Askrigg ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 3 miles   Time to complete walk:  2 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes (on a lead at the beginning of the walk)

Total Steps: approx. 6,000

Safety Tip  Be careful on the woodland part of the walk. Leaves can cover tree roots, avoid walking too near the trees. Wear boots and take a walking stick.

A walk perfect for a bright Autumn day. Starting in the small village of Askrigg, initially over farmland and then down a woodland path with two waterfalls to visit Then a comfortable return through the woods to an old water mill and back to the village. Parking can be found fairly plentiful outside the St Oswald church- there is an honesty box for the parking fee.

 

The Askrigg Walk

 

Getting There
 
Follow the M1 southbound until the Catterick turn off which is the A6055. This road then becomes the A6108 and passes through Redmire. The road then becomes The Straights and follow the signposts to Askrigg. Park outside St Oswalds Church which is free but there is an honesty box.

 

Map of the Askrigg walk

The Walk

From the church head up Main Street on a winding street following the direction of the signpost on the church wall to Mill Gill Foss.

 

St Oswalds Church

 

 

Signpost to Mill Gill Foss

 

Look for a stile near two garages on the right and head through the stile onto the field.

 

Look for stile to the right of the garage

 

 

Head through the stile

 

 

Cross the field heading diagonally to the left to a stile in the top left corner

 

Head through the stile

 

In the next field head through a gap in the wall passing an abandoned building in the field.

 

Go through the field with the abandoned building

 

Go through gaps in the walls

The path through the fields can seem unclear as there are no obvious paths, however you are heading to a track at the top and however you make your way to the top you will end up on the track. A tip is to keep to the right of the farm and head for a gate in the last field.

 

The last stile

 

Follow the track to the left

 

Once on the track follow this until it ends at a signpost to the left and a stile signposted to Mill Gill and Helm

 

 

                                 

 

Signpost and stile to the left



Follow the path down the wooded gorge being careful to avoid any leaves covering tree roots. The path eventually winds down to a bridge over the stream with Whitfield Gill Force the smaller waterfall near the bridge. 

 

Follow the path into the woods

 

Head over the bridge

 

Whitfield Gill Force

 

Head on the path to the left of the bridge and you soon come to a signpost with a path that doubles back to the larger waterfall Mill Gill Falls. The choice is yours to complete this detour as the waterfall is obscured by trees.

 

Signpost to Mill Gill Falls

After completing the optional detour, keep ahead through the woods and go through a gate

 

Go through the gate

 

The path briefly enters a meadow with a four way signpost - head for the stile in the wall signposted to Mill Gill.

 

Follow the signpost to Mill Gill

 

Go through the stile in the wall

Briefly leave the woods and look for another stile in the wall to your left and rejoin the woodland path.

 

Go through squeeze stile in the wall

 

 

Again, briefly follow the path in the woods and avoiding a bridge, turn immediately to your right and go through a squeeze stile in the wall into a field

 

 

Go through another squeeze stile in the wall

 

Follow the boundary of the wall and go through another squeeze stile onto another field and through another stile back into the woods

 

 

 

Go through another two squeeze stiles

 

Back in the woods again look for a detour to an interesting limestone kiln on a path to your left.

 

 

 

Follow the path to your left to the limestone kiln

 

Limestone Kiln



Continue on the woodland path which again briefly leaves the wood through a squeeze stile.

 

Follow the path through the woods

 

Squeeze stile through to the field

Look for a squeeze stile taking you back into the woods and over a bridge.

 

Squeeze stile back into the woods

 

Go over the bridge

Soon you come to an unused water mill. Go through a squeeze stile at the back of the mill and over the field  through a gate and back into Askrigg and the church.

 

Go the back of the water mill

 

 

Follow the path back to Askrigg

 

Askrigg

 

Askrigg is a small village and civil parish in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is part of the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. The village and its parish are located in Upper Wensleydale, 12 miles (19 km) west of Leyburn, and 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Hawes. It is 26.4 miles (42.5 km) west of the county town of Northallerton.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Ascric. At the time of the Norman invasion the manor was held by Arnketil. Afterwards the lands were owned on behalf of the Crown by Count Alan of Brittany who granted then lordship of the manor to Gospatric, son of Arnketil. By 1251 the manor had come to the Fitz Hugh family who were also lords of Ravenworth and stayed with them until the 16th century. In the early 16th century the manor became the possession of Sir Thomas Parr. His son William died without issue in 1571 when it became the property of the Crown. In 1664 the manorial rights were leased from the Crown by the Metcalfe family.
The name Askrigg is of Old Norse origin, consisting of the combination of askr (ash tree) and hryggr (ridge), meaning the ridge where ash trees grew, denoting the existence of Viking settlers and their farming. The oldest settlement probably dates back to the Iron Age.
The village remained of little commercial importance throughout the 13th and 14th centuries when Wensleydale was extensively used for sheep grazing by the Cistercian monks, who became prosperous on the profits of the wool trade. In the 15th and 16th centuries, however, secular wealth became important in the dale following the border conflicts in the north and the Dissolution of the Monasteries throughout the country.
Askrigg was granted a Charter by Elizabeth I in 1587 for the holding of a weekly market on Thursday, and of fairs in spring, summer and autumn. Askrigg's prosperity peaked in the 18th century when trade in textiles and knitting was most lucrative and the village supported many craftsmen and gained a reputation for clockmaking. The earliest mention of Askrigg clockmakers being a Quaker named John Ogden, who moved to Askrigg in 1680 and manufactured his clocks there until 1720. He was succeeded by Mark Metcalfe (1687–1776) and Christopher Caygill (1747–1803). Another well-known clockmaker was James Pratt (1787–1850). All three had sons who were also clockmakers. Two 19th century clockmakers were John Stancliffe and John Skidmore.
Askrigg was the home of the Wensleydale Metcalfe family who lived at nearby Nappa Hall. Mary, Queen of Scots, was once imprisoned in the house, possibly before she was moved to Castle Bolton further down the dale.
Askrigg has a market cross erected in 1830, a stone pump and an iron bull ring set into the cobbles. The bull ring dates from the 18th century and earlier, when bulls would be tied here and then attacked or baited with dogs. A local historian wrote that "it used to be a custom in Askrigg for a man who wanted to fight to go and turn the bull ring over; if another man was feeling the same, he came and turned it back and they had a fight
One of the local pubs, the Crown Inn, has been known under this name since the 1850s and there has been an inn at this site since the late 18th century. The other pub, the Kings Arms, was built in 1767 as a coaching inn by John Pratt, a local who had made a fortune as a jockey. Pratt was a racehorse breeder and master of the Askrigg Harriers during the 18th century. He kept his hunters and pack of hounds in a yard behind the house he built on Askrigg's main street in 1767. The kennels and stabling date to the late 18th or early 19th century. The kennels had a semi-circular enclosure attached and the long row of stabling lay beyond. Pratt's hunters were ridden in and out of his land through Robinson's Gateways on the main street. The site has now been restored to provide holiday accommodation.
The village once had a railway station that was part of the Hawes Branch of the North Eastern Railway from its opening in 1878 to its closure in April 1954. The Wensleydale Railway Association has plans to rebuild the railway from Northallerton (from its current western terminus at Redmire) to Garsdale including the re-opening of the station in the village. This would be done in the period between 2010 – 2014.