Barbondale ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered:  4 miles Time to Complete Walk: 2.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes, on a lead when walking through the Barbon Manor estate.

On the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Barbondale offers peaceful surroundings ideal for a walk. This walk starts from the village of Barbon which has all the trappings of a typical Yorkshire village, a village hall, an Inn and a lovely church. The walk route is simple to follow as it makes its way beside Barbon Beck and back again on a quiet road.

General Safety Tips: Wear suitable clothing for the weather. Take care on the road particularly in the village of Barbon. 

The Barbondale Walk 

Getting There

From Middlesbrough follow the A66 to Darlington and follow it onto the A1M southbound. At Junction 53 at Scotch Corner come off the A1 onto the A66 to Brough. From Brough turn left onto the A685 to Sedburgh. This then changes to the A683 shortly after passing through Kirkby Stephen by keeping left. Drive through Sedburgh and keep on the A683 onto until you come to a left turning into Barbon. Park at the Village Hall which is subject to a donation.

Maps of the Barbondale walk

The Walk

From the car park turn left and follow the road passing The Church Mouse at Barbon on your right.

Keep on the road until you come to a war memorial.

From the war memorial turn right and follow the road passing the Barbon Inn.

Carry on down this road until you come to the church on your left.

Soon after the church, turn left onto a track.

Cross over a bridge and keep on the path as it heads into the Barbon Manor Estate.

Keep on the path as it curves to the left and look for a white gravel path on your right.

Turn right and head down the gravel path and through a gate.

Keep on the track with Barbon Beck below.

Ignore the first two bridges and keep on the path as it rises and falls and passes piles of timber.

Keep in the direction of the blue marker when you come to it.

Head through a gate.

Head through another gate.

Head through another gate and look for a ford and a bridge shortly after. Go over the bridge to the other side.

Turn right onto the road and follow the road.

Follow the road as it makes its way back to Barbon with superb views all around you.

Keep ahead at two branches in the road.

Soon you arrive back at the church in Barbon. Retrace your steps back to the car park.

Barbon

Barbon is a village and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 263, reducing to 236 at the 2011 Census. The church is dedicated to St Bartholomew. The village is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Kirkby Lonsdale and 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Casterton. Barbon Beck flows through, and takes its name from, the village before flowing into the River Lune. The A683 road passes to the west of the village between Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh. The village has been within the Yorkshire Dales National Park since 1 August 2016.

The village was the childhood home of the poet Catherine Grace Godwin who died here in 1845.

Barbon is the location of Barbon Manor Speed Hillclimb, an event that runs up to three occasions each year, in May, June and July, on a driveway that runs through Barbon Manor Park, by permission of the Shuttleworth Estate.

The Barbon Inn, in the centre of the village, is a hotel, pub and restaurant built as a coaching inn in the 17th century.