Great Little Walks

GLW1109 : Lune & Howgill

Sunday 28th August 2011

Howgill is a nice little hamlet between the Lune and Sedbergh, on the windward side of the range of hills that shares its name.

Howgills from Howgill, Holty Trinity Church in view

Howgill washing

We parked by the small but attractive looking Holy Trinity Church and headed west, through the hamlet down to Thwaite Farm then south to Smithy Beck and west to join the Dales Way by the side of the Lune.

We had previously walked this section of the Dales Way, albeit in a southerly direction, in May 2007 and it was interesting to see it in reverse.  As we observed at the time, it is a lovely stretch of river along which to walk, albeit a bit boggy at times and with one short section that is slightly exposed to a steep drop .

At Crook of Lune Bridge (which Jamie will remember well from his early motoring days- as he discovered, the bridge is barely wide enough for a car to cross!) we met two ladies with clipboards who were walking the footpaths for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.  We had nothing adverse to report.  It is a pity we didn't meet them a little bit later!

North from Crook of Lune Bridge

Having left the Dales Way, still heading north, we lunched by the river, waiting for a kingfisher to emerge.  Eventually one obliged and flew up stream, flashing his feathers as he went by!  

Looking back to the old and the older bridges

Leaving the Lune, we passed through the fields to Brunt Sike, our turning point.  This is where we could have done with the two ladies.  All signs for footpaths had disappeared and what we eventually concluded was the legitimate route involved passing through the garden and over a locked gate.  However, once home and looking again at the map, this time on the computer at much larger scale, I might be doing the owners a disservice as it now looks as if the path goes round to the east of the houses.  In my defence, I did explore that possibility and no access was to be seen.

Once past Gate House, with metal hat in a junk pile, we took the footpath down to Riddings and the more or less direct route to Gate Side.

From there it was a short stroll back to the car.  Before leaving, we thought we would inspect the Holy Trinity Church, only to find that there was a service in process with the vicar and two parishioners.  Our apologies for intruding.

Don, 28th August 2011

Here are some more photos from the walk:

STATISTICS

For more, click on Great Little Walks 2009 or Great Little Walks 2010

E-mail addresses on this web site are protected by

 Spam Trawlers will be further frustrated by
 Spam Blocker: help fight spam e-mail!  

These pages are
photo archives of
Don and Margaret's
Great
Little
Walks

2011

For more,
click on
Great Little Walks

 BOOT boys

Home Page