BB1916 : A Journey of Discovery

Tuesday 30th April 2019

The phone rang.  I had to stop the car.  I switched off the engine (honest, officer). It was the Dearly Beloved.  

<<Don>> she said, << I’ve found a blue bag by the door.  I think you forgot it.>>

<<What’s in it?>>

<<Your boots.>>

<<That’s ok, I was thinking of walking in my trainers anyway.  Anything else?>>

<<Your sun cream.>>

<<That’s ok, I can buy some on the way.  Anything else?>>

<<Your passport.>>

I decided to take the risk.  After all, I was meeting up with a true Yorkshire man who, I was confident, would vouch for me.

That was Bryan.  He was reconnoitring (recce is much easier to say, spell and type) an outing for the A team of the Kendal Fell Walkers.  He reckoned it was a 16 miler but when I saw the map I was sure it was an underestimate.  I didn’t feel confident about that.  

His plan was to go from Clapham via the Norber Erratics to Austwick then a circuitous route almost to Settle and back.  I have visited the Erratics several times. I wasn’t bothered about a re-visit.  It was the other part of the walk that interested me and, boy, was it interesting.

Robin, who currently lives in Clapham, accompanied Bryan for the first part, surviving a near vertical scree gully on his Proctor Scar cliff.  He then departed for the dentist, a less fearful activity.

I met Bryan just outside Austwick and set off on the remarkable journey of discovery.

The first discovery was the climb up into Oxenber Wood then Wharfe Wood.  

They were full of bluebells and primroses and all sorts of other wild plants and funghi.  I could pretend to know their names but I don’t.  Apart from the wild orchids.  Clearly, it was a well-known trail as we met dozens of folk enjoying the sunshine and the ambience.

Next we emerged onto open fell where we had a superb view (if you ignore the quarry) over to Pen-y-ghent .

From Smearsett Scar we dropped down  through the fields.

On the other side of the valley you could see the limestone cliff face, cut from out from the wood.

A train rushed through a cutting so that only its steam was visible.

Little Stainforth is an attractive old hamlet.....

..... with a Force where the River Ribble cascades down the rocks.

What followed, I can only sum up as astonishing.   Until Bryan told me, I had known nothing about it.  It isn’t marked on the map and signs to it are minimal.

It is a structure that could be compared to a Victorian Hadron Collider.  It is a semi-subterraneum oval shaped tunnel that from late in the 19th century until 1939 held a series of 22 large furnaces.  It is huge- about 150 yards long.  It is called a Hoffman Kiln.  If you want to know more about it, see also the Craven and Murgatroyd Limestone Kiln. Better still, go and see for yourself.  You will be amazed.

Everything thereafter was a bit of an anti-climax.  The path alongside the Ribble and through Stackhouse was pleasant.  The quarry at Giggleswick was large but so well fenced off that its full impact was hidden.  

The Schoolboys Tower cairn made a good viewpoint and place for a coffee stop. The walk along Giggleswick Scar and over to Feizor was enjoyable.  I seem to be damning them with faint praise.  They were truly worth visiting but can’t match the astonishment still lingering from the Hoffman Kiln.

At Feizor we received a call from Robin.  He had survived his visit to the dentist and had set off in search of us.  He spotted us across the field and we (including Holly, his Labrador) all returned to Austwick.  

Strangely neither could be enticed into the Game Cock Inn- they were on a mission back to Clapham to complete Bryan’s recce.  Consequently I sat solo outside the pub.  No, not with a lonesome pint.  I had discovered the local shop.  And in it, the final magnificent discovery. A Magnum ice cream lolly.  What a day!

Don, Tuesday 30th April 2019

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STATISTICS

BB1916 : A Journey of Discovery

Date:

Tuesday 30th April 2019

Features:

Norber, Oxenber Wood, Smearsett Scar,
Hoffman Kiln, Giggleswick Scar

Comitibus:

Bryan

Don,

Robin

Distance in miles (Garmin):

17.2

13.9

9.7

Height climbed in feet (OMN):

2,668

2,043

893

GPX track

BB1916.gpx

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