Settle, Malham, Langcliffe, Yorkshire.. [15.8 km] Fri 04th Jan 2008

After picking Eric Bell up at 6:30am we drove through a drizzly dark morning to Settle then Langcliffe. There was snow falling when we arrived and I’d planned to drive up the hill towards Malham Tarn before starting the walk. With the snowy conditions I decided to stay in Langcliffe Village and start from the car park there. It was only just coming light as we set off just after 8am and the weather was very gloomy and didn’t look promising, even though the forecast was for it to brighten up later. We started off down Main Street then a short way along the B6479 before turning left onto the minor lane called Highway. On my 1:25K map the road is almost obliterated by the Ordnance Survey’s ridiculously wide green boundary marker for the national park boundary.

A hole in the target.

The park boundary is of much less importance than the other boundaries shown and should only be indicated by a thin line so that topographical detail is clear and visible. Just above Settle we turned left up a stony walled track which headed up onto the moor. We followed the path marker steeply up towards Blua Crags but the going was steep, slippery and soon we had no visibility. In the mist we were almost in a whiteout but at least there was little wind. The snow increased in depth but not too much. The deepest we walked through all day was about 5cm. At the top of the rise we came to level ground and followed the wall, the path being buried in snow. We came to the old metal target plates which I have seen before. They were partly buried but the large holes left by what were probably large shells were very evident in the plates.

Continuing on we headed up the steep path towards Attermire Cave. It soon became quite difficult in the snow conditions and the last bit to the cave was too steep for safety so we descended back to the main path. The cave exploration will have to wait for another time. The going was much easier on the main path but there were still no views. Some highland cattle were in one of the fields completely unperturbed by the snow.

Track above Stockdale Farm

We reached Stockdale Lane and followed it to the entrance track to Stockdale Farm. There were no marks in the snow even though a vehicle was parked outside the house. We were now back on a rough track which was quite slippery in places due to the snow. The trail climbed steadily until we reached the Kirkby Fell area. A figure appeared in front and it turned out to be a runner approaching. I was amazed to see he was wearing shorts in this weather!

After a brief stop for a drink from our flasks we turned left to the restored Nappa Cross. It looks like the base of the original cross built into the wall and a new shaft fitted in the top. Originally it would have been a monastic wayside cross. There are others in the area. The path continued NE until we came to a larger and more substantial path running almost east-west. We turned left and followed it. Nobody else had passed as there were only animal tracks in the snow. We stopped behind a wall to eat our sandwiched and Eric produced a large slab of fruit cake. We shared it between us and I was certainly full when we struggled up to continue through the snow. Eventually the weather seemed to brighten a little and we had some limited distant views. A couple approached with their dogs, the only other people we were to see on the walk. We joined the main track in the vicinity of Jubilee Cave but we didn’t look for the cave. We had to take care on the final descent to the road as it was steep and covered in snow. Fortunately the gritters had been out on the road and it was the only bit of clear walking we had all day. We returned to the car back in Langcliffe and I’m glad I didn’t drive up the steep road, even though it had been gritted. We noticed there was a second-hand book sale on in the village church of St John the Evangelist. We had a look and we both bought a few books as they were only 50p each. The clear weather we had hoped for never came and later in the day it rained heavily.

Eric by the restored Nappa Cross.