Conistone, Gurling Trough, Conistone Dib, Grassington & Kilnsey - Saturday 26 February 2022
Route
Conistone - Gurling Trough - Conistone Dib - Dales Way - Grassington - Threshfield - Long Ashes - Threshfield Quarry - Kilnsey - Conistone
Parking
Verge parking at Conistone Bridge - please park sensibly. The Grid Reference is SD 97796 67508 and the nearest postcode is BD23 5HS.
Mileage
10.2 miles
Terrain
Good woodland, farm tracks and paths throughout with some road walking along quiet lanes. There is some mild scrambling through Gurling Trough & Conistone Dib.
Weather
Sunny spells with strong breezes
Time Taken
5hrs 15mins
Total Ascent
1341ft (409m)
Map
OL2 - Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western Areas)
Walkers
Dave, Angie & Fudge
Conistone - Gurling Trough - Conistone Dib - Dales Way - Grassington - Threshfield - Long Ashes - Threshfield Quarry - Kilnsey - Conistone
Parking
Verge parking at Conistone Bridge - please park sensibly. The Grid Reference is SD 97796 67508 and the nearest postcode is BD23 5HS.
Mileage
10.2 miles
Terrain
Good woodland, farm tracks and paths throughout with some road walking along quiet lanes. There is some mild scrambling through Gurling Trough & Conistone Dib.
Weather
Sunny spells with strong breezes
Time Taken
5hrs 15mins
Total Ascent
1341ft (409m)
Map
OL2 - Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western Areas)
Walkers
Dave, Angie & Fudge
GPX File
If the above GPX file fails to download or presents itself as an XML file once downloaded then please feel free to contact me and I will send you the GPX file via e-mail.
Route Map
We were staying in Conistone therefore started the walk direct from the door of our cottage
From the centre of the village a driveway to the right of several properties leads to a gate
At the gate a way mark sign points the way to Conistone Dib
From the gate the route climbs a short rocky wall. Walkers can either go around to the left or ascend up the rocks to the right. Fudge was sent on ahead to provide some scale as to the height of the rock wall.
Entering the miniature limestone gorge of Gurling Trough. The gorge is a narrow melt-water channel so called because the channel was formed by erosion cutting into the rock and sediment by flowing water beneath or close to ice-sheet margins. No water flows through here anymore.
The entrance to Gurling Trough
Hawthorn springs out from the rock walls as we make our way through the gorge
Midway through the gorge. Apart from some loose stone the transit through is easy enough.
Approaching the exit from the gorge
The exit of Gurling Trough is via a thin limestone groove
I make my way carefully through the limestone groove whilst Fudge clambers through as though I am about to disappear into the abyss with his lunch. As always Fudge waits for my command to come through. (Click Play to view)
Once clear of the groove the route opens up to continue through the dry limestone valley of Conistone Dib
The limestone flanks of the dib soon give way to grassy slopes
Continuing through the dib - this was just glorious walking
Roughly half way through the dib a gate on the right leads to a path that climbs gently up to the Dales Way. Despite Fudge thinking that was our route, we were off to the left to gain the Dales Way path via a rocky scramble.
The gate to the left in the previous photograph with the rocky scramble ahead
Looking back to the easier path which is through the gate over to the left. The outcrop just right of centre is Bull Scar on Old Pasture.
This old water trough would probably be worth a few bob - that is if you could manage to lift it out!
Approaching the exit scramble - Fudge gives us one of his "Kingdom of Fudge" poses
The going starts to get more rocky and uneven as the base of the scramble is reached
Another pose for the camera from our little chap......
....... and a close up
And up we go
The business end of the scramble starts at a small hand gate
The final part of the scramble is up through a small rocky chute. As can be seen, Fudge is already up, out & mocking my progress.
Looking back down the scramble as Angie makes her way up
At the top of the scramble the route meets The Dales Way. We completed this walk in 2014 and the blog is here
Looking back down into Conistone Dib and our route of ascent
The route crosses several stone walls via wooden gates as it heads towards Grassington
Passing a large lime kiln as we near Grassington. Lime kilns were used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). This was mostly used to improve grassland by reducing the acidity of the soil, especially of intake land or reclaimed moorland during the enclosures of the 18th and 19th centuries. Slaked lime was also an important ingredient in making lime mortar.
The path passes a large limestone rock which makes a nice chair to rest up in
Nearing Grassington the route enters a walled rough track
Eventually the path drops into Grassington at Town Head at the northern end of the village
An interesting shop in Grassington with even more interesting goods
Near the Grassington House Hotel is this large stone pig
Near the stone pig is Joe 90's weekend place
We stopped in Grassington for a bite to eat, purchased from Walkers Bakery which does excellent sandwiches, pies etc.
The main thoroughfare in Grassington - called unsurprisingly, Main Street
Leaving Grassington the route heads west out of the village to enter Threshfield
To quote Neil in The Young Ones reference the bath water - "it's a bit cloudy Rick"
Having walked along the B6160 the route turns left on to Skirethorns Lane
Just over a quarter of a mile along Skirethorns Lane a path heads off to the right. This was familiar territory to us as the path leads to the Caravan Site at Long Ashes.
From Long Ashes we now headed for the Threshfield Quarry & Limeworks. The rail trucks were used to move the limestone out of the quarry.
Just after the quarry entrance is a signpost where there is a choice of two onward routes. The route straight on goes via the quarry floor and the one straight on climbs to a path that skirts the quarry from above on its eastern side. Both routes are excellent walks.
The view from above Threshfield Quarry. The area is owned by Tarmac with Limestone quarried here until 2000. Nowadays the quarry lies empty with its future development remaining unknown. In 2020 the quarry's "Blue Lagoon" had to be drained of water and the quarry closed for a while. This was because local youths were using the area to hold "Ibiza Style" gatherings during the Covid lockdown.
Looking into the quarry from near the top of the eastern side. The quarry feels and appears as if the workers and the equipment only left yesterday.
At the eastern tip the route turns to the west
The path across the northern end of the quarry leads to a hand gate. As instructed, we passed through, turned left and handrailed the wall line.
Looking back to Threshfield Quarry from the wall
Fudge delights in the fact that he has found a patch of snow to arse about in
Looking back down the wall line to the limestone pavement
The route handrails the wall for roughly a third of a mile to reach a signpost for Kilnsey - our next destination
Heading over Kilnsey Moor towards the junction with Mastiles Lane
From the junction with Mastiles Lane the route joins a rough track then a tarmac lane to arrive above Kilnsey
Time for a bit of cake and a drink at Kilnsey Park Trout Farm Cafe
Suitably refreshed it was now just a matter of walking safely along the B6160 back to Conistone