One of Lynnie’s favourite places in the Dales is Winskill Stones. It is a spot we have walked to on a number of occasions from Brigholme Farm CL. However, because Dexter is struggling with longer walks we are going to do a short version today and start from the delightful village of Langcliffe.
We park the car in the car park besides the old school, which is now being converted into a private dwelling, and pay our dues in the honesty box. Our walk begins by heading north from the village to join a drystone walled track leading towards Langcliffe Quarry.
We ignore footpaths to our left and stay on the track with the disused quarry becoming evermore prominent in front of us.
At a gate we enter a field of pasture and follow the path as it runs close to the wall and then starts to climb besides the quarry.
Crosby and I are soon at the top of the hill admiring the view back towards Pendle Hill. It is a hot afternoon so Lynnie and Dexter make slower progress.
We now cross a meadow, when we have been here earlier in the year this is an abundance of wild flowers, sadly we are a bit too late this year to get the floral display.
After going through a wall gate we turn right on the track and head up to Upper Winskill after going through a gate besides a cattle grid we turn right on the farm driveway and follow this back towards a minor road. This area is strewn with interesting rock formations.
The limestone pavement around here is stunning, but sadly there is not as much as there once was. For some reason, probably greed, it was thought a good idea to dig up the limestone for people’s rockeries. The gardener Geoff Hamilton campaigned against this and after his death in 1996 the charity Plantlife was able to buy and safeguard the area for future generations.
We stop and enjoy the warmth of the afternoon whilst the dogs appear to enjoy the views.
From here our route is downhill on the verge of the road heading back towards Langcliffe. As the road sweeps to the right on a sharp bend we take a footpath sign to join the Pennine Bridleway through sheep pasture.
After going through a gate we continue on the bridleway as it descends across another field to a junction of paths, here we turn right and follow the route downhill through another field to the edge of Langcliffe close to our starting point.
Our walk has covered 3 miles, which is short by our standards but I have a longer day planned tomorrow when I tackle the Three Peaks for the fourth time.
To view this 3 mile walk on OS Maps Click Here
To follow my walk you will need Ordnance Survey Explorers OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern &Western
15th July 2019
© Two Dogs and an Awning (2019)