The Ingleton Waterfalls Trail and Ingleborough

Tuesday 22nd April 2014

My walk on this day was actually supposed to have been easier than the previous two days, but it didn’t turn out like that. First thing in the morning I didn’t start a long walk but I passed through the village of Ingleton to the entrance of the Waterfalls Trail ready for when it opened at 9am so I could enjoy the trail all by myself. In 2009 I walked up the western half of the trail on my way to Whernside and was disappointed not to have completed the circuit so since I was now back in Ingleton I couldn’t resist delaying the start of my planned walk in order to revisit this amazing trail that passes so many wonderful waterfalls. But my first impression as I set off was that this was a lovely woodland trail, and the waterfalls are just a nice add-on, something for the tourists. I had an enjoyable walk beside the River Twiss through gorgeous natural woodland with an abundance of wild flowers on the ground. I love woodland flowers and this walk was satisfying my passion tremendously.

The spectacular narrow ravine of Swilla Glen gave me a hint of the delights that were to come before settling for the enthralling woodland valley walk until eventually the Pecca Falls came into sight with a whole series of small waterfalls falling steeply through a narrow gorge with trees towering over the ravine on either side. A little sunshine as I passed these small waterfalls accompanied me as I climbed steeply through the gorge, and added to my delight of this fantastic trail. My disappointment on emerging from the wooded ravine was tempered by my previous experience of this trail for I knew that just around the corner was the biggest waterfall: Thornton Force and I spent quite a while wandering around, taking many pictures and gazing at the splendour of the falls in its picturesque setting.

Eventually I managed to drag myself away with the knowledge that I had to be through the trail in less than two hours, so I climbed up to the track that crosses the foot of Twistleton Scar to walk across to Beezleys and the second half of the trail. This is the section that I had failed to do five years ago, and what I found was completely different to the River Twiss, as this ravine was typified by moss-covered rock and small leafless trees. It was a most astonishing sight with a much more rugged and brutal appearance than in the previous, plant-filled valley. The River Doe winds a tortuous course through deep, narrow ravines passing over the many small waterfalls of Beezley Falls and Snow Falls. A brilliantly engineered path wound an enthralling course beside the river that was an absolute delight, especially at one point where a bridge passes over the top of a very deep ravine that was so unnerving it had me calling for my Mother!

Further down I reached a large hollowed out bowl that seemed quite shocking as it was clearly man-made, a quarry, which was jarring and disappointed me as it felt like a sudden intrusion of man's work into the stunning natural brutality of the gorge. Evidence of quarrying increased as the valley broadened and brought me into the softer surroundings of woodland, but I felt that this quarrying had detracted from the walk. The appeal of the Waterfalls Trail for me is in the abundant naturalness of it all, and when the heavy hand of man interferes it ruins the effect, permanently in the case of the quarrying even though it is long since disused. The walk was also badly affected by my rushing, especially towards the end, as I wanted to catch a bus at 11am in Ingleton, so now I’ll have to do the whole walk again when I’m next in Ingleton (what a shame…).

I caught the bus to the picturesque village of Clapham where there is a nature trail beside a lake that I was particularly tempted to take, but in the end I took an interesting path through a tunnel, under the grounds of Ingleborough Hall and along Thwaite Lane. To my left were the impressive rocks of Robin Proctor’s Scar so when the opportunity came I took a path up to the foot of the scars and to their right up onto the broad hillside above. Dotted around the area were loads of large, grey, sandstone boulders sitting, sometimes quite precariously, on small, white limestone rocks. This is the famous Norber Erratics where glaciers have carried enormous boulders down the valley to sit on top of much younger limestone rock that is slowly weathered away to leave an astonishing collection of rocks sitting precariously on the side of the hill.

Above the erratics, at the top of the hill, is a limestone pavement, which was an awe-inspiring sight, and even more interesting was looking down the gaps between the limestone slabs at the tiny plants growing in the shelter. These would never usually be found so high up but sheltered from the scorching wind and sun they have successfully found a home for themselves. I joyfully bounced along the top of the pavement slowly making my way north across the top of the hill to a track that took me down into Crummack Dale where I crossed the valley to join Moughton Lane just as it started to rain. From there, I climbed through a scar-lined cove to the top where laid out before me was a vast area of limestone pavement, much larger than what I had seen above Norber. It was tragic that it was raining so I was unable to explore and really appreciate this amazing landscape, so instead I headed along the top of the Moughton Scars, in awe of my surroundings, gradually making my way to Sulber Gate. There is a stunning view across the limestone from this point and I couldn’t help but stand in awe gazing across the limestone.

With the weather beginning to improve I decided to tackle Ingleborough, so after crossing Long Scar I reached the spectacular narrowing ravine of Trow Gill where steep rock walls slowly closed in on both sides as I climbed the dry, echoing valley, scrambling up loose stones to the top. A short distance beyond the end of the valley is Gaping Gill, a big hole in the ground that the water in Fell Beck falls into a greater distance than in any waterfall in Britain. A heavily manufactured path led me from Gaping Gill all the way up to the top of Ingleborough, and as I climbed it started to rain again. Despite the rain and low cloud I managed to reach the summit with no problems, mainly because this wasn’t my first hill climb in bad weather. A compass bearing confirmed the correct direction I should take off the hill down the south-western slopes of Ingleborough and took me all the way back into Ingleton. This was a very varied day with sunshine and waterfalls in the morning, and rain and limestone pavements in the afternoon. It was really enjoyable even though it was very long and tiring.