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BB2321
: Dalesmen for a Day
Wednesday
5th July 2023
Established in 1939, The Dalesman claims to be Britain’s
bestselling regional magazine and Yorkshire’s favourite. My elder son, who feels
the need to convert his Dad more fully to the North, buys an annual Dalesman
subscription for me since we moved to Settle. He supports Leeds Rhinos, lives
in West Yorkshire and is a stranger to the definite article… say no more. So
what has that to do with today’s walk you may ask? Let’s see.
Stan and Tony had both made the journey south to Settle,
lured by the promise of hot sausage buns which had been duly prepared by Jonna,
complete with all the trimmings. If we started from home the planned walk was over
ten miles but would be two miles shorter if we drove across town. “Can’t resist
that,” said Tony. He’d said much the same about the sausages. So piling into my
car we drove to the swimming pool car park on the far side of town.
We set out on a track which at this place is both the Dales
High Way and the Ribble Way which run alongside the town football pitches, past
the rock-strewn bed of a depleted River Ribble.....
.....
and over the field-path to the
handsome hamlet of Stackhouse. Then up through the beech woods.....
.....
to
join the Pennine Journey long-distance path
with Pendle on the far horizon behind us.....
.....
and Pen-Y-Ghent looming ahead
in the distance.
We passed what looks like an ancient stone circle
but no mention on the map. Soon we were on Feizor Thwaite.
This is expansive grazing land, peaceful, gently
undulating, rock-scarred, with long views towards Ingleborough under lowering
skies. First Austwick, then Feizor appearing shortly after, hidden lower in the
valley
Feizor is a quiet, quaint and mildly interesting place, the
names of some of the cottages confirming its farming heritage. Taking a cuppa and
a bite at the famous Elaine’s Tea Rooms in Feizor was considered but recalling
the sausage buns it was agreed to press on with some reluctance at just past
mid-day. Walking on through Feizor, along Kiln Hill Lane, up the rise of Feizor
Nick leaving behind the Dales High Way, near an entrance to Wharfe Wood lunch
with Stan’s excellent flapjack for pudding was enjoyed at a sheltered limestone outcrop providing
comfortable seats.
From the corner of Wharfe Wood we took the grass road east..... 
.....to Hargreaves Barn; the surrounding
landscape here showing the Dales to be more pastoral than the wilder expanses. The
sky remained overcast but the threatened rain held off; the wind - forecast to
be merely a light breeze - was gusting with a keen edge even when the sun shone
briefly. On reaching Stainforth Lane we turned right to walk the short distance
on the Pennine Bridleway to Little Stainforth and the now boarded-up Knights Stainforth
Hall which local legend claims belonged to a Knight Templar and is pre-Norman.
The early 18th C date stone above the door disputes that. 
We wandered down the lane to
the packhorse bridge and the placid Stainforth Falls 
now back on the Ribble Way to the weir and
salmon leap at the footbridge below Langcliffe
where we headed up the track
towards Stackhouse. Then across the fields to the edge of Lord’s Wood where a
well-trodden pathway emerges out onto The Mains of new Giggleswick with its
fine mansions, houses and bungalows.
At the end of The Mains it’s decision time again - back to
the car parked half a mile away or to the pub just down theroad?
The Black Horse Inn, in the
heart of old Giggleswick Village, and dating back to 1663 and where we took
refreshment, sits next door to the 14th century St Akelda’s Church,
one of only two in the UK named for a Saint who met a grisly end – but that’s
for another time. Then the stroll back to the car. And the relevance of The Dalesman
magazine… it has a regular feature filling the back page called A Grand Day Out. Dalesmen for a day and
Eee! T’wer a Grand Day Out!
Robin,
Wednesday 7th July 2021
Photos by Tony
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