Catrigg Force

The fingerposts thus far had insisted that the waterfall on Stainforth Beck was Catrigg Foss, whereas my OS map said it was Catrigg Force. Foss is Old Norse for 'waterfall' and so those dastardly Vikings must have sailed their long boats up Stainforth Beck at some point in the past. This puzzled me somewhat, since when I made my way down to the waterfall, there didn't seem to be much water running along the beck. It must have been a hell of a struggle for the Vikings to drag their longboats up here. It was a pretty enough port though with the waterfall having quite a large drop. There was a large pool beneath it that must have been very handy for the Vikings to catch up on their washing. I'd imagine that in modern times wild swimmers would frequent the pool in warmer weather.

At Winskill a farmer shouted across for me to stop, since he was directing a herd of cattle into the field that I was crossing.  I didn't really fancy getting stampeded by our bovine friends and so I looked at the OS map and sorted out an alternative route. The new route would involve a bit of road walking, but it was single track and so shouldn't be a problem. It turned out to be a pretty route and took me through the impressive limestone outcrops of Winskill Stones. An information board told me that once upon a time, the area's owner had planning permission to extract limestone for sale as rockeries in garden centres. The well-known (although I confess, not well known to me) gardener Geoff Hamilton supported the campaign to stop it, and it is now a reserve containing varied plant life and intact limestone pavements.

Langcliffe Scar

As I made my way up to Langcliffe Scar, the mist seemed to drift down to greet me. It seemed like old times. Fortunately the mist wasn't as thick as last year's; it drifted in and out and I did get some reasonable views of the formidable limestone outcrop. On the previous walk I'd been perturbed by lurking cattle that suddenly materialised like apparitions out of the mist. There were none here today though. I reached the path up to the Victoria Cave, but decided that I'd seen enough of the place on my last visit (see  Malham Misty Mountain Day ). I continued along the path beneath the scar and this turned into a deeper valley between the Scar and Warrendale Knotts. I entertained half an idea to go and investigate the area around Warrendale Knotts, but its tops were misty and it would have been purely an exercise in...well, exercise. Looking at the map, the views from the top must be pretty good, and so I decided to leave them for a better day when I could get a better view.

Attermire And Horseshoe Cave

The track descended to a junction of paths. One of the tracks headed up into the scar to the Attermire and Horseshoe caves. My Os map was a bit vague as to the actual location of the caves, but I could see a track leading up to what looked like a cave in the face of the scar. The track started off quite easy, but it did seem to get narrower with a steeper drop on to the scree below. It was safe enough though. I was soon directly below the Attermire cave and it looked a bit of a scramble to get up to the actual entrance.  I decided not to bother and just admire it from a distance. Some Romano-British artefacts were found in the cave along with the remains of a chariot burial. How on earth they pulled a chariot up to the cave entrance, I've no idea.

I continued along the track and it seemed to get vaguer. I began to doubt whether the Horseshoe cave actually existed. After a while I looked over my left shoulder and saw it as a gash hidden away from the main face. This Horseshoe cave links to the Attermire cave, which is not surprising really since they are just next door to each other. Having had my fill of caves, I started returning back down the narrow track. Halfway down I noticed a walker contouring along the hillside above me. Earlier, as I'd been walking southwards along Langcliffe Scar, I'd noticed a vague track that branched off the main path and disappeared into the scars. I guessed that this was the very same track that this fellow was using. It saved the descent/re-ascent that I'd had to do, but there wasn't a lot in it really. The chap was a dead ringer for Alfred Wainwright and had an old style rucksack on his back. We stopped and stared at each other for what seemed like an uncomfortable time and I was only able to break the spell between us by slowly raising my arm in recognition to him. He reciprocated and then we both continued on with our journeys. Very spooky.

Settle

The Dales High Way path brought me down to Settle. It provided a great birds eye view of the town. It seemed a lot more industrial than I expected. I dropped down to a country lane and this descended into some very olde-worlde Settle streets. These led me into the main town square straight across from the Ye Olde Naked Man Café. I could have done with a mug of coffee and bun, but I didn't fancy stripping off for the privilege. An old fellow came out of the establishment buttoning up his jacket. I made my way from the square, went under the railway viaduct and crossed the footbridge over the Ribble. The river would now be my guide back to Stainforth.

The first part of the walk felt a little urban with the path going through sports fields and by industrial units. The first field out of Settle had been covered in horse manure and I had to hold my nose during the traverse. Things gradually began to improve as I reached the small village of Stackhouse and made my way back to the riverside. I even saw a couple of Dippers doing their squats on some rocks in the river. It was turning out to be quite a pleasant path until I got to a limestone rock processing plant that was situated below the formidable cliff of Stainforth Scar, on the other side of the river. This turned out to be the last industrial unit before Stainforth.

Return To Stainforth

I chased a Heron upstream. It would stand on rocks on the bank, I'd approach, attempt to take my camera out, and the bird would take flight upstream. Three times this happened, before the Heron got bored of the game and disappeared for good. I started hearing Stainforth Force as I approached Knight Stainforth Hall caravan site. The riverside path avoided the caravans and brought me to a pretty cascade and waterfall. It didn't have the drop of Catrigg Force, but it was certainly wider and carried a lot more water. I was able to get close to the cascades using the limestone outcrops along its side. These rocks must be busy with people in the summer given the caravan site is just a stone's throw away. Photos taken, I went a little further upstream and crossed the river on an old pack horse bridge. The surface was now tarmacked but was quite narrow and you'd have to be wary about scraping the sides of your car if you drove across it. Presumably the caravans of the Knight Stainforth Hall caravan site were delivered by an alternative route. I followed a path (not shown on the OS map) that ran parallel to the railway line and then crossed it via a bridge back to the Stainforth carpark.

The weather had been grey today, with intermittent mist on the tops, but at least it hadn't rained. I'd seen two cracking waterfalls and had visited the Attermire and Horseshoe caves. Views of the Warrendale Knotts had given me an appetite to revisit the area. Given warmer weather I might even pop into the Ye Olde Nake Man Café at Settle.