Yorkshire Three Peaks

A sign said that the Yorkshire Three Peaks race would take place next weekend. A 26 mile mountain marathon taking in Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.  Good luck to the participants. The fastest time so far was by Andy Peace of Bingley Harriers in 1996 when he completed the route in an an astonishing 2 hours 43 minutes and 2 seconds. Unbelievable. It takes me about 10 hours to walk it. I stopped at the church at the south end of the village. I always take a photograph here of the church with the south snout of Penyghent just visible over its west wing. My goal is to take a snap that includes a dramatic cloudscape. I've never managed to get one and the hazy sky today meant that I'd have to wait until another visit. 

Penyghent

I took the Brackenbottom path up to Penyghent's south ridge. I packed my camera and trekking poles into my rucksack since the climb up the south ridge contains a couple of short stretches of simple scrambling. When I reached the top I looked back down and saw that half a dozen walkers were following me up. I could have comandeered the stone seating area near the trig, but felt generous and left it for the other walkers. There was a cold wind scouring the top and so I was on my way to Plover Hill before most of my chasers had reached the trig. 

Plover Hill

It is quite easy to find your way to Plover Hill from Penyghent, you just follow the stone wall that stretches for one and half miles between the two tops. The moors between them is rather boggy and I failed to find a dry route despite searching. There is a confluence of stone walls near the top of Plover Hill. The OS map indicates some cairns that may or may not be the actual top of the hill. I could see a wooden stake supported by a few stones on the other side of the high stone wall. It is a plateau on top and it is difficult to tell visually the highest point. I noticed that it looked like part of the stone wall had crashed down on my approach the top. Maybe that is where fastidious walkers gain access to the wooden stake. I couldn't be bothered and started my way down from the summt. 

I've done this walk a few times and the steepness of the hillside down the northern face of Plover Hill never fails to surprise me. The path seems to teeter along the edge of a near sheer drop for a few metres. Some of the path has had stones laid, but they appear to have given up near the trickiest bit. It is a section that demands a bit of concentration and focus. Difficulty over, the rest of the descent to the Pennine Journey bridleway was gradual. I past a couple of walkers making their way up the path towards Plover Hill, but beyond a 'hello' they didn't seem up for a conversation. 

Hull Pot

I followed the bridleway towards Horton Moor. The path gave a good view of Plover Hill and Penyghent's western ramparts. In contrast looking west, the landscape appeared to be a large expanse of undulating moor. The bridleway delivered me to Hull Pot, a massive gash in the earth into which Hull Pot Beck pours and then disappears. Except Hull Pot Beck was totally dry today and so that one aspect of Hull Pot was not quite as dramatic. A few month's ago, so much water travelled down the beck that the pot couldn't drain the water fast enough and the huge hole became almost full. I carefully walked around the perimeter of the pot taking photos. Some other walkers admiring the pot gave a sense of scale to this natural feature. I sat on a nearby rock and started eating my lunch. A young woman wandered over with an unleashed dog in pursuit. 'Have you seen a black lead anywhere?' I said that I hadn't. Her accent sounded French with a hint of Irish...or maybe it was Scandanavian.  'I lost it up here yesterday and I've spent the last 2 hours trying to find it.' I wished her luck with her search and she wandered off with here canine friend. Given the hundreds of lambs about, I hoped the farmer didn't see the unleashed dog. 

Hunt Pot

From Hull Pot, I made a short out-and-back diversion, back towards Penyghent, in order to visit Hunt Pot. The hole is only about a hundred metres from the Pennine Way path up to Penyghent, but it is not visible from the path and I bet most people walk past it oblivious to its presence. That's a shame since it is very impressive. It isn't as big as Hull Pot, but it does have a better backdrop of Penyghent. It also has an ominous black gash in the rock into which a the water of a beck tumbles. On my way back down the Pennine Way path, I past a young couple coming the other way. A little later, when I looked back I could see that the women had walked over to where I'd been taking photos of Hunt Pot. Maybe she'd seen me over there and been curious as to what I'd been looking at. 

Long Lane

I continued down the Pennine Way and the appropriately named Long Lane. To be fair it does offer fine views over to Penyghent. The stone surface of the lane does get a bit tiresome though. Dropping down into Horton I could see three large lorries making their way along the main street and then winding their way back to the quarry. Horton's Pennine Way cafe was closed. I wondered whether it was seasonal or just opened at weekends. I remembered when I first walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks, I'd got my card dutifully stamped using their machine. A house near the carpark had a gollywog doll sat on the internal window sill. I thought it a curious thing to put on display; very League Of Gentleman. 

Penyghent and Plover Hill is one of my favourite Dale's walks. The views are excellent and the the drama of Hull and Hunt pots is not to be missed.