Aysgarth Falls and Mill Gill Force

Saturday 19th April 2014

After going to the Lake District many times last year I decided that this year I would go to places that I was less familiar with or that I had never been to before. Everywhere you turn in the Lake District it looks stunning, there are great sights and places wherever you go, from little streams to grand mountain scenes, which makes it very appealing and difficult to avoid. The rest of the country gets neglected simply because it can’t compete with the wonders of the Lake District, especially on a wider, grand scale where the only places that can possibly compete with it are the Highlands of Scotland or Snowdonia in Wales. However, if you narrow your focus there are small pockets that can outshine even the best that the Lake District has to offer and it was to look for these gems that I came to the Yorkshire Dales last Easter, where I am reliably informed it is easier to find these gems than elsewhere in the country.

I’ve only been to the Yorkshire Dales twice, first in 2004, and again in 2009 when I walked through the park on the Pennine Way. This time I wanted to spent more time there and try to find those hidden gems that while easy to find in the Lake District, are a little more elusive elsewhere. The wider view in the Yorkshire Dales is of vast upland moors and gently curved valleys with occasional thin lines of limestone, known as scars, on the sides of some of the valleys. Compared to the grand views in the Lake District and the Highlands of Scotland it’s not particularly inspiring, but if you look down instead of up there are some very special sights, and number one in the gems of the Yorkshire Dales are its waterfalls, and among its most popular are the Aysgarth Falls, which I’d never seen before.

Following a frustratingly long journey to get to the Yorkshire Dales (on four different trains and three different buses) I eventually arrived in the picturesque village of Aysgarth in Wensleydale. Finally I was able to start walking as I passed through many squeeze gates (typical of the Yorkshire Dales) and descended steeply to the River Ure where I found the High Force of Aysgarth Falls. There were loads of people nearby relaxing, picnicking, and enjoying the sight of the falls, which are not particularly high, but are stretched across a wide river in an idyllic woodland setting. I was actually more enamoured of the limestone steps besides the river bank that were fun to walk on and it wasn’t long before I returned to the road and headed towards the Middle Force, past the National Park Centre and into Freeholders' Wood, which was an absolute delight.

For me, the waterfalls were not as appealing as the woodland flowers that were growing in Freeholders' Wood, most notably dog’s mercury, primroses and wood anemones that had formed vast blankets of white flowers across the woodland floor. It was a pity that other flowers like bluebells were not yet in flower, but the wood anemones more than made up for the lack of anything else. Middle Force, seen from a high vantage point, didn’t seem to be able to compete with the glorious display of woodland flowers as I continued down river through fantastic carpets of wood anemones until I reached the Lower Force where a fun, little scramble gave me access onto the limestone slabs of the river bank. From there I had a great sight of the multiple falls of Lower Force, but I felt my view was hindered by the large number of people in the area so I soon climbed back up into the woodland.

Leaving the waterfalls and woodland behind I took a small circular walk around the farm of Hollins House before returning to Freeholders' Wood on a different path that gave me another opportunity to sample the delights of the gorgeous woodland flowers that bedeck this wonderful wood. Reluctantly I eventually left the wood and returning past High Force I climbed back up to the village of Aysgarth where I caught a bus to the village of Worton. My target now was another waterfall, this time on a small tributary river and not on the River Ure itself. I crossed Wensleydale and after passing through the west end of the village of Askrigg I took a path into Mill Gill, a delightful little tree-lined valley that was full of fragrant ramsons, also known as wild garlic. Despite not being in flower the garlic still produced a great display carpeting the whole valley and hiding traces of the old mills that used to be in the valley.

Eventually the path dropped down to the stream at the foot of Mill Gill Force, a much taller but considerably narrower waterfall than those found at Aysgarth. It is housed in a dark amphitheatre of high rock walls clothed in lesser celandines whose yellow flowers gave the scene some delightful colour. This was a spectacular sight, but my memory of the falls will be marred by what happened as I began to leave Mill Gill Force when I dropped one of my walking poles into the stream, and ended up getting rather wet and covered in mud trying to retrieve it. Sometimes I think poles are more trouble than they’re worth. I could see a sign to Whitfield Gill, further upstream, so I followed the path but it led nowhere except higher up the bank of the valley. After reaching a deep-end with no sight of, but within earshot of, the reputedly spectacular Whitfield Gill Force I came back down the path and after crossing the deep, craggy, narrow valley I climbed up the opposite bank and onto Low Straights Lane.

This led me steeply down the hill back into Askrigg and after crossing Wensleydale I reached Worton where I had a thirty minute wait for my fifth bus of the day. The weather had been fabulous for this walk with the patchy cloud while I had been at Aysgarth clearing to leave a gorgeously sunny end to the day, but I was disappointed with the second walk of the day, not just because of my mishap with my poles or my inability to see Whitfield Gill Force, but because there were not as many woodland flowers on this walk. All day I was disappointed there were not more woodland plants in flower, though what there was had put on such a glorious display so I should not have complained. Despite spending most of the day on a train or a bus I did manage to see some real gems of the Yorkshire Dales in Freeholders' Wood and Mill Gill.

The Sheffield Round Walk Revisited

Saturday 15th March 2014

Sheffield is a heavily industrialised city, famous for its steel works, however it has two calls to fame. Firstly, I spent three years there at University, and secondly, the south-western segment, which extends into the Peak District National Park, is unusually wooded for such an industrial city. When I was at University in Sheffield I went around the signposted Sheffield Round Walk and thought I'd failed to complete it after being unable to locate its continuation after passing through Graves Park. Eight years ago I returned to Sheffield to complete the walk in the company of my sister at a time when there was a little snow on the ground. Unfortunately on that occasion we had to abandon the walk before reaching Graves Park as it was getting late. Since it is now twenty years since I graduated from University I felt it would be a good idea to revisit the walk and the city that was my home for three years.

First thing in the morning I caught a train to Sheffield and walked through the quiet city centre  all the way out to Hunter's Bar, a place that I’d visited many times when I was at Uni and is the start of the Sheffield Round Walk. It was great to be back. Near Hunter's Bar is Endcliffe Park, a delightful place that I often used to walk around on warm summer's evenings, and it was very busy now with dozens of people of all ages running around the park. I don’t know why, but it forced me to take paths away from the crowds on rougher tracks beside the Porter Brook where wild garlic fragrantly grew beside the river bank. It is a pity I wasn’t doing this walk later in the spring when the garlic would be in bloom, but there was still a delightful display of daffodils and crocuses to decorate my walk through the park.

The walk continues beside the Porter Brook through woodland that brings back so many happy memories for me of the many walks that I have taken in the Porter Valley and it was a pleasure to be back. The weather forecast for this day had been cloudy and windy, but although it was windy the sun came out as I walked up the Porter Valley and afforded me with a great day for a walk through the supposedly grimy city of Sheffield. As I walked through the wooded valley it was hard to believe that I was still in the city of Sheffield and there were houses at the top of the steep sides of the valley. After passing the Shepherd Wheel and through more delightful woodland I eventually reached Forge Dam, which was usually the limit of my evening strolls through the Porter Valley. Beyond the old mill pond I climbed the narrowing Porter Clough eventually reaching a road that marks the edge of the Peak District, having walked right from the city centre to the national park.

It was very windy as I walked along the road past the Mayfield Alpaca Centre that I’d distinctly remembered seeing the last time I’d been on the walk, in 2006. Now, when I reached the Ringinglow Road I went onto another footpath that gradually descends into the Limb Valley, a broader valley, but also filled with trees, as I slowly dropped down to the Ecclesall Road, and continued beside the Limb Brook into Ecclesall Woods. These are quite extensive woods, the largest semi-natural woodland in the county, but I was not able to see all of it on this walk as I followed the signs that directed me beside the stream through the woods and down to Abbeydale Road. A short walk along this busy road took me past the Dore and Totley railway station and after climbing over the River Sheaf and the railway line I continued to climb steeply through Ladies’ Spring Wood.

This ancient woodland was bedecked in a gorgeous array of woodland plants that unfortunately at this time of the year was not yet in bloom, though I’m sure a month later it is a tremendous display. At the top of the hill, looking down on the railway, I walked along the edge of the escarpment to the remains of Beauchief Abbey and a golf course. I am not a fan of golf so I quickly, and silently, nipped past the golf course to a short walk through Parkbank Wood that brought me onto Greenhill Avenue where a path led me behind the houses into another wondrous wooded valley that I would never have known was there if I’d been driving along Greenhill Avenue. I couldn’t help but think how lucky the people who live in Sheffield are to have so much delightful woodland within their city. A wonderful walk through Chancet Wood brought me onto the Chesterfield Road, where my sister and I had abandoned our attempt of the Sheffield Round Walk in 2006.

A short walk up the road that I have driven along many times brought me to the edge of Graves Park and Cobnar Wood, a steep sided valley that seemed to be such a special place that I decided I would stop there to have my lunch. When I had finished my lunch I followed the path beside the stream that took me out of the valley and into the popular Graves Park, the largest park in Sheffield. At the far end of the park I reached Hemsworth Road where I’d gone the wrong way in 1992, turning left down to the Chesterfield Road, but now I turned right. Considering the fact that I didn’t have a map in 1992 and was blindly following the signposts I don’t think I did too badly and it is quite possibly that at that time this had actually been the end of the Sheffield Round Walk. Now I checked on a map and so turned right beside the busy road until I reached the New Inn, which I remember stopping at when my sister and I later returned to the round walk to cover the section that we’d missed.

At this point a path took me past another golf course into an area with fewer, less developed trees than I’d encountered earlier, where the terrain looked more abandoned rather than wild and so held less interest for me. As I approached the Gleadless Valley Nature Reserve the scenery began to improve, but before going very far into the reserve the round walk turned towards the west back into the city to return to Hunter's Bar. The delights were now few, but among them was a steep descent through the typical Victorian municipal park of Meersbrook, which commands extensive views over the city. After passing over the Chesterfield and Abbeydale Roads, a brief excursion along the top of Brincliffe Edge failed to compensate for having to walk through endless Victorian city streets in order to get back to Hunter's Bar. I am not a city person, but if I had to name a favourite city it would definitely be Sheffield. It won my heart when I was there twenty years ago, and I have continued to be drawn there ever since.