Distance Covered: 6.5 miles Time to complete walk: 3 hours
Suitable for dog walking: Yes
Total Steps: approx. 20,000
Safety Tips: Look out for exposed tree roots walking near the river Nudd- take your walking stick and wear some sturdy boots. On the walk back into Knaresborough be careful as the traffic can be fast and you will need to cross the road a few times.
A classic walk starting at the town of Knaresborough. Follow a cycle track and then walk beside the River Nidd on the return. A detour to Mother Shiptons Cave at the start is optional. The entry price is quite steep at £10.00 for adults. Parking can be found at Conyngham Hall car park and is £3.00 for three hours or £4.00 for 24 hours.
The Knaresborough Walk
Getting There
Follow the A19 on to the A1 southbound. Look for junction 47 which is the turn off for Harrogate. Follow the A59 signposted to Harrogate but then look for a right turn signed to Knaresborough. This is still the A59 and goes straight through Knaresborough. Follow the signs to Mother Shiptons Cave and look for the Conyngham Hall car park which is on your right just before Mother Shiptons Cave.
Map of the Knaresborough Walk
The Walk
From the car park turn right and cross the road if you wish to visit Mother Shiptons Cave which is expensive but still worth a visit. There is a café and toilets inside.
Mother Shiptons Cave
The Cave
After visiting Mother Shiptons Cave cross the road and straight over on the other side is the beginning of the Beryl Burton Cycleway.
Start of the Beryl Burton Cycleway
Info about the Cycleway
Keep to the left ahead when the path branches and keep your eyes and ears open for cyclists of course.
Keep to the left as the path branches
The path goes over cattle grids and then arrives at a crossroads
Cattle Grid on the path
Crossroads
At the crossroads, carry on straight ahead on the path. The path passes houses and a caravan park.
Caravan Park
The path then becomes a road and passes a pub the Gardiners Arms
The Gardiners Arms in Bilton
Shortly after passing the pub look for a turn off to your right on a trail with a bench and information panel on it about Nidd Gorge.
Turn right onto the trail
Information Panel
Follow this trail past some interesting art until you come to the viaduct ahead
Art on the trail
Before the viaduct look for a path at the edge of grassland to the right of another information panel
Information Panel at the viaduct
Path to the right
The path winds to the left and down to the banks of the River Nudd
Follow the path down to the banks of the River Nudd
Follow the paths ahead keeping as close to the river as possible. There are numerous walkways along the riverside
Path near the river
Walkway
When the path climbs - follow it for a while with the aim of returning to the riverside path
View of the River Nidd
Gap in the walkway
Eventually you will meet a bridge. Cross the bridge and immediately turn right keeping to the riverside path again.
Footbridge over the river
Follow the path to the right over the bridge
Again, keep as close to the riverside on the path ahead with great views of the River Nidd. Soon you come to some steps which take you above the river.
Climb the steps
At the top is a road, turn right and follow the road until you come to a sign which is signposted to Nidd Gorge. Follow the path back down to the riverside again.
Turn right on the road
Turn right and follow the steps back to the riverside
The steps take you back down to the river and then follow the edge of the river. Eventually you come to a clearing, Keep on the riverside path ahead
View of the River Nidd
Clearing
Keep the path ahead
Keep following the path as it narrows and pass a sign which advises you are in private gardens. Stick with the narrow path ahead
Sign for private gardens
Keep on the narrow river path
You need to stick on this pleasant path near the river until it ends and the path then turns left between houses. Follow this onto a road
Jetty on the river
Follow the path near the river
Turn left and follow the path ahead
Emerge onto the road
Turn right on the road and follow it as it bends to the left and arrives onto the B6165
Follow the road as it bends to the left
Turn right onto the B6165
Be careful on and keep to the pavement taking care when crossing the road as the cars are fast. Follow this back into Knaresborough and then turn right onto the AA59 and follow the road back to the car park.
Knaresborough
Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Chenaresburg, meaning "Cenheard's fortress",in the wapentake of Burghshire, renamed Claro Wapentake in the 12th century. Knaresborough Castle is Norman;around 1100, the town began to grow and provide a market and attract traders to service the castle. The present parish church, St John's, was established around this time. The earliest identified Lord of Knaresborough is around 1115 when Serlo de Burgh held the Honour of Knaresborough from the King.
Hugh de Morville was granted the Honour of Knaresborough in 1158. He was constable of Knaresborough and leader of the group of four knights who murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170. The four knights fled to Knaresborough and hid at the castle. Hugh de Morville forfeited the lands in 1173, not for his implication in the murder of Thomas Becket, but for "complicity in the rebellion of Henry the Young King", according to the Early Yorkshire Charters.
The Honour of Knaresborough then passed to the Stuteville family. When the Stuteville line was broken with the death of Robert the 4th (son of Robert 3rd) in 1205, King John effectively took the Honour of Knaresborough for himself.The first Maundy Money was distributed in Knaresborough by King John on 15 April 1210. Knaresborough Forest, which extended far to the south of the town, is reputed to have been one of King John's favourite hunting grounds. Although a market was first mentioned in 1206, the town was not granted a Royal Charter to hold a market until 1310, by Edward II. A market is still held every Wednesday in the market square. In Edward II's reign, the castle was occupied by rebels and the curtain walls were breached by a siege engine. Later, Scots invaders burned much of the town and the parish church. In 1328, as part of the marriage settlement, Queen Philippa was granted "the Castle, Town, Forest and Honour of Knaresborough" by Edward III and the parish church was restored. After her death in 1369, the Honour was granted by Edward to their younger son, John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster and since then the castle has belonged to the Duchy of Lancaster. After the accession of Henry IV the castle lost much of its importance in national affairs, but remained a key site in regional administration for another century.
In the Civil War, following the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces. The castle eventually fell and in 1646 an order was made by Parliament for its destruction (but not carried out till 1648). The destruction was mainly done by citizens looting the stone. Many town centre buildings are built of castle stone.
The railway age began in Knaresborough in 1848 with the opening of a railway station on Hay Park Lane; this was replaced with the current one three years later in 1851. The town had a railway line to Boroughbridge until it closed to passengers in 1950; it was dismantled in 1964.
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Knaresborough became part of North Yorkshire in 1974.
Mother Shiptons Cave
Mother Shipton's Cave (or "Old Mother Shipton's Cave") is at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire , England, near to the River Nidd
Nearby is a petrifying well which is the oldest entrance-charging tourist attraction in England, open since 1630. The water of the well is rich in sulphate and carbonate which is deposited as a ramp and screen below, and in which artefacts are "petrified" (encrusted) as a tourist attraction.
The place is associated with the legendary soothsayer and prophetess Mother Shipton (c. 1488 - 1561), born Ursula Southeil, wife of Toby Shipton. According to legend she was born in the cave. The cave and dropping well, together with other attractions, remain open to visitors and are run by Mother Shipton's Cave Ltd.
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