Ilkley to Appletreewick
Tuesday 14th August 2007
12 miles walking
Click here for all our photos from this walk.
Our room at Dalesway Hotel overlooked the traffic lights on the main road through Ilkley, and we had not been able to shut the window completely, so we'd feared it would be rather noisy. However we slept well and had a good breakfast. We left the hotel around 9.30am and parted company with Tom, who was heading home to Surrey. We went into Ilkley to buy provisions for lunch, then retraced our steps from last night, along the river to the packhorse bridge which is the official start of the Dales Way. We took photographs at the 'For those who walk the Dales Way' seat, then set off around 10am. It rained from time to time but there were also clear periods.
We followed the river (the Wharfe) through the pretty villages of Low Mill, Addringham and High Mill. The church is Addringham is one of a number of local churches with a blue-faced clock. We passed the Farfield Friends Meeting House (one of the earliest Quaker meeting houses) and Bolton Bridge and then the monastic ruin of Bolton Priory came into view. It was raining, so we headed into Bolton Abbey (the village) for shelter and lunch. We had a cup of tea then found a very convenient picnic table under shelter, by the village notice board, phone box and letter box.
The weather eased as we were eating so we got a slightly better view of Bolton Priory as we walked past it. Then we followed the river to Cavendish Pavilion (basically a car park) and into Strid Wood, a very attractive SSSI.
We eventually came to 'The Strid' itself, a narrow gorge, a pretty if dangerous spot - apparently the water is around 9 metres deep. We had more of a problem because of the slippery rocks, presumably because of the rain. There were 'sculptures', including one of a dog, formed by a sort of basket-weaving. Legend has it was the drowning of Alice de Romille's son in the strid in the 12th Century that led his mother to found Bolton Priory.
We continued through the woods and eventually crossed the river by a bridge (technically an aquaduct 'carrying Nidderdale water to Bradford taps') and on past Barden Tower (just visible in the trees) to Barden Bridge.
It was now raining quite heavily, so the final leg of the journey, via Howgill to Appletreewick, was distinctly damp. The scenery was pretty, but my feet had started to squelch! So it was quite a relief to find the path up to Appletreewick, with the New Inn clearly visible straight ahead of us. We were shown to very comfortable rooms (ours overlooked the path back the way we came), where we were able to change out of our damp clothes before enjoying a half-pint of cider in the bar. We had a quick walk along the single road that comprises the village. Appletreewick (apparently pronounced 'Ap'trick') was recorded in the Domesday Book and there are some lovely old buildings, including Low Hall, Mock Beggar Hall and High Hall.
We decided to eat early, but the New Inn's chef had let them down so we had to wait for someone else to come in. We had a lovely meal in the end and the fact that our room was directly above the bar didn't stop us getting an excellent night's sleep.
