Captain's Log

Muker

There was a bit of colour in the sky as we drove over the Butter Tubs pass from Wensleydale to Swaledale. Although probably not as much as colour as in the cheeks of a randy ram that was chasing a ewe in a field on the outskirts of Muker. She was having none of it though and was leading him a merry dance. There was a nip in the air and so it was probably best that they got warmed up. We parked at the roadside, just to the west of Muker, where there is a space for maybe eight cars. It was only around 8am and nothing stirred in the pretty village...well, apart from that randy ram. No soon had we entered the village, then we were out of it again, heading up a tarmac track towards Kisdon Hill.

A section of the Pennine Way runs from Keld, to the north of Kisdon Hill, along its east flank and then heads off to Thwaite, on its south. I think this bit is the prettiest bit of the Pennine Way. The path along Kisdon's east flank is at a high level and has wonderful views eastwards across the valley. It may as come as a surprise that we wouldn't be walking that path today.  Instead, I intended taking a route to Keld on the western side of Kisdon Hill. From there we'd work our way around its northern flank to Kisdon Force, and then visit the old mine works at Crackpot Hall and Swinner Gill.  We'd then follow a high level route back to Muker.  It looked a great route on the map and it turned out to be a classic Dales route in reality.

Kisdon Hill

 It was a tough climb up the crumbling tarmac track from Muker. We’d stop now and again to catch our breath and admire the view down the Swaledale valley. From my Pennine Way jaunts I knew that  there were a couple of farm houses at the end of this track. I told the Cabin Boy this, but I’m not sure that  she believed me. I suspected Tescos wouldn't deliver groceries up here. Sure enough, the two farm houses came into view and we crossed the Pennine Way path to continue our journey to the summit of Kisdon Hill. 

The top of Kisdon Hill was fairly flat and we decided to do an out-and-back to the highest point shown on the map (499m). This involved following a vague track alongside a stone wall. A well built stone cairn came into view which seemed near to the highest point, but it was on the other side of the high stone wall. We searched for a stile or gate, but couldn’t find one. We did find a large shake hole though that is noted as Pot Hole Kisdon on the OS map. We made our way back southwards along the stone wall and re-joined the path to the western flank of Kisdon Hill. This opened up superb views towards the scattered buildings along the valley between Keld and Thwaite. On the trail down the hill we found an interesting fungi that looked like sliced salmon. I’m not sure what it was, but it was certainly a natural curiosity. 

Kisdon Force

It seemed a shame not going into Keld, but it would have meant losing some height and so we followed a contour on the northern side of Kisdon Hill towards the valley to its east. It was here that we met up with the Pennine Way and walked along it for a short distance before branching off on a track to the bottom of the valley where we would find Kisdon Force. Before we got to the waterfall we passed a large pinnacle of limestone that seemed ready to tumble away from the rock face. I remember walking by this on my first Pennine Way expedition when I was at school, and so I don’t think it is ready for falling just yet. Even so, we hastened our pace down to the bottom of the ravine where we found Kisdon Force. 

There was quite a bit of water going over the waterfall and it was quite impressive. Somebody had rigged up a rope, so that you could swing out over the bottom pool and drop in. Neither the Kapitan nor the Cabin Boy were up for it though. I also noticed another rope that had been securely tied up the east side of the waterfall. It looked like people had been using this to climb from the bottom pool up to the top of the waterfall. Water had washed away much of the limestone around the bottom pool such that the rock at the top of the waterfall was overhanging the pool. Presumably, people had been jumping off this into the pool. I wouldn’t recommend it though since the water looked very peaty and you couldn't really determine the depth of the pool. We stopped for a break and listened to the birds  singing and watched the squirrels burying nuts. Nature was very busy. 

Crackpot Hall And Swinner Gill

We rejoined the Pennine Way and headed north towards Keld. After crossing the River Swale we came to East Gill Force (both lower and upper). I find these waterfalls equally as beautiful as Kisdon Force. A couple of young backpackers were sat on a nearby bench smoking a joint. They commented that it was a lovely day as we walked by them and headed down the valley towards Swinner Gill. The drugs didn’t seem to impede them since they soon overtook us with their glassy eyes and unnatural grins. Judging by the size of their packs I guessed that they were doing the Coast To Coast, since we had joined that trail now. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t find them at Crackpot Hall since  it was an ideally named place for them to stop. 

Crackpot Hall has actually nothing to do with drugs or any other mental states. Crack is an Old English word for crow and pot is Norse for a hole. So it really means Crowhole, which doesn’t really help in the understanding of the place. It was originally built as a farm  in the early 1700s (on the site of a hunting lodge). It became the office for the nearby lead mining activities. It was deserted in the 1950s when subsidence from the mining caused structural damage. It has mostly tumbled now, although there still remains a rusty tin bath  that could be used if you could find something to plug its holes. 

We made our way up to and around into the deeply cut Swinner Gill. This tributary valley took us away from the main valley and towards extensive mine workings at the top of the gill. There were plenty of spoil heaps as testament to their exploits and a small stone bridge that took us across the gill to yet another ruined building. We sat down for our lunch amidst the odd mixture of past industry and beautiful countryside. 

Balcony Walking

When we’d approached Crackpot Hall earlier in the day, we could see what looked like a path that ran along the contour of the hillside, back towards Muker. It looked like an easy and obvious path. In reality, the path turned out to be occasionally vague and a lot more undulating that I thought it would be. It was a remarkable route with fine views down into the valley and over towards Kisdon Hill. It also traversed West Arn Gill and Arn Gill. Along the limestone scar of the Ivelet Boards, the views along Swaledale started to open up. Muker seemed within touching distance. The hillside had so many rabbit holes that it seemed incredible that it was still stable. The burrows' residents had deserted their dark homes and were running about on the sunny slopes below us. A Kestrel preceded us along the scar making use of the updraft from the valley. 

Approaching Kisdon Scar, I noticed  a wooden post, a  short distance down the hillside and what looked like a grassy path beyond it. There was nothing marked on the OS map, but I thought it was worth a punt to see if it was a quick way down to the bottom of the valley. It turned out to be a reasonable track and brought us down to the road end at Ramps Holme Farm. After walking a few hundred yards back up the valley, we re-crossed the River Swale using the Ramps Holme Bridge. 

Return To Muker

From the bridge, it was a simple matter of field hopping our way back to Muker. There were even slabs across the fields to ease our way. There were one or two walkers mulling about when we got back to the village, but most of the place still looked deserted. We walked back along the road, out of the village, to where I’d parked the car. I looked at the field across the road and saw this morning’s randy ram now laid on his back, with its front legs around the back of its head with what I took to be a contented smile. 

Is there a better part of the Dales than that around Kisdon Hill. Possibly, but I’ve not come across it yet. Today’s walk had pretty much everything: hill bagging, epic views, picturesque valleys, wonderful waterfalls, industrial heritage, lofty valley walking and a randy ram. A classic in every respect.