An hour later I was parked up in the main square in Settle. It was like stepping back in time slightly, a makeshift newspaper stand was selling the Sunday papers, old lady’s were walking into the square to buy the papers and get a pint of milk, it was a very quaint, very quiet, and very nice to be honest! I don’t think I had ever stopped in Settle before, I am not sure if I have ever even been there, but it was a nice change to be in a sleepy looking place before most people woke up. I had the usual trouble of trying to keep Sam quiet whilst I put my boots on, he was just so impatient to be off that he loudly announced it to the whole world, well the residents of Settle at least.
We walked up Constitution Hill and soon opened the gate that led onto Banks Lane passing a lady who was sorting out a few horses in a small field. Banks Lane was a nice track between stone walls made up of gravel, at first I thought the gradient was relatively easy but my eager pace soon slowed and a glance back over Settle showed how high we had walked up already, no wonder my legs felt a bit rubbery! At the end of Banks Lane another gate led past on old barn that had no roof now and onto the open fields. An obvious path led up and around a small outcrop of rock before eventually levelling off beneath Blua Crags.
This was a relief for me as I was quickly realising how much the effects of Christmas had affected my legs, well that is my excuse! With the wind at my back now and the ground much leveller the pace started to pick up again. We walked along a grass promenade, I could get used to this sort of path, very easy and springy underfoot and straight as an arrow under what AW and the map called Warrendale Knotts.
After passing through numerous walls with no gates or restrictions to forward progress the path started to loose height and a wonderful panorama opened up before us. Directly ahead was Attermire Scar and to the left the very impressive Warrendale Knotts.
After yet another wall I decided it was time for a coffee break. I managed to find a rock big enough to sit on, not easy up here and enjoyed the view from behind the shelter of the wall. Looking behind at the way we had come a black opening beckoned but we had grander ideas about visiting caves later on. Warrendale Knotts and Attermire Scar looked very impressive from here. For some reason they looked much larger than they actually are, it felt as if I was entering some sort of Grand Canyon but when we did get nearer the size diminished, very strange but very nice. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like on a nice warm summers day up here, probably very busy!.
Further down the slope we came across the old targets of a rifle range that AW mentions. There were at least 4 of these targets lying about, with one still in an upright position. This was interesting because you could see how the targets were held in position, just looking at the targets on the floor would have left you guessing as to what they actually were. These ¼ inch steel plates that must have weighed rather a lot! Two interesting things I noticed, the targets had a manufactures name and date of 1880 on them and the size of the holes in a “used” target indicated a calibre of weapon much larger than a mere rifle!
Leaving the targets behind we neared Attermire Scar, as I said before the nearer we got the smaller it seemed to be, weird! An obvious path led up some scree towards Attermire Cave but with the splatter of rain now accompanying us I just did not fancy a closer inspection, which is a bit daft because one of the reasons this walk was chosen was to do some exploring around caves!
Turning left we started a little climb up towards the area of Brent Scar and headed towards Victoria Cave. Sam had a good drink from a spring that bubbled out of nowhere, he did seem a bit miffed that he could not paddle in it so he just sat in it and drank and drank and drank! We also passed two other walkers heading in the opposite direction, the first people we had seen since leaving Settle.
We soon reached a warning sign from the Park Authority advising people to stay away from Victoria Cave due to the danger of rock falls, it looked very old, and although I was tempted to heed the advice I thought that after missing out on Attermire Cave it would be pointless doing this walk without some form of cave exploration, carried out at my own peril of course!
Before entering the cave I did have a good look around the area to see if there were any signs of recent rock falls but everywhere I looked the rock seemed to have been there for quite some time. Although saying that the rock above the entrance did seem to be fractured and it was with some trepidation that I entered, Sam who cant read and spend time worrying about such things entered without a pause!
Once in the cave I got out the 2 head torches I had brought along for the occasion and turned them on, they did not help penetrate the darkness at all, they were as much use as a chocolate fire guard! Sam was eager to explore but I wasn’t so keen, I contented myself with just looking around the twilight sort of area at the limit of daylight and feeble torch light that I had brought along.
Once I had had enough it was time to venture back outside and continue the walk, that lasted all of 1 minute as I passed by another cave entrance that looked much more inviting, according to the AW book this is known as Wet Cave. Sam had taken the hint and headed back down towards the path but I entered the cave and wondered how long it would be before Sam noticed I wasn’t following him, a sort of hide and seek game that I sometimes play with Sam whilst out walking, very childish I know, but I can’t help it!
A couple of minutes passed and from my hiding place about 10 feet into the cave I saw Sam run past outside, a few seconds later and he strolled into the cave shouting “found you!”, well he didn’t actually say that cos he’s a dog and can’t actually talk, but you know what I mean. Once we had our fun we left and walked back down to the path. Shortly after I was surprised to see a tarmaced track and another walker heading up towards a gate, I was thinking that I needed to head the way he had come so I stopped to check the map. While I checked the map the other walker struggled like mad to open the gate, I did think about asking him to leave it open but it was obvious that he was having a battle of wills with this gate, and sensing he was loosing I kept quiet! When I tried the gate it wanted to open in the opposite direction to which the other walker had tried, easy peasy, Mind you I sometimes push when I should really pull as well!
We walked along this tarmaced track along side the occasional bit of limestone blocks until we reached yet another gate and a proper road. One thing about all the gates in this area, the method that is used to secure them closed is different from what I am used to, here a chain and hook with a retaining clip is used, but mounted in such a way that you can only close it securely in one way, by that I mean there is just enough chain, and I mean JUST ENOUGH, to reach. In the Lake District or the Trough of Bowland a few extra links of chain are used to allow for a twist in the chain, not here! The chain must be perfectly aligned and straight to reach, it’s as if some one was counting the chain links when the work was done, mmmm! North Yorkshire Dales park authority, or the local farmers must be on a tight budget…….
No sooner had we reached the road than another gate led into a field and the path that led us back to the end of Banks Lane and the descent back into Settle. It was now that the dreaded phone call from home happened. Mobile phone reception had been erratic but eventually Charlotte had managed to text me the actual location of where she was, so I was going to meet her there after the walk, but now the phone rang. I stopped to get the phone and Sam looked on, “What’s that smell ?” and not “Good morning, how are you enjoying the walk?” was the question immediately asked by my better half just surfacing back at home! I looked at Sam before answering, and I swear he knew who was on the phone because he decided he didn’t want to be anywhere near this phone call and promptly ran off, unfortunately he was by now attached to me by his lead and I followed him at a great pace, being pulled slipping and sliding across a field near Settle, lead in one hand, phone in the other trying to stick up for Sam on one hand and stop him from doing me an injury on the other! I was in a lose, lose situation here!
I explained how Sam had been feeling poorly overnight, but he was feeling much better now and I had the evidence to prove it in a little plastic bag if she was interested, she wasn’t! Come to think of it after I had told her about what my foot had found, she found it rather amusing and I guess Sam was of the hook, meanwhile I was still being dragged along at a fair pace as Sam still didn’t want to explain himself to her…………
All too soon we reached Banks Lane and walked back the way we had started to the Market Square. After purchasing some doggy treats in the Co Op I parked Sam in the back of the car, got changed out of my extremely muddy boots and walking trousers, slightly embarrassing in a now wide awake and busy Settle!, and thought about food. A quick look at the choice on offer and I opted for a gift shop that had a café upstairs and a tempting menu board outside. I ended up having some homemade Broccoli and Stilton soup and a tuna sandwich along with a cappuccino, reading the Sunday Times supplements on my own upstairs, excellent food, the soup being fantastic and me doing a bit of culture with reading the Sunday papers, all for £4.70! What a great way to end a walk
So with myself looking slightly cleaner and with a full belly I headed off along the A65 to find this Triathlon thing. I had left Charlotte at 7am and from her friends farm they had driven to Barnoldswick on the Lancashire Yorkshire border to complete the swimming section and then travelled to this Coniston Cold place to do the pistol shooting and cross country run. When I found the correct place which is an equestrian events centre with a horse cross country course I was met with the site of a car park full of 4x4’s and rather a lot of teenage kids and their parents milling around waiting for the shooting.
And then later on it was the cross country run. The weather was turning windier and colder with the odd rain shower or two by now, just the sort of thing that my sadistic sports teacher at school used to make me do cross country in, and here was Charlotte volunteering to do it on a Sunday! With a competitor number or 68 and each runner setting of at 60 second intervals we had a bit of time to kill, so much time between events would have driven me crazy! We walked Sam around the area and everyone made a fuss of him, he didn’t deserve it in my opinion, but that was only after Charlotte and told all her friends what had happened to me earlier on in the day, anytime they saw me they sniggered and laughed, I was not amused!
Anyway hats off to all of the competitors, especially Charlotte of course who managed to loose a shoe in the mud on the last downhill section and completed the run with just one shoe and a rather muddy sock! After Charlotte had finished her run I decided it was time to head back home, Charlotte stayed with her friends for the presentation and results but I wanted to try and get back home before the wife started to cook Sunday tea. Unfortunately I was a bit late and she had done most of it, so I sort of enjoyed my roast lamb with yorkshire pudding and apple sauce (any guesses who doesn’t normally cook Sunday dinner?)
All in all a nice day out, it was interesting to walk in a new area to me, I am left with the thought that in the drier months you could walk for miles and miles very easily around here, some great scenery and easy gradients, and then thinking deeper thoughts I began to think about AW and his books. Almost every walker knows about AW and his Lakeland Fells guide books, some might know his Outlying Fells book or The Howgills (yet to be investigated by this author) or the one that this walk came from, Walks in Limestone Country. It got me thinking that every walk I have done following in AW’s footsteps had been enjoyable for one reason or another, and I had to ask myself the following question, did he ever document a walk that was naff? Ok some of the hills mentioned in the Lakeland Fells book might be considered as naff, for some reason Mungrisedale Common springs to mind!, but when you consider the Outlying Fells, The Howgills and Walks in Limestone Country that describe WALKS rather than separate fells I have yet to come across one that I didn’t like.