Whernside Yorkshire Dales 23rd August 2022

GPX File here

On Tuesday the 23rd August 2022 I left Dalesbridge Campsite in Austwick. We drove the cadets and us to the car park by The Station Inn next to the Ribbleshead Viaduct. We set the cadets off on day one of their Silver DofE Expedition up to the summit of Whernside before they drop down to their next campsite.

We drove back up Low Sleights Road and Mike,Kacey and myself was dropped off by Roman Road that we walked up to St Leonards Church in Chapel Le Dale.

St. Leonard’s church sits in a small woodland area in the hamlet of Chapel-le-Dale, about two miles outside of Ingleton, just off the B6255. It is a grade II listed building, built in the late 17th century with some 18th century additions. According to English Heritage, it was vastly restored in 1869.

The church is built using local limestone, giving it its ‘local’ grey colour.

We missed our path and walked a bit too far up Roman Road before realising our mistake, we walked back and took the path next to the church.

The path now started to climb gently uphill.

We passed a piece of limestone pavement that this area is littered with.

Forming a distinctive and dramatic landscape, limestone pavement is made up of a series of clints (the flat horizontal slabs of carboniferous limestone) and grykes (the vertical cracks between the slabs). Limestone pavements were created during the ice age when the scouring action of ice sheets exposed the pavements. Since then, water movement has widened the cracks in the pavements to form a complex pattern of crevices. The diversity of species found in limestone pavements is thanks largely to the two very different habitats that form this landscape. The clints provide an ideal habitat for light-loving limestone grassland plants. In contrast, the grykes provide sheltered, shaded conditions making them ideal for woodland plants.

Limestone pavement is a rare habitat in Britain and the majority can be found in the western parts of North Yorkshire as well as south and east Cumbria. The Yorkshire Dales National Park contains approximately half of all Britain’s limestone pavement.

As we continue up the path we can see the Ribblehead viaduct away to our right.

We continue to climb up pass Bent Hill Barn and pass some farm buildings. The path dips down and around. We thought we could take a short cut on a faint path up the hill as we start to walk up a farmer on a quad bike down below starts shouting " Oi get off me land, the path's over there" he continued to shout and wave his arms about. We apologise and walk back down onto the path to follow this along.

We walk along pass Hodge Hole and Bruntscar Hall before we reach the steep incline on the path now.

The path is very steep now and it shows my fitness up, I can't keep up with Mike and Kacey and they have to frequently stop for me as I puff my way up. I have a serious issue of overheating and need to stop to cool off. I need to lose weight!

Plus side of frequent stops is , it allows you to stop and take in the beautiful views!

Ribbleshead Viaduct beyond Gunnerfleet Farm

Looking back down the path.

At the top of the climb we turn right and follow the path to reach the summit.

Whernside is the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the other two being Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent that we will be climbing over the next couple of days. It is the highest point in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire and the historic West Riding of Yorkshire with the summit lying on the county boundary with Cumbria. It is the fifteenth most prominent hill in England.

In shape Whernside forms a long ridge, running roughly north-north-east to south-south-west.

The name, first recorded in 1208 as Querneside, is of Old English origin. It is derived from cweorn 'quern' or 'millstone' and sīde 'hillside', so means "hillside where millstones are found". The name is of the same origin as Great Whernside, 17 miles (27 km) to the east, with which it is sometimes confused.

We walk off the summit hoping to get out of the wind while we wait for the cadets to arrive.

We sit down on the path above a tarn on Greensett Moss.

We sit for quite some time having a bite to eat and drink. The clouds lift with the views opening up before they are covered again.

After a very long break there is still no sign of either group of cadets so we walk on down the path to try and find them.

We climb a stile and over onto Knoutberry Hill.

The path here is very boggy and we weave our way along the path trying to find the drier parts. Then in the distance we see the first group of cadets. We wait for them to reach us. They are relieved to see us. 

We stop by Whernside Tarns where with the help of a filter their water bottles are refilled and a few games of stone skimming were played.

The first group leaves us and we could then see group two that had made really good time and had caught up with the first group.

Both groups had set off towards the summit and we back track the same direction and meet the rest of the leaders.

Mike and Kacey decide to follow the cadets from a distance whilst Fester, Sean, Harvey and myself take a path down the other side of the mountain.

We follow the path down, shortly after the photo above Sean takes a tumble and I turn to see him roll down the hill a short way. I thought his backpack would stop him. We rush over to him asking if he is okay. He just lays there for a while without answering. Eventually he says he's okay and we help him up. It seems his knee has taken a bit of a bashing.

We continue on down the path.

We reach another path and turn right onto the Dales High Way and follow this along where we cross the railway line and a aqueduct carries the  Dales Beck over the lines.

Blea Moor Tunnel is a 2,629 yd (2,404 m) railway tunnel located between Ribblehead Viaduct and Dent railway station in England. It is the longest tunnel on the Settle-Carlisle Line, being almost twice as long as the second longest tunnel, Rise Hill Tunnel.

Force Gill Aquaduct built by the Midland railway company to carry water from Force Gill to Dale Beck.

We follow the path and we cross the Beck by means of the rocks rather than take the bridge.

Further along we pass Blea Moor Sidlings and its signal box.

After a little more walking I get my close up view of the Ribbleshead Viaduct.

Hundreds of railway builders (“navvies”) lost their lives building the line, from a combination of accidents, fights, and smallpox outbreaks. In particular, building the Ribbleshead (then Batty Moss) viaduct, with its 24 massive stone arches 104 feet (32 metres) above the moor, caused such loss of life that the railway paid for an expansion of the local graveyard.

The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway across Batty Moss in the Ribble Valley at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire.

The viaduct was designed by John Sydney Crossley, chief engineer of the Midland Railway, who was responsible for the design and construction of all major structures along the line. The viaduct was necessitated by the challenging terrain of the route. Construction began in late 1869. It necessitated a large workforce, up to 2,300 men, most of whom lived in shanty towns set up near its base. Over 100 men lost their lives during its construction. The Settle to Carlisle line was the last main railway in Britain to be constructed primarily with manual labour.

By the end of 1874, the last stone of the structure had been laid; on 1 May 1876, the Settle–Carlisle line was opened for passenger services. During the 1980s, British Rail proposed closing the line. In 1989, after lobbying by the public against closure, it was announced that the line would be retained. Since the 1980s, the viaduct has had multiple repairs and restorations and the lines relaid as a single track. The land underneath and around the viaduct is a scheduled ancient monument; the remains of the construction camp and navvy settlements (Batty Wife Hole, Sebastopol, and Belgravia) are located there.

We eventually reach the point where the cadets set off from and we walk up the road to The Station Inn for a drink and wait for the rest of the staff to join us for dinner.

The Station Inn, licensed in 1879, was built around the same time as the viaduct and doubled as both farm and hostelry both a pub and a farm. John Kilburn, who was the local school master for over 30 years, was its first landlord. With John already in his late 70s much of the work fell to his wife Sarah and their son Tom, who later took over from his father. By the 1960’s much of the accompanying farm land had been sold off with the last landlords to still operate both Inn and (by then) a small holding being Dorothy and John Menheneott.

A great day out in the mountains and first of the Yorkshire Three Peaks done. Very well done to all the cadets so far too!