Captain's Log

Buckden

Today would be a big day on the Dales Way in that I'd be saying farewell to the River Wharfe, my trusty companion since Ilkley.  That would be later on though and so the morning stage would be our long goodbye. There is actually some debate as to where the River Wharfe starts and so consequently one can't say with any certainty where the Dales Way leaves it. I can guarantee that I would leave it at some point though. I'd also be taking a higher, Alternative Dales Way route between Cam Pasture and Cowgill. Today would also be the longest day on my Dales Way trek, with a 19 mile marathon (okay, well maybe not quite a full marathon distance).  I was getting my trail legs now though and so I thought anything was possible.

I'd had to pack away a wet tent this morning and my rucksack felt heavy.  At least the overnight rain had stopped now. I set off early, before 07:00 in order to get some miles under my belt. Buckden is slightly off the Dales Way path and so I had a 10 minute walk to complete before getting back on it. Just beyond Buckden I joined Langstrothdale and left Wharfedale behind. This seemed odd since the River Wharfe still ran up Langstrothdale. As I said, the source of the River Wharfe is confusing and best left to the chin strokers. It wasn't long before I approached my first village of the day, Hubberholme.

Langstrothdale

My tent is called a Hubber and so not surprisingly the name of the village of Hubbberholme remined me of my canvas abode. J.B Priestly's ashes were spread around here (not the ones from his cigarettes, but from his cremation). He described the village as '...one of the smallest and pleasantest places in the world.' 

A little further along I came across a stone circle. Chin strokers who have got bored with the 'source of the River Wharfe' debate will say that it is a ring cairn, rather than a stone circle. A ring cairn has lower stones apparently. They are also prevalent in Wales, Cornwall and Derbyshire, and so I'm not sure what one would be doing around here.  Maybe the builders wanted to build a stone circle, but lost their enthusiasm and used smaller stones.

Langstrothdale is a pretty valley and the ascent alongside the river is gradual. Near to Beckermonds the river disappeared completely for 200 metres  or so under a blanket of rocks. It just looked like the river had dried up and then reappeared again further downstream. I crossed the river using a footbridge at Beckermonds. This was where I left the Langstrothdale valley and headed northwards along the quiet road towards the village of Oughtershaw. This turned out to be quite a steep climb, but at least it was on tarmac. The road flattened out and I passed the impressive looking Oughtershaw Hall.  A little further along the road I came across a sign at the old Oughtershaw chapel saying there was a honesty cafe stop there. This place hadn't been mentioned in my Trailblazer guide and so it was a pleasant surprise.

Oughtershaw

TThe Oughtershaw honesty cafe turned out to be an excellent fuel stop, in fact the best along the whole of the Dales Way. Chairs had been set in the porch area of the old chapel. There was a selection of hot and cold drinks and lots of goodies to choose from. The first thing I did was to get my tent out so that it could dry in the sun as I refuelled. I was on my second mango drink when the lady owner of the place appeared from the side of the chapel. She told me that she’d renovated the chapel: ‘The windows cost as much as a normal house would’ she informed me. Inscribed about the massive door was: ‘In Memoriam. Lydia Wilson Woodd Died At Pau 16 June 1856 Aged 32. She told me that Oughtershaw Hall, that I’d walked by earlier, was a hunting lodge originally owned by the Hampshire based Woodd family. Lydia was the owner’s daughter and she died from TB. He then built this chapel as a memorial to her. I said that the stonework looked like it had been built yesterday and I was surprised to learn that they hadn’t touched it as part of the renovation work. The four hinges on the doors were ornate and each must have been 2 feet long. I was disappointed to be informed that not everybody put money into the honesty jar. It was hard to believe when somebody went to the effort to produce a facility like this. She told me that some Dales Way walkers give up at this point. ‘Only yesterday, somebody abondened here and I drove him to the station so he could get home.' I’d briefly chatted with a guy as he passed me when I’d just got out of Grassington. I wondered if it was him. He’d told me that he was doing the trail in 5 days, rather than the usual 6. His destination for the night had been Swarthghyll Farm which was at least another half hour’s walk from here. At the time I felt like shouting ‘Run Forrest, Run’ as he'd dashed off ahead of me.

Refuelled, I set off on the trail again.  Just a little further along the road I came to Oughtershaw's main row of houses. There was a goat in the middle of the road that was eying me up. If it hadn’t been for a couple of cars that were coming along the road at that point I’m pretty sure he would have charged me. I managed to escape up the road as the cars crawled past the beast. Near to where the Dales Way leaves the road, there was a stone erected in 1886 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee. Rather mysteriously there is a Celtic cross on it. 

The Worst Bit Of The Dales Way

A farm track brought me to Nethergill Farm and yet another honesty cafe. This place even offered homemade flapjacks. I was all fuelled up though and so I gave it a miss. The farm track continued until I got to Swarthghyll Farm. This was the last of the good walking since the farm track now turned into a boggy path. In fact the next section up to the farm at Cam Houses turned out to be my least favourite part of the whole Dales Way. It got soggier the further I proceeded along it and it seemed to be plagued by horseflies. About a quarter of a mile out from Swarthghyll I heard a growl and felt something touch my ankle. I turned around to see a nasty looking Terrier growling at me. It was totally unexpected; it had made no noise as it had crept up. It backed away a bit when it saw me looking at it, but as soon as I turned around to walk onwards, it started snapping around my ankles again. I played this Peter And The Wolf game with it for the next quarter of a mile. The damn thing just wouldn’t let up. I became so distracted that I missed the turnoff that should have taken me up to Cam Houses. Instead I continued along a boggy track that I’m pretty sure had been gouged out of the bog by the tracks on the snow plough that I’d later find up at Cam Houses. After realising my mistake, I made my way up the slope to the farm. The higher I got, the fewer horseflies bothered me. What a nightmare section it had been on this part of the walk. 

Viewtastic Alternative High Level Route

Cam Houses was where the Alternative High Level route parted company with the official Dales Way route. The official, lower route heads off south eastwards along the Cam Road to Far Gearstones and then northwards to get to Cowgill. I'd walked this route earlier this year (see Soggy Tramp Over Blea Moor) and I wanted to do something different. Also the Trailblazer guide said that the views of the dales on the Alternative High Level route were viewtastic. With a recommendation like that, there wasn't really an option. I have to agree with their assessment too, I think it is a far better route than the official one. It offers epic views into many different dales. This route did get up to around 570m though near Cold Keld Gate (the highest point on the Dales Way), and so is probably only better to do on good weather days. The route followed a good path (the  Pennine Bridleway) westwards and then dropped down to the B6255. It would then have only been a 15 minute walk from the B6255 to rejoin the official route again, but I continued along the Pennine Bridleway over Wold Fell and along the flanks of Great Knoutberry Hill. There were spectacular views from the lofty route, down into Deepdale and across to Whernside. It was also possible to see the railway viaducts at Arten Gill and Dent Head. It was viewtastic! I only saw two other walkers along the whole length of this Alternative High Level route. Eventually the path hit the road and this took me westwards, down into the upper reaches of Dentdale. It went down and down. Down past Dent railway station, the highest station in England. Down , down and down again until it reached the valley bottom. I crossed the road bridge and I was back on the Dales Way official route again. The Alternative High Level route had been fantastic as well as viewtastic.

Ewegales Farm

The Dales Way path headed westwards alongside the River Dee. After a short while I came to a large open grassy area. A couple of tents had pitched up and so I guessed that this must be the Ewegales Farm campsite. It was an idyllic spot next to the river and it had a great view up to Great Knoutberry Hill. I wondered why there weren't dozens of tents here considering the stunning location. The reason turned out to be the facilities. It was about a 300m walk from my tent to the one toilet and shower. The cold tap in the sink wasn't plumbed in and the drinking water tap seemed to only emit warm water. It was also £1 for 10 minutes in the shower. Any port in a storm though. The alternative campsite was another 2 hours walk down the valley and I didn't fancy that after such a long day. With only 3 people on the campsite, the lack of facilities wasn't such a problem anyway.

A women rolled up in a car claiming to be the owner. I gave her the £7 fee. She told me that a lot of people give up at this point. 'I normally run them up to Dent Station,' she said. 'But they've just completed by far the hardest day on the trail. It gets a lot easier from here' I said with astonishment. 'I know that's what I tell them, but they've just had enough.'

'They must be desperate to give up at this point' I thought. It had been a hard day, but not exceptionally hard. I probably could have managed that extra 2 hours walking down to Dent and the other campsite, if I'd really wanted. I pulled a £1 coin out of my wallet for a shower. Now for 10 minutes of bliss.