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Contents :: RIBBLE WAY :: Day 5


		INTRODUCTION		DAY 5
		DAY 1		DAY 6
		DAY 2		DAY 7
		DAY 3
		DAY 4

THE RIBBLE WAY RUNS FLOWS FROM ITS SOURCE IN THE YORKSHIRE DALES TO ITS RIVER MOUTH BEYOND PRESTON

NATIONAL TRAIL GUIDES UK

Day 5 :: Into the Moors and The Dales :: Gisburn to Settle :: 11 miles

Because of the difficulty in parking near to Gisburn Bridge we missed out the first mile of the Ribble Way from Gisburn Bridge to Paythorne Bridge. This meant that we did not walk through Gisburn Park nor along the A682, not that we particularly wanted to walk this part of the route. We did, however, miss out about quarter of a mile of an interesting part of the Ribble Way between the A682 and Paythorne Bridge.

We found a convenient place to park at Paythorne Bridge, just off the road. Looking back from the bridge at the Ribble Way we could see that it came through a wooded riverside. it was a wonderfully sunny day and our spirits were high as we scanned the wide span of the river each side of the bridge, watching birds skimming its waters. In contrast the Ribble on the opposite side of the bridge flowed from less crowded and very shallow green banks.

We walked along the road and up the hill just a short distance to enter Paythorne village. It was modest in size, as villages go. The Wesleyan church looked ornate and of an interesting design.



The Ribble from Paythorne Bridge		Track off Paa Lane

On the left hand side of the road we found the Buck Inn and immediately opposite to it was a sign pointing to the Manor House in Paa Lane. This was our way and we walked along a gravel track to the Manor House, passing its buildings and continued for some time along the lane until reaching a barn on our right. Opposite to this was a new gate stile, beyond which was a grassy track and small stone bridge over a stream.

We then followed a grassy track along the side of an embankment and shortly reached another new wooden gate which we passed through to continue on a similar path. We kept going forward for some time, crossing gates and stiles. At one point a herd of cattle safely enclosed by a fence in a field to our left ran to the fence in a most intimidating way. They were probably expecting food from the farmer.

We kept on until at last reaching a ladder stile that took us off the path and into a field. We walked over the crest of the hill and made our way between scattered cattle and sheep lazing in the noon day sun. The tip of Pen-y-ghent was showing on the horizon.



the end of a long path and into a field		Cattle lazing with Pen-y-ghent in the background

We left the field at a ladder stile and entered moorland, immediately heading towards a bridge that we thought was part of the Ribble Way. Fortunately a farmer rounding up sheep on a quad bike noticed us going the wrong way and pointed out the correct route for us. We should have been aiming further to our right, where we then saw another wooden bridge. The bridge spanned the almost dried up Ged Brook. This would have been a very marshy area in wetter times.

We continued the same direction, after passing over the bridge and aimed for another bridge spanning another part of Ged Brook. We soon passed over this to continue our route to a gate leading from the moorland and onto pasture. From here direction finding became very confusing. As we crossed the field aiming for Town End Farm, a huge area had been dug up in preparation for pipe laying by the Water Board. The signs, stiles and gates we were looking for no longer existed and our way was barred.

Not being deterred we climbed over the gates and cut across the earthen works, climbing more gates on the other side. Shortly after this we encountered a Ribble Way sign and so we had navigated correctly despite the obstacles. We passed into another field and threaded our way around to the left of Town End Farm, finding a stile in the very corner of the field, and well hidden from view until almost upon it. This led to a lane, which we followed right for a short time, towards the farm, but immediately before joining it we turned left on another smaller lane, Brook lane, in the direction of Low Scales Farm.



Town End Farm		Hay Making and Silage at Town End Farm

We walked past some of the farm buildings of Town End Farm and continued forward for some time. In some of the adjoining fields there was evidence of recent haymaking with rolled up balls of dried grass, covered in black plastic. At a fork in the lane we continued ahead. We were looking for a stile to take us to the left of a cottage but instead there were 3 different stiles all with 50 yards of each other, containing notices from the Water Board of footpath diversions and advising walkers to follow the new route and way marks. The signs were so ineptly placed that it was impossible to tell which stiles were meant for the Ribble Way towards Settle and which for the Ribble Way towards Gisburn. not only that but the yellow markers in the fields that we were meant to follow did not exist.

We decided that to attempt to follow the Water Board diversions would almost certainly result in our becoming lost and so we ignored them. We instead followed footpath and bridle path signs that continued in the general direction that we wished to go in, and we managed to pass to the left of the cottage. After about a quarter of a mile we were able to cross back to a path that contained Ribble Way signs.

We ended up on a large field to the right of High Scale Farm, and walking in the direction of Deep Dale and so we continued on our way, satisfied that we were still traveling in the right direction, although possibly on a diverted footpath.



Approaching Deep Dale		Hay Making en route to Cow Bridge

We were looking out for a wood and before reaching it, once spoted, we walked past a herd of swine basking in the shade of a tree, some of which showed more than a passing interest in us, but we just ignored them. We found our egress from the field at a stile in the field corner and crossed it to walk a few yards along its tip to reach a lane. Here we turned right and walked downhill, passing over a dried up brook.

We now followed a quiet lane for some considerable way but through beautiful countryside. As we were busily chatting away the noise of a nearby helicopter became apparent but we thought it must have been something different. However, we were still taken by surprise when 2 air force helicopters flying at low level suddenly appeared less than 100 yards from us, flying in formation.

Eventually we started passing houses on each side of the road as we arrived at Cow Green, not far from Wigglesworth. Just before Cow Green Bridge we turned left over a stile and onto a field track, looking back to admire the 5 arch span of the bridge.



Helicopters near Cow Bridge		Cow Green Bridge



Where we took our repast		wigglesworth Beck

Where the path met a large loop in the river we stopped to have lunch, sitting on the bank and took 15 minutes to bask and eat. Swallows flitted close to the surface of the water, picking flies as they did. We were in a world far removed from the frenetic one in which we usually lived, and we were not in a hurry to leave.

Walking a few yards further brought us to a ladder stile to turn away from the Ribble and walk alongside the Wigglesworth Beck, where we walked on a raised grassy track alongside the beck. We passed a single arch bridge over the beck and several stiles, but retained the same course.

At length we came to more Water Board works at Wigglesworth Hall Farm. Work was in progress but we continued anyway and found our way through the farm and out onto a lane, and followed it for a while until just beyond a cattle grid we turned away from the lane and struck out across the field on our right, finding a small wooden bridge across a stream almost at the beginning of the field. We continued uphill aiming for a power cable post in the next field. We crossed a stone step stile over a wall and continued up the hill and beyond the post, weaving again between cattle.

At the bottom of the field there were more Water Board works and a wooden stile to cross onto them. We did so and turned left on a track which shortly forked. We followed neither, but headed across the field midway between the two forks and crossed to the next field via another stone step stile. We turned left here and walked beside the wall until reaching a gate.



Negotiating a small valley		The estate land of Cappleside

We now walked along a valley side, along a fence on a grassy track to the edge of a wood, where we turned right and walked steeply downhill to a bridge and then climbed the bank above and backtracked on the opposite side. A Ribble Way sign pointed us to the left but in front of it was a cow guarding 4 calves. the cow made it quite clear that we were not to proceed further, and rather than risk a confrontation with a caring mother we stepped across a short barbed wire fence, avoiding the cow and then crossed another to regain the path beside a fence.

At a stile we proceeded ahead through a tapering field . Weaving between the wary cattle we passed through a gate at the end and onto a lane. We turned right but not very far down the lane we were directed to take a track on our left towards Cappleside Farm.

We passed a farmhouse and then crossed the parkland of Cappleside, a 19th century country house. We passed by the farmhouse and then the other farm buildings and then Cappleside. We turned right at a stile and weaved between great stands of nettles on each side of a path and over a pack horse bridge with a gate at each end. The bridge passed over Rathmel Beck. At the end of the bridge we turned right on a lane and then left into a larger lane and then onto a sunken gravel track on the right This brought us to a lush meadow overlooking Rathmell and then a stile to another field and a grassy track along a boundary wall to emerge onto a lane opposite a school in Rathmell.

We turned left up the lane and right almost straight away to walk across a small playing field and a gate on the opposite side. We then walked across a number of fields, keeping to their wall boundaries and passed a barn and more fields to emerge at Green, a small hamlet, where we turned right on a lane. We then turned onto a field on our right and walked downhill towards the River Ribble and a prominent track at the foot of Hollin Hall.

We passed through Hollin Hall Farm and left via a track. There were 2 tracks and we were not sure which to take. One of the local house owners (there were several houses here) told us to take the left lane and so we did, walking down it to the road at the bottom, where we turned left and took a stile over on the right to walk through a field to the Ribble riverbank once again.



Packhorse bridge over Rathmel Beck		Rathmell

We were then pleased to continue to walk left along the riverbank and we followed this for a mile or more, passing under the A65 and railway and then into Settle, where we left it and walked along the streets to rejoin the Ribble at the Giggleswick end of Settle. We had parked our car here and had finished our walk for today. We have a holiday cottage in Giggleswick, which was only 1 mile away. - see www.holidaycotagesuk.com.



Track from Hollin Hall Farm		Carol back on the Ribble riverbank

Day 4

Day 6

Author - Roy McKee