Lindley Wood: 9 May 2010
- Distance
- 12 miles
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Location
- Norwood Edge … Map of start point
- Transport
- Dalesbus 820 during the summer
- Leader
- Stevie
As the weather at the start was a little chilly, there only one pair of bare legs. We set off through Stainburn Forest on an easy if somewhat muddy path through the pine woods, to reach the rocky outcrop of Little Alms Cliff, where we had a short break for photos, bouldering and admiring the views to the north over the windfarm and golf balls of Menwith Hill. A long straight track took us south towards Lindley Wood, and then we struck off across farmland and through fields of hundreds of straggly sheep and lambs, to a lunch spot by a tumbledown stone building with views over the reservoir.
After lunch, we dropped down into the valley, on a level path through a very pretty bluebell wood, with many many stops for photos, as the path ran along the side of Lindley Wood reservoir. Crossing the water on a road bridge, we picked up another path along the other side to a footbridge over the river. As promised beforehand, this was an opportunity to play Poohsticks, although with the water barely moving, it was probably the slowest game ever, and some of the sticks never made it to the other side.
After returning across farmland, a short climb up Jack Hill and back to the cars through the forest, we headed up the road to the Sun Inn for a drink in the garden, and everyone agreed it was absolutely the best walk they had ever been on in the whole of their lives. [Editor's note: this is what happens when we let the webmaster do the write-up of his own walks]
Photos by Stevie