Saturday 16 October 2010: Lofthouse
- Distance
- 11 miles
- Difficulty
- Moderate/Hard
- Start
- 10.00am
- Location
- Lofthouse … Map of start point
- Leaders
- Jen
- Contact
- 07739 962453
Join Lofthouse walk on Facebook
Parking arrangements: If you are coming to Lofthouse from Pateley Bridge, turn right in the village. Cars can be parked in the village car park (which is past the Crown Inn), or on the grass verge (SE101736) if you follow the road with the car park on through the village up Thrope Lane, just before the village mark. Please try to share cars as the parking is limited.
Please note that if you are coming through Ripon or Masham, do not rely on the directions Google Maps gives you, as these send you along a bridleway for several miles!
This is mainly a moderate walk, but with some steep ascents and it is likely to be windy on the Dale Edge whatever the weather. This will not be a fast walk – so you will all have plenty of time to take pictures and enjoy the scenery!
We begin by walking through the pretty village of Lofthouse and join the Nidderdale Way. After walking through a rather muddy wood, we pass a farm, and then head up the valley side. The ascent here is very steep and fairly protracted, but the views of Nidderdale more than make up for it. We aim for the shooting house on the Dale Edge, where we can hide for a snack if it's pouring with rain. Then follows a nice stroll along the Dale Edge, with lovely views across Nidderdale towards Scar House reservoir, and over towards the Vale of York and Swaledale in the other direction.
The walk then descends back into the valley to rejoin a section of the Nidderdale Way which wends it's way along the undulating valley side towards the dam. We'll head across the dam to join an unmetalled road back up the valley which takes us past the remnants of the shanty town built to house the chappies who built the dam and the reservoir. This then joins the real road which we follow gradually downhill for nearly 2 miles. As we round the bend of the valley, Manchester Pot can be seen just over the river, probably hidden behind the tree which covers the entrance. Just after the little picnic area, we cross a field towards the river and can explore Goyden Pot (but only if you have a torch with you, and the water level's ok – otherwise it's a bit hard to see anything, and I refuse to be responsible for any of you drowning!) and have a look at the fossils in the rocks about the entrance. New Goyden Pot is a little further along the Nidderdale Way and is also accessible. We follow the Nidderdale way downstream (beware of nettles here!) and head back to Lofthouse along the opposite side of the river, crossing the stone bridge as we enter the village.
Dogs are permitted on this walk, but must be kept on leads at all times as much of the walk is across access land and we will meet quite a lot of livestock on this walk.
