Kendal Limestone Way

John Coppack

Description

The Kendal Limestone Way is the name given by the author to a 63 mile (101km) long linear walk starting from the market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire and ending in the south Lake District town of Kendal. The walk can broadly be divided into three sections. The greater part of the walk is through the limestone country of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The second, and shortest section, crosses the lower Lune Valley between Lancashire and Cumbria. The final section visits the limestone area of to the east of Morecambe Bay, the lower Kent Valley and the south-east tip of the Lake District National Park. The main theme of the walk is limestone. Millions of years ago major earthquakes shook the northern Pennines creating massive geological faults and fractures along the southern fringe of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the south-eastern corner of Cumbria. To the south of the main fault lines is a large area of millstone grit moorland characterised by the rounded hills of the Bowland Forest in the west and the "Bronte" moors in the east. North of the fault line lie the porous limestone uplands of the Yorkshire Dales National Park where the hills are higher, steeper and more rugged with towering cliffs of gleaming white limestone. A limestone landscape is also present in the far south-east corner of Cumbria where precipitous limestone ridges form a barrier between the Lakeland hills and Morecambe Bay.The route taken by The Kendal Limestone Way explores this remarkable limestone landscape of northern England.

Sujets

• Walking

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 29 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781784625573
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The
K endal
Limes tone
W a y
A w alk fr om
John Coppack
Skipt on to K endal
via
Malham, Set tle, Inglet on, Kirkby Lonsdale
and Lev ens Bridge

Copyright © 2016 John Coppack
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study , or criticism or review , as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued
by the Copyright Licensing Agency . Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be
sent to the publishers.
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ISBN 9781784625573
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Matador® is an imprint of T roubador Publishing Ltd
E very reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the inf ormation in this publication is accurate
and as up-to-date as possible at the time of going to publication. However , over the course of time
details change and neither the author nor the publisher can accept any responsibility for any loss,
injury or inconvenience e xperienced by any person or persons whilst using this guidebook. It is
recommended to check locally on transport, ac commodation and other facilities bef ore undertaking
the walk described in this book.
W alking is not an entirely risk-free activity and the reader is strongly urged before undertaking the
walk to read carefully the safety information on pages 12 and 13 and to share this inf ormation with an y
walking companion(s). Neither the author nor the publisher c an ac cept responsibility for loss, injury or
damage, however occasioned, to any person or persons (including their property) undertaking the
walk or any section of it.
A sun-dappled glade above Sizerth Cas tle in Cumbria with wild garlic and bluebells covering the
woodland floor
Cont ents
Appendix A: R oute Maps
Appendix B: Geology of Limest one Country
Appendix C: Useful Inf ormation
Appendix D: Countryside Code
Loca tor Maps 1 and 2
Intr oduction
Using this Guide
Saf ety Inf ormation
Sections of the R oute
Skipton t o Malham
Malham to Set tle
Set tle to Clapham

Clapham to Inglet on
Ingleton t o Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale to Le vens Bridge
Levens Bridg e to Kendal
Loca tor Map 1
M6
M6
M6
M58
M55
M65
A1M
A1M
M62
A66
A59
A65
Skip
ton
K endal
Kirkby Lonsdale
Se
t
tle
N N N N
Morec ambe
Ba
y
C C
Map
dat a OpenStree tMap
A590
For
est of
Bowland
M6
A683
Arnside
Lancas
t
er
Carn
f orth
Ha
w
es
Kirkby Lonsdale
M6
M6
Not to sc ale
Hutt
on R
oof
A684
A684
Sedbergh
K endal
Fell
F
arle
ton
A65
Y ork
shire Dales
National P
ark
Set
tle
Clapham
Skipt
on
Ingleborough
A65
A6
C
Map
da
ta
OpenStr
ee
tMap
L
UNE
V
ALLEY
A6
723m
Gr ang
e-
ov
er-
Sands
K en
t
Estuary
Ingle
t
on
Gar
gr
av
e
Malham
Sc
out Sc
ar
Lev
ens Bridg
e
N N N
N
LAKE
DIS
TRIC
T
NA
TIONAL
P
ARK
Morec
ambe
Ba
y
Loca tor Map 2
The
K endal
Limes t one
W a y
The Kendal Limestone Wa y is the name given by the author to a 63 mile (101km) long linear walk
st arting fr om the marke t t own of Skipton in North Y orkshire and ending in the south Lak e District town
of Kendal. The walk can broadly be divided into three sections. The greater part of the walk is through
the limestone coun try of the Y orkshire Dales National Park. The second, and shortest, section crosses
the lower Lune V alle y between Lancashire and Cumbria. The final section visits the limes tone area to
the east of Morecambe Bay , the lower Ken t V alley and the south-eastern tip of the Lake District
National P ark.
The route is almost entirely along field, woodland and riv erside paths, canal towpaths, ancient track s
and bridleway s and quiet c ountry lanes. An aver age walk er should be able to complet e the walk within
five or six day s. Some people may pref er t o complete the w alk over a longer period of time, weeks or
even months, by completing individual sections as and when the opportunity arises. On the other
hand a strong w alker could easily c omplete the entir e walk within two or three da ys.
The main theme of the walk is limest one. Millions of years ago major earthquak es shook the northern
Pennines cr eating massive geological f aults and fractures along the southern fringe of the Y orkshire
Dales National P ark and the south-eas tern corner of Cumbria. T o the south of the main fault lines lies a
larg e ar ea of mills tone grit moorland char acterised by the r ounded hills of the Bowland Fores t in the
west and the Bron te moors in the eas t. North of the fault line lie the porous limestone uplands of the
Y orkshire Dales National P ark where the hills are higher , s teeper and mor e rug ged with tow ering cliffs
of pearl white limestone. A limest one landscape is also present in the far south-eastern corner of
Cumbria where pr ecipitous limestone ridges f orm a barrier between the Lak eland hills and
Morecambe Ba y . The route tak en by the Kendal Limestone W ay explor es this remarkable limest one
landscape of northern England.
Accommodation
In devising and plotting the r oute the author ’ s overriding objectiv e was to start and end each of the
seven sections of the w alk in a town or villag e with ov ernight acc ommodation. Thus accommodation
can be f ound in Skipton, Malham, Settle, Clapham, Ingleton, Kirkby Lonsdale, Levens and K endal.
Additional accommodation can also be f ound in the f ollowing villag es and hamlets which are either en
rout e or close to the rout e: Gargr ave, Giggleswick, Austwick, Lupt on, Crooklands and Sizer gh.
Intr oduction
T errain
Whilst the raison d’ etre f or the walk is limes tone and much of the r oute passes through the limestone
uplands of the Y orkshir e Dales National Park and along the limestone escarpments lying between
Morecambe Ba y and the Lakeland mount ains the r oute is not entirely ov er upland fells and hills.
There are three sections where the rout e crosses relatively low lying terrain. The firs t of these is
between Skipton and Gargr ave where the route follow s the Leeds and Liverpool canal as it heads
tow ards the rolling hills of Malhamdale. The sec ond is wher e the route crosses the lower Lune V alle y
between the border s of Lancashir e and Cumbria. The third section is between Farle ton in Cumbria and
the lower Kent V alley south of Kendal where the M6 motorway , the main w est coast railwa y line and
the Lancast er Canal all conv erge on a narrow s trip of coast al plain.
T opograph y
It should be noted tha t the walk does not tak e the most direct r oute to K endal, either off-road or as the
crow flies. One r eason f or this has alr eady been mentioned, namely the r oute has been plott ed ar ound
overnigh t accommodation. The second reason is that the grain of the land over which the rout e
tra verses (ie. glaciated v alleys, water courses and f ell ridges) is aligned on an approxima te north-south
orienta tion, whereas the route follows a north-w esterly course, thus cut ting across the grain. Rights of
wa y paths and bridlew ays generally follow the grain or cont our around the gr ain as this af fords the line
of least resis tance and consequently is less demanding on tr aveller s. On encount ering natur al
obst acles the route inv ariably zigzags ar ound the obstruction and this incr eases the ov erall leng th of
the walk. The third reason is the geogr aphical location of Kendal which lies seven miles from Lak e
Windermere and less than one mile outside the Lak e District National Park. Rising above the town on
its western edge is a magnificent mile-long limestone escarpment known locally as Scout Scar . The
panoramic views to the Lak eland mount ains, the P ennine hills and the Ken t Estuary from the plateau
are breatht aking and provide a fitting climax to the walk. The inclusion of Scout Scar in the rout e
ext ends the walk by sever al miles.
Intr oduction
The following is a brie f description of the route t aken by the K endal Limestone W ay .
Skipton to Malham
From the historic mark et town of Skipton with its ancient castle, the route f ollows the Leeds and
Liverpool canal to Gargr av e where the Romans built a for d across the River Aire. Fr om Gargra ve the
rout e tak es a north-westerly course along the Pennine W ay towar ds Malhamdale passing close to
Airton from where it follow s the infant River Air e upstream to Kirkby Malham and its sister village,
Hanlith. Fr om Hanlith the r oute adopts a higher cour se above the Air e until it reaches the pr etty and
popular village of Malham, internationally renowned for its dr amatic limestone scenery and the
Y orkshire Dales “Big Three”: Malham Cove, Gor dale Scar and Malham T arn.
Malham to Set tle
From Malham the r oute advances tow ards a st eep pass between Kirkby Fell and Pik edaw Hill. Above
the pass the route joins a high level medieval track leading to Nappa Cross Gate and the wa ter shed
between Malhamdale and Ribblesdale. After cr ossing the water shed the route follow s the mid-Cra ven
fault that runs below the northern flank of Rye Loaf Hill. After entering Stock dale, a secluded side-
valle y of Ribblesdale, the rout e veers awa y towards the magnificent limestone escarpments of
A tt ermire and Warr endale Knotts bef ore a steep descent in to Ribblesdale to join a path leading to the
busy mark et town of Set tle nes tling under the imposing Cas tlebergh Rock.
Settle t o