Hell Gill ~ Hard Walk

Distance Covered:  5 miles Time to Complete Walk: 2.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: No - sheep on the moor part of the walk

A great walk next to the Settle to Carlisle railway, climbing for amazing views from the moors. Then towards Hell Gill which is a waterfall and gorge. The waterfall isnt able to be seen on the route, unless your with canyoneers with ropes and harnesses! Then down to walk near the railway and a quiet B road back to the start.

General Safety Tips: Parking is limited to the roadside get there early. The start of the walk is steep and some nettles were overgrown at the top - wear trousers. Take plenty of fluids if a hot day as you are exposed on the moors. Take care on walking on the B road.

The Hell Gill Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head onto the A66 to Darlington. Join the M1 southbound to Scotch Corner which is junction 53. Leave the M1 to join the A66 towards Brough. Turn left to follow the A685 to Kirkby Stephen. In Kirkby Stephen turn left onto the B6259. Follow this road until you drive under a railway bridge and the railway joins parallel to the road on your right. Look for an entrance to a forest path and free roadside parking is opposite the entrance on your right.

Maps of the Hell Gill walk

The Walk

From the roadside parking, head through the entrance to a forest opposite.

Follow the forest path.

Cross a bridge over a ford.

There is an abandoned chapel through a gate to your right for a small 

diversion.

Back on the main track head towards the farm buildings but before you reach them head on the left path at a fork through a gate.

When you come to another gate head left through the small gate to the left of the main gate.

Follow the path through the field, although faint you can still make it out.

You are heading for the white building called Shaws higher up in the distance. Head through the field to a gate.

Go through the gate and join the path from the right.

Keep right on the path when it forks and follow it as it bends to a gate.

Head through another gate with Shaws visible ahead.

Head up and pass the building.

Go through a gate to the back of the building.

Head to the left and look for a path near a signpost which climbs up to the moor above. Dont forget to look back for amazing views.

Keep climbing heading to a gate in the wall up ahead.

Go through the gate and find the easiest route over some nettles onto the path ahead. Turn left on the path to a gate.

Follow this clear path for about 1 and a half miles going over some fords. Brilliant views are all around to reward you for the climb.

Eventually the path joins another from the left. Follow this path which ends up at Hell Gill bridge.

You can hear the water below which is Hell Gill waterfall. The wall is high so you may be able to get glimpse. However when finished, head through the gate and then turn left and through another gate down to the farm on the track ahead.

Pass the farmhouse and go over a bridge.

Keep on the track as it heads to a railway bridge. The Settle to Carlisle railway runs on this line.

Head through a gate and down to the road. Turn left and follow the road keeping to the verge, taking care until you come to your car back at the roadside parking.

Aisgill & Hell Gill

Aisgill is the southernmost of the hamlets that comprise the parish of Mallerstang in the English county of Cumbria. It is on the B6259 road, at the head of Mallerstang dale, just before the boundary between Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

Hellgill Force, the biggest waterfall on the River Eden, Cumbria.

The highest waterfall on the River Eden, Hellgill Force, with a drop of about 9.75 metres (according to recent measurements) is just to the north, at grid reference SD779966. The river itself rises (at first as Red Gill beck, later becoming Hell Gill beck) below Hugh Seat in the peat bogs above here. It finally becomes the river Eden after merging with the Ais Gill beck, which flows down from Wild Boar Fell.

Aisgill is at both a county and a natural geographical boundary. It is at the watershed (sometimes called "the watershed of England") from which the Eden flows north towards the Irish Sea via the Solway Firth, while the River Ure flows south towards Wensleydale, and eventually into the North Sea.

Swarth Fell frames the western side of the head of Mallerstang dale, and from Aisgill there is a view along the steep, narrow valley, with Mallerstang Edge and High Seat framing the eastern side. But the view at Aisgill is dominated by the great table-top bulk of Wild Boar Fell, to the south-west.

The Settle-Carlisle Railway reaches its highest point at "Aisgill Summit" 356 m (1,168 ft); and there is a small viaduct where the line crosses Ais Gill beck. There have been three notable rail accidents nearby: the Hawes Junction rail crash in 1910, one in 1913 and most recently in 1995.

Hepworth ~ Medium Walk

Distance Covered: 5 miles Time to Complete Walk 3 hours

Suitable for dog walking: No

A walk in the land of Compo, Clegg and Foggy from Last Of The Summer Wine - the classic BBC comedy. Start at the location of the comedy in Hepworth  and make your way through a natural ravine playground of stepping stones, bridges and rocks, stopping at a kooky cafe The Carding Shed which has a cool vintage car vibe and some lovely dishes! Then climb and meander your way back to Hepworth. A great walk with all kinds of terrain.

General Safety Tips:  The start of the walk is over stepping stones which are slippy when wet, negotiate them with a walking stick as some were loose. Part of the walk was overgrown. Be careful on the roads and walk facing the traffic. There is a tight squeeze stile and a big but short ascent on the return to Hepworth. 

The Hepworth Walk

Getting There

By Car

From Middlesbrough, follow the A19 onto the M1 southbound. At junction 39 head onto the A636 and follow this until it becomes the A635 towards Holmfirth. Keep left and towards Jackson Bridge on the A616 and head into Hepworth. Park on the roadside just before the church and just after The Butchers Arms.

By Bus from Huddersfield

The 310 line from Huddersfield runs to Hepworth from 6.30am until 22.35pm

Maps of The Hepworth Walk

The Walk

From the roadside head towards the junction with the Bus Turning Area on your right and a sign to the church on your right. 

Take the right fork in the road downhill.

Head down the road and after the sharp right bend look for a signpost to the left down to the ravine.

This first part of the walk is over stepping stones, wooden planks and bridges, rocks and other terrain and is great fun. Follow the path until it ends at a bridge and some steps up to a track.

Turn left onto the track.

Follow the track to its end at a road. Turn right onto the road.

Follow the road to another road and turn right. Look for a wall stile shortly after on your left.

Follow the field path to another stile and over two further field stiles.

After the final stile turn right onto a track and immediately through a very tight squeeze stile.

The next section can be tricky, however head in a two oclock direction. You need to head down to the road below. This section is overgrown but look for a public footpath sign below and head towards it onto the road carefully.

Cross over the road carefully and head to the left.

At the crossroads go straight ahead onto the road.

Follow the road down and fork right downhill.

Follow the road down until you arrive at the Carding Shed cafe and this is worth a pitstop for a bite to eat.

Recommence the walk by heading left up the road from the Carding Shed to a junction. Turn left and follow the road.

Keep left and downhill at a fork in the road.

Follow the road as it meanders until eventually you arrive at another junction.

Turn right and almost immediately look for a gap in the wall and a very steep climb. Don't worry it is a short climb.

At the top go over a very new modern type of stone stile and head straight ahead towards the buildings and another step stile on your right. 

Follow the track down to the road.

Turn right and then cross over the road and through a gate onto a field with a wall on your left.

Keeping the wall to your left keep in a forwardly direction when the wall ends towards steps in the wall ahead.

Turn right and head down the road.

Keep ahead at a junction.

Follow the road ahead at a fork, swapping sides to avoid traffic and take the second left turning which heads towards the sailing club.

Pass the sailing club and some houses.

About 100 yards after Dean Lane turn left onto a footpath.

Go over several more stiles in a very clear and obvious direction over fields and then a narrow lane and behind houses to emerge in Hepworth. Turn left and you soon come to The Butchers Arms and your car again.

Hepworth

Hepworth is a small village to the southeast of Holmfirth and southwest of Jackson Bridge in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees and the parish of Holme Valley.

Although it started as a fairly small hamlet it has grown considerably through the 1980s and 1990s with new housing and small businesses. It has been extensively used as one of the locations in the BBC's long-running comedy series Last of the Summer Wine, much of which has centred on the village pub the 'Butchers Arms', which provides a central meeting place for the village residents.The name Hepworth is Anglo-Saxon. It may have been that Heppa, an Anglo-Saxon, was of great “worth”. There is also the view of H. T. Moorhouse who states, in his History of Kirkburton and the Graveship of Holme (1861), that the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon “Hep” meaning high and “worth” meaning place of residence. Another reference cites –worth as meaning an enclosure, hence enclosure of a man called Heppa.[1] In the Domesday Book it is given the name Hepeuuord and is described as the King’s land with steep streets.

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