The Dales Way. Terry Marsh

Dales Way is well signposted and waymarked throughout its length, even in some of the more isolated spots. The entire route follows established public footpaths, bridleways or local roads.

Health, safety and emergencies

      Fit, healthy and experienced walkers accustomed to long days on the Dales and Lakeland fells will encounter no difficulty in tackling the Dales Way. For anyone else, it would be foolish even to think about setting off without having previously done a deal of rough walking ideally with a pack heavier than might be required for day use, even if you intend to use one of the pack-carrying services. Getting yourself into condition is neither an arduous nor an unpleasant process, and every walk done in preparation will make the experience and enjoyment of the Way all the better.

      Conditioning does not only extend only to your physical condition. It is vitally important, for example, to avoid wearing boots that are not ‘broken in’ or clothing that has not had the chance to lose its newness. Comfort on a long walk can be critically important; discomfort can be painful if allowed to go on too long. If you feel blisters coming on, or your boots start rubbing around the ankles, make sure you attend to the problem sooner rather than later.

      The police, fire service, ambulance or mountain rescue can be reached in an emergency by dialling 999 or 112. There are few mountain rescue teams operating in the regions covered by the Dales Way; the appropriate one can be contacted on the above emergency numbers.

Phones and Wi-Fi

      Wi-Fi internet access is increasingly available in cafés, pubs and hotels throughout Britain, but it is by no means universally available, and may not always be available in B&Bs.

      Mobile phone signals are restricted in coverage and often erratic – especially away from main urban centres, where you may not be able to get a signal at all. You can check your own service provider’s coverage on their website, but the reality is that you will not have a signal or connection along many of the open and remote stretches of the Way. Remarkably, signals from some distant transmitter can be picked up in the most unexpected locations.

ALL ABOUT THE REGION

Geography

      The River Wharfe at High Mill (Stage 1)

      The geographic profile of the Dales Way is quite simple. It connects two significant valleys – Wharfedale and Dentdale – before wriggling through southern Lakeland to the shores of Windermere.

      The Way sets off through the upper valley of the River Wharfe, soon leaving behind the urban setting of Ilkley, and not reaching a town of any note until Grassington, and even that is essentially a large village rather than a town. The section from Addingham to the source confluence at Beckermonds is known as Upper Wharfedale and is characterised by small, isolated settlements, of some antiquity. Beyond Buckden, the ongoing valley is known as Langstrothdale through which the Wharfe continues to its end at the confluence of Oughtershaw Beck and Green Field Beck, at which point purists will argue that the source of the Wharfe is not this confluence, but the highest point of either of those becks…and they are welcome to try to find it!

      Beyond Beckermonds and the hamlet of Oughtershaw, little remains apart from scattered farms as the route climbs to meet the Pennine Way and a Roman road high on Cam Fell. A brief hiatus ensues as the Way crosses into the head of Dentdale, and a far more wooded landscape largely following not the River Dent, as might be expected, but the River Dee.

      Dent, Sedbergh and Staveley are the principal settlements, and re-introduce a measure of urbanity but in a rather superficial way, as if they accept their role as the lifeblood of the surrounding farmlands.

      Once Lakeland is reached, the Way does endeavour to find a route that makes the most of the undulating landscapes, avoiding settlements before skittering downhill to burst rather unexpectedly into Bowness-on-Windermere.

Geology

      Limestone and sandstone very much prevail throughout the course of the Dales Way. The rocks that shape Wharfedale are sedimentary and date from the Carboniferous period (about 350 million years ago). Around Ilkley, the underlying rock is millstone grit and covered by crags and heather moorland. But as the route progresses up-dale it’s clear that the rocks are different, and form deep strata of limestone, sandstone and shale. Weathering of these strata has produced a stepped profile to some parts of the valley, while glaciers during the last Ice Age have fashioned the classic U-shaped landforms we see today.

      As the Dales Way enters the Lake District, it explores a vast area of rocks known as Silurian Flags and Shales formed (435–395 million years ago) during a prolonged period of continuous sedimentation, overlying volcanic rocks. These rocks produce a gentle, rippling landscape that rather disguises the 500 million, often-violent, years it took to create the Lake District. In a few places, Carboniferous limestones appear, often rich in fossils; these are especially noticeable at the eastern fringe of the District and in isolated patches north and northeast of Kendal.

Plants and wildlife

      The predominant species of tree are ash, birch, hazel, hawthorn, yew and rowan, while the limestone is favoured by a wide range of plant species such as alpine cinquefoil, lily-of-the-valley, valerian and angelica, as well as bird’s-eye primrose, butterwort, bedstraw, dog’s mercury, wood anemone and wild garlic.

      Almost 250 species of bird have been observed from red grouse, snipe, golden plover, stonechat, whinchat and redstart to great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, tree creeper and woodland visitors such as chiffchaff, willow warbler and garden warbler. Goosander are often seen on the Wharfe as are large numbers of mandarin duck that have grown in number since this book was first published.

      It may surprise you to learn that otter, deer, red fox and water voles are also present, as well as rabbit and grey squirrel.

History and culture

      The outlines of Iron Age fields and hut circles can still be traced on the fells above Kettlewell and Grassington, and although most of the area through which the Dales Way passes was occupied for centuries by the British tribe of Brigantes, these were subdued by the Romans shortly after their occupation of Britain.

      Once the Romans had departed both from what is now Yorkshire and Cumbria, the ancient Britons were infiltrated by Angles who began the process of clearing forests and establishing farming practices. Vikings settled the entire area from about the 10th century, leaving their language inscribed in place names: The name Wharfe, for example, derives from the Old English weorf, or Old Norse hverfr, and means ‘winding river’.

      During Anglo-Saxon times, large estates were created. After the Norman invasion, the lands were given to Robert Romilly. Alice de Romilly donated land in the mid 12th century for the construction of monasteries that quickly developed vast sheep farms and the founding of drove roads, many of which can still be seen and walked today.

      After the dissolution of the monasteries, cattle and sheep rearing continued, especially among the rocky folds of south Lakeland, although there was an increasing incidence of small-scale arable farming slotted into riverside land holdings. But it was the demand for food during the 19th century that saw many farms turning to producing milk from cattle raised on the riverside pastures, and sheep on the higher ground. While agriculture in one form or another continues to be a staple of the rural economy, tourism has increasingly figured since the 18th century. This grew once the railways reached the north of England in the mid 19th century, and expanded hugely with the designation of large areas as national parks: the Lake District in 1951, and the Yorkshire Dales in 1954.

      Local residents, near Yockenthwaite (Stage 3)

      THE DALES WAY: ILKLEY TO BOWNESS

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