Burnsall ~ Medium Walk

Distance Covered: 2.5 miles Time to Complete Walk 1.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes -as long as no cattle in the field at the beginning of the walk.

A delightful short pub walk at Burnsall that packs so much in, in just under two hours. Cross over its lovely arched bridge and then climb up a steep but short field to be rewarded with spectacular views. Then make your way over a suspension bridge which has an authentic sway, or some stepping stones if you are confident not to get wet, to return to Burnsall by the river with some beautiful scenery around every corner. The walk conveniently ends at the Red Lion Inn. If Carlsberg made pub walks this would certainly be the one!.

General Safety Tips: There is a short but very steep start to the walk but no climbs afterwards. There may be cattle or a bull in the fields. Keep to the edges or look for a diversion. 

The Burnsall Walk

Getting There

By Car

From Middlesbrough head onto the A19 southbound. Leave the A19 at Thirsk and head onto the A168 to Ripon. Drive through Ripon driving out of Ripon passing Fountains Abbey on the B6265. Drive through Pateley Bridge staying on the B6265. Look for a left turn towards Hartlington. Turn right onto Cross Hill into Burnsall. Parking is on your right at the Wharfe House Car Park and is £3 for 3 hours.

By Bus

Minibus 74A runs from Ilkley bus station to Burnsall. 

Maps of the Burnsall Walk

The Walk

From the car park, turn right and head over the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge look for a gate and steps down to the left into a field.

Walk round the edge of the field and got through a small gate.

In the next field head towards a ladder stile in the wall.

Head up the field, this is the only climb in the walk and is a short one. Head to a small gate in the wall. There is a pitstop at a bench and spectacular views at the top.

At the top go through the gate onto a road and turn left and follow the road.

There are some lovely views of Burnsall below on this quiet road.

Keep on the road, passing houses on your right and over a small bridge and look for a gate to the left, signposted to the Dales Way.

Go through the gate and then head through another gate on your left and over the bridge or the stepping stones to cross the river.

At the other side turn left and follow the riverside path ahead.

Ignore some steps up to your right and keep ahead through a gate.

This path is a lovely path beside the river, and goes on for about a mile, before ending up at the Red Lion Inn and some well deserved refreshments!

Burnsall

Burnsall is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Wharfe in Wharfedale, and is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The village is approximately 2 miles (3 km) south-east from Grassington. It has a parish church, a chapel, two hotels with restaurants, a public house, and a primary school. The school, Grade II listed, is in the original 1602 grammar school building, a legacy of William Craven of nearby Appletreewick. There is a five-arched bridge over which the Dalesway passes. A path along the river from Burnsall to Hebden, 1 mile (2 km) to the north-west, dates to Viking times

The historic parish of Burnsall occupied a large part of upper Wharfedale. It included the townships of Appletreewick, Bordley, Conistone with Kilnsey, Cracoe, Hartlington, Hetton, Rylstone and Thorpe, all of which became separate civil parishes in 1866. The parish was in Staincliffe Wapentake and in the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974, when it was transferred to North Yorkshire. The 2001 Census gave Burnsall parish a population of 112, decreasing to 110 at the 2011 census.

The ecclesiastical parish of Burnsall is in the Diocese of Leeds. The parish church of St Wilfrid's, a Grade I listed building, is almost entirely Perpendicular. It contains an 11th-century font carved with bird and beasts, twelve Anglo-Saxon sculpture fragments and a 14th-century alabaster panel depicting the Adoration of the Magi. The church-yard is entered from the main road by a lychgate.

Burnsall is a centre for walking, trout fishing, picnics, and weddings. An annual feast day games in August includes amateur competitions, tug of war and fell races.The village cricket pitch is below Burnsall Fell and is half enclosed by the river.

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.