Walk Summary
Walk down the Watlowes dry valley to the spectacular panorama of Malham Cove. Take an easy stroll to the gorgeous Janet's Foss. Stand in awe at the overhanging cliffs of Gordale Scar. And there's a Roman Camp and Malham Tarn included too. Brilliant.
Date: 21/11/2021
Length: 10.09 miles
Height Gain: 399 m
Terrain: Boggy paths. grassy paths, stony paths, slippery limestone rocks, National Trail, lightly used roads.
Navigation: Good. Good signage.
Start: Watersinks Car Park, near Malham Tarn
Route: Malham Tarn, Watlowes, Malham Cove, Janet's Foss, Gordale Scar, Smearsbottom Lane, Mastiles Lane, Great Close Hill, Malham Tarn
Map: OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern And Western Areas
Weather: Grey and cold
Walkers: Nun
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Watlowes
Captain's Log
False Start
The car park payment machines weren't working in Malham and so I drove up to Malham Tarn and parked for free. A bitterly cold wind chilled me to the bone as I kitted up. It was a gloomy morning with a light mist on the top of Fountain's Fell and patches of snow on its flanks
Malham Cove
Malham Cove
I made my way along Watlowes, an impressive ravine, towards Malham Cove. The first time I came along here was in my school days when doing the Pennine Way. We were surprised when a helicopter came down the ravine, almost giving us an haircut with its rotors. When we reached Malhom Cove we could see a film crew. Barrat Houses were filming an advert with the helicopter hovering below the top of Malham Cove, after flying down Watlowes. Somebody in the film crew asked us to get off the limestone pavement above Malham Cove since 'we were ruining their shot'. We were a bit agrieved about this, but I was happy to get out of the way of the crazy helicopter pilot.
After pottering about on the top for a while I went down the steps to the bottom of the cove itself. Looking up at the semi-circular cliff it is hard to judge the scale. It was only after I'd taken a couple of photos that I realised that there was a climber on the cliff. He looked tiny.
A robin took an interest in me as I was taking photos at the bottom of the cove. He was so close I could have reached out and patted him on his head. I found at later in the day that it was National Robin's Day, so maybe he was expecting some sort of treat. It was hard to pull myself away from the cove, but on the year's shortest day, you can't hang about.
Malham Cove Climber
Janets Foss
Janet's Foss
From Malham I broke away from the Pennine Way and followed the Janet's Foss path towards Gordale Scar. Foss is from the Scandanavian for waterfall, and there is indeed a very impressive waterfall along the route. Inevitably it was quite busy with people taking photos of the waterfall. It is well worth a visit.
Gordale Scar
In some ways I find Gordale Scar more impressive than Malham Cove. It is a bit like comparing apples an pairs though. The entrance to Gordale Scar is quite wide and hides the most impressive bit behind a kink in the valley. As I walked down the valley, it gets narrower and narrower. The sides get steeper and steeper until it is actually overhanging. A waterfall tumbles down the end of the valley where the two cliffs meet. There is a scramble that goes up the valley alongside the waterfall. It looks a reasonably easy scramble in summer but it looked quite difficult today with the large amount of water tumbling down. The rocks looked very slippy. Some people were braving it though. A couple came up to me and asked if I was going up. I said I'd wait for a better day. They had intended going up too, but also backed out. I returned back down the valley to the road.
Gordale Scar
Roman Camp Site On Mastiles Lane
Roman Marching Camp
The next section wasn't that inspiring. It involved going up Hawthorns Lane until it meets the wonderfully named Smearbottoms Lane. I wonder how it got that name? Some field hopping and then I was on Mastiles Lane. There is a rather large Roman Camp indicated on the map, but don't expect any visual evidence of it. There is a plaque though that explains what you would have seen.
Malham Tarn
Malham Tarn
I had intended going straight back to my car from Mastiles Lane, but I'd still got two hours of daylight. Not bad going on the year's shortest day. I decided to extend my walk by going over Great Close Hill that is on the east of Malham Tarn. There is a sheepfold, or a very large shelter on the top. It provides a great view of Malham Tarn, although the grey, murky day didn't help much. Chainsaws sounded like angry bees, in the wood around Malham Tarn House. I'd seen a few trees that had been Storm Arwen victims today. I presume the chainsawers were on a tidy-up exercise.
The light was fading as I walked back to the car. It may have been the shortest day of the year but the walk crammed a lot of interesting things into it.
Gordale Scar Waterfall