of Settle
         8.   What Price Catrigg Force?
A list of all items so far:
               Saunterings

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    © John Self, Drakkar Press, 2018-

ullswater

Top photo: Rainbow over Kisdon in Swaledale; Bottom photo: Ullswater