Blea Moor

From the carpark, I followed the well worn trail to the Ribblehead Viaduct. It looked rather austere on this dark and drizzly day. In the background, the top ridge of Whernside was covered in mist. A couple of walkers and then a runner overtook me before I even reached the viaduct. It looked like the weather wasn't going to deter the weekend visitors. I followed the path around to Bleamoor Sidings. I noted that the workmen hadn't seemed to have made much progress of the refurbishment of the signal box, since I'd walked by here last month. Just before the footbridge across Little Dale Beck, I branched off to the right on a track contouring along the western flank of Blea Moor. Conditions were so damp that I seemed to be walking along a stream rather than a path. The rain drifted across the moor in waves. I put my overtrousers on. A railway tunnel connects the Ribble and Dent valleys. My path followed the route of the tunnel. I ascended into the bottom of the mist before reaching the first air shaft of the tunnel running underneath me. A sign on the brick cylinder above the shaft informed me that this was 'Shaft 1.' Ten minutes later, I reached 'Shaft 2.' It looked pretty much the same as 'Shaft 1.' I now needed to go eastwards uphill to the top of Blea Moor. There wasn't a path and so I took a bearing and just headed off into the mist. The ground was very soggy but it wasn't long before the ground flattened out on the summit plateau. A quick search in the mist and I soon found the trig. I bet the view from here would be pretty good on a clear day. It would provide another perspective of the Yorkshire 3 Peaks of Penyghent, Ingleborough and Whernside. All I could see today though was grey mist. There was no point lingering and so I set off north-westwards to see if I could find 'Shaft 3.' 

Dent Head Viaduct

Blea Moor was definitely moist today. A stretch of bog trotting brought me down to 'Shaft 3.' It looked pretty much like 'Shaft 1 and 2.' I headed down towards Dent Dale on a path that was steeper than it looked on the map. The path went through a nuked plantation at Mossy Bottom and Hazel Bottom (<snigger> <snigger>). I finally dropped out of the mist when I reached the other side of the area of tree stumps. The path brought me out where the railway line exits the tunnel into Dent Dale. I continued down into the valley and went past some pretty waterfalls above Dent Head Farm. A gaggle of Geese floated along the stream as I approached the farm and then I met them again on the water, downstream from the buildings. There was now a wonderful view of the Dent Head Viaduct over to my right. It looked as high as the Ribblehead Viaduct, but had fewer arches. I continued down the valley until the track crossed a bridge and reached the tarmac road at Cowgill. I now had some road walking ahead of me. 

Back To Blea Moor

I started heading along the road, uphill towards the viaduct. The stone piers looked massive when I reached them. A packhorse bridge looked tiny in comparison as it crossed the beck near to the viaduct. I started climbing back into the mist again. The landscape, well the bits that were still visible, was rather bleak. When I seemed to have reached the highest point of the road, I branched off southwards on to a track across the moors. About 200 yards from the road, I was surprised to find a caravan. A couple of hard hats were in the front window next to a Work Health And Safety poster. I wondered what work was being carried out around here since it was in such a remote position. The mist seemed to get thicker. At least the rain had now stopped. I was now on the east side of Blea Moor. and it looked as bleak as its west side. A fingerpost directed me on to a boggy path towards Gearstones. I wondered what it would be like to have dry feet. At least it wasn't cold. The track to Gearstones followed a stone wall and traversed a couple of small cloughs. It brought me down to the houses at Winshaw and I was back on to the tarmac again. As I walked down their access road to the B6255, I dropped out of the mist again. I thought I might've got a view of Penyghent and Ingleborough, but it wasn't to be; they were covered in mist. 

Return

I walked along the B6255 towards Ribblehead. It was a shame that there wasn't a track across the moor directly to Ribblehead. The B6255 wasn't that busy though and I made good time along it. A light rain started again to finish off the day. A large number of birds made quite a lot of noise on the hillside near to the road. They were too far away for me to identify them. They looked as big as Fieldfare. I was surprised at the number of cars parked alongside the road as I approached Ribblehead. Crikey. If there are this many cars on a dreary day, how many would there be on a sunny day? 

The windows were still covered on the camper van parked next to me at Ribblehead. I wondered whether the occupants had bothered to get up or had heard the rain on their roof and just decided to spend a day in bed. The rain started yet again as I removed my waterlogged boots. It was a relief to get into a dry car. 

It hadn't been a good day for walking. At least I was able to get out to stretch my legs. I was looking forward to getting views into Dent Dale but it wasn't to be. I did get a great view of Dent Head Viaduct though, and so that made the walk worthwhile. Maybe I'll do this walk again on a better day.