Embsay CrookriseCragBurnsall&ThorpeFellLowerBardonResHaltonHeightEmbsayCragEmbsay 17th March 2006 & 22nd January 2010 A Cross, Memorial and Reservoirs |
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Parking: The car park is in the centre of the village off the main road. It is well marked and free. There is another car park at Embsay reservoir. Neither has a toilet. But next to the car park in the village is a public house and there are tea rooms at the mill on the road back to Skipton. The Walk From the back of the car park take the left hand path to Pasture Road (FP). As you enter the field there is a notice asking you to keep your dog on a lead to prevent further injury to sheep. It makes you wonder. The path goes up to a wall and turns left over the wall essentially following along the bottom of a number of fields at the back of the school crossing walls using stiles well marked with yellow spots. At Pasture Road there is a mill pond system. You drop down to the road at the top pond. Turn right and head up the road towards Embsay Reservoir. At first junction, just under the dam wall take the left hand fork and follow the FP sign post marked to Embsay Fell and Embsay Kirk Fell.Continue to climb until you reach the reservoir. Here is another parking area - owned by the Water Board. At the reservoir there is a second FP to Embsay Kirk Fell - 13/4 mile and Embsay Fell 1 mile. At top end of the reservoir the road turns left. There is a sign saying no public access along the road. In the fence on right there is a stile - access to open country side. Cross the stile and turn left following the fence up the side of the road until you are just above the buildings at Tattersall Green. Here turn right and follow the right hand side of a wall. The path climbs up the side of Crookside Wood and up onto Crookside Crag. It's a good climb and a reasonable path. The rocky eminence to the east is 'Deerstones' a reminder of the days when herds of deer roamed these parts.You soon reach Crookside Crags. The edge is a few yards over the wall. The summit and the trig point of Crookrise is 1361 ft and on the opposite side of the wall to the path. You continue along the right hand side of the wall and a little further along views opens out further country to the North and on a clear day the flat topped summit of the noblest of all northern hills can be seen peeping over the left shoulder of Kirkby Fells - Ingleborough. Eventually the ground starts to drop down into Waterfall Gill Beck. Here the path turns right leaving the wall and dropping under Hellifield Crag before descending just above a waterfall to the Beck. Cross the Beck and climb up to a wall at the top of the beck above you. Here you pick up a path along the right hand side of the wall. Soon you meet and cross the path that runs from Rylstone to Halton Heights. If you turn left here you drop down and pass the site of Norton Tower on the left. Rylstone Cross will be visible ahead. Keep alongside the wall, the path leads past Rylstone Crags where many fine rock problems including 2/3 40ft climbs. Climb up the side of the wall towards the Cross. Again you have to cross the wall to get to the Cross. This is in an airy position overlooking the valley running from Flashby to Cracoe. In the far distance the next feature, Cracoe War Memorial, stands out prominently on Watt Crag. Keep on right hand side of the wall until get to the war memorial. It provides an excellent panorama of the countryside including Ingleborough Whernside & Buckden Pike. At the memorial looking east you can see Upper Barden Reservoir. From the war memorial the path begins to descend. Keep once again to the wall and pass Peter's Crag, Bartle Crag and finally Rolling Gate Crags is reached. After Peter's Crag you pick up the line of a shooting track. Eventually the wall bends left and falls down the hillside. Don't turn down hill but keep on the shooting track which above Rolling Gate Crags turns right and heads just south of east. The track twists and turns somewhat but generally heads eastwards. Paths go off to the left - north - and towards Thorpe. Soon you come across a shooting hut - not marked on the map. There is a house and out shed. In the out shed were benches. TS found a water proof in a bag. From the hut you could see the Tarn at the top of Gill Beck and a chimney - marked on the map. Eventually the track splits. You can take either track. The right hand path drops to the Tarn and on down to Nelly Park Wood joining the left hand track above Simm Bottom. While the left hand path heads towards Numberstones End. Soon the track turns south east and descends across Simm Bottom. The track makes the going easy if muddy and crosses Gill Beck before climbing up to a 5 bar gate in a wall with Nelly Park Wood to your left. Go through the gate and turn right up a track which follows the left hand side of a wall. The track heads west of south climbing Long Band Flat towards a small coppice - not on the map. It's a pleasant climb to the coppice, through a gate and out the other side.(2010) The coppice has been chopped down and the trees burnt. You can still see the stumps. After the coppice the high point of the path is reached which now starts to descend to the Low Barden Resevoir. As you descend views of the reservoir opens up and beyond Halton Heights is on the horizon. Into the top of the reservoir Barden Beck flows and if you look back up the Beck the dam wall of the Upper Barden Reservoir can be seen. How to cross the reservoir? As you drop down to the top of the reservoir you come to a track which goes up to Upper Barden Reservoir. From here a path drops down diagonally left to an embankment at the top end of the reservoir. A good crossing point. The map indicates a path across it. Take the path through the bracken leading to the embankment. BUT when you get there there is a sign saying no public access to the embankment! Presumably this means the southern bank of the reservoir. A path takes you across the embankment, in the middle of which is a fence and stile. At the far side of the embankment a metal footbridge gives you access to the northern side of the reservoir. At the far side the path climbs to a track and a finger post saying left to Halton Height. So turn left on the track and walked down the reservoir. Walk along the track for 0.8km until you reach a T junction with a track which runs from the reservoir dam wall to the Embsay/Barden Bridge road. At the junction another sign says you can't access the embankment. Turn right along track (FP) and climb up to the road. It's a good climb of over 0.5km. At the road turn right (FP). Don't take the track immediately on right. Walk up the road across the bridge and after twisting round a bend turn right up a track (FP Rylstone). Don't follow the track too far. Climb up a short distance then branch off on the left hand side heading due west on a weak track heading towards an outcrop. Behind the first outcrop is a further outcrop and large cairn which hides the trig point at High Crag on Halton Height. From High Crag the days route opens out. What you can now see is Embsay Crag to the west. Contour along the moor heading west towards the trees which is boundaried by a wall. When you reach the wall turn right and follow it west towards Embsay Crag. The path is a little boggy in places, but its clear which way to go. Just before you reach Heugh Gill you have a choice of routes. You can turn left and drop down to Eastby (see below) and on to Embsay saving 1.5miles or you can go up Embsay Crag. For Embsay Crag cross Heugh Gill and carry on by the wall until you reach a path that is broad and well trodden that leads up Embsay Crag. There are posts with blue markings to follow. A lot of people have clearly been up the Crag. It's a nice climb to the top where there are good views of Lower Wharfedale and Embsay. The path down to the reservoir is clear. The top of the descent is more like a Lakeland but it opens into a peat track. At the reservoir follow the track to the right to where the access point to the moors is reached where we started in the morning. Turn left and walk down the road past the reservoir and mill pond. At the bottom mill pond and on the left hand side of the road is a Manor House dated 1665. Idyllic. A little further on the right hand side is a closed mill factory boarded up but over a door it still said employees, drivers and tradesmen only! Keep taking the left hand road past the school with lots of cars parked outside and only room for one to travel up. At the road junction there is a pub. Turn left and just past the pub is the car park. A welcome sight. For Eastby turn left over a stile before the path drops and crosses Heugh Gill. The path heads diagonally right along the left hand side of a wall to a stile by a gate. Over the wall the path/track heads down the left hand side of Heugh Gill. The Gill is below you of the right and after crossing a wall you then cross a track before dropping down through an area that looked as if there had been mining. At the bottom of this the path drops into a wooded glade, which can be rather muddy. At the bottom of the glade you cross a stile (FP) and walk down a short track to the main road at Eastby. Turn right and in 30m turn left down an access (FP) track which takes you down the left hand side of a row of cottages before turning right and walking down the back of the cottages. After crossing a stile the path goes down the left hand side of an allotment area. From here you cross a couple of stiles and a field and enter the left hand side of a farm by hay covered in plastic sheeting and tyres. At the yard turn right and walk through the farm yard ( the way is well marked with yellow way markers) turning left before the cow shed and walking out of the farm down its access road. The Beck is on your right. After 400m the track turns right over the Beck and walk along the bottom of a field to the left of Greenfield House. Here you meet a road (FP). Turn right and walk up into Embsay. The road soon bends left. Carry on straight past the Methodist Church, past an old black letter box on your left and soon the car park is on your right. Summary A good walk and on a good day there are opportunities to lengthen the walk - to Thorpe/ Burnsall or change direction going to Cracoe and Rylstone. You can shorten the route coming down via Eastby rather than going onto Embsay Crag. Route finding is straight forward and there are good paths and tracks all the way round. There are always lots of grouse and pheasant on the tops
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