Sunday 29th March 2009 - Horton in Ribblesdale

On Sunday 29 March, our walks are based on Horton in Ribblesdale.   

The coach will leave school as usual at 8.00 am prompt and travel to Stainforth where the ‘B’ party will alight. There are toilets here and at Horton, where other walks begin and end, so there will be no toilet stop on the way. 

‘A’ Walk Distance: 13 miles Ascent: 1580 ft Leaders: John & Edwina Roberts Margaret Pegg	A scintillating walk from the source of the Ribble, through Ling Valley Nature Reserve to Horton in Ribblesdale, with splendid views of Ribblehead Viaduct and the three peaks without the effort of climbing them!!  Boldly striking out from Ribblehead we seek the source of the Ribble at Gavel Gap.  We then pick up the Cam High road which is a Roman road and part of the Pennine Way.  Turning south at Cam End we sample the delights of Ling Gill and Fair Bottom Hill and continue south to Horton in Ribblesdale.
‘B+’ Walk Distance: 9 miles Ascent:2000 ft Leaders: Jane Fowler Andy Fowler	We head out of Horton in a north eastery direction on the Pennine Way, climbing steadily until lunch at the top of Pen-y-Ghent, where excellent views can be had, weather permitting.  The descent from the top requires some scrambling but we quickly reach Churn Hole where we leave the Pennine Way for Long Lane (which isn’t as straight and boring as it looks on the map) and so into Helwith Bridge. From here we turn northwards on the Ribble Way and follow the river back into Horton.
‘B’ Walk Distance: 8 miles Ascent: 1450 ft Leaders: John Mcevoy David Wake	The walk starts at Stainforth where there are toilets available.  We take a minor road down to the River Ribble where we make a slight diversion to view Stainforth Force (waterfall) before continuing along the road to Little Stainforth. From here we head up over the moorland then down to Feizor.  A track then field paths take us northwards to Wharfe where we pick up another track that climbs northwards gently at first but steepens a little before reaching the limestone paving of Moughton. We cross the paving and head eastwards down over muddy field paths to Horton.  There are quite a number of high ladder stiles on this walk.
‘C’ Walk Distance: 7 miles Ascent: 800 ft Leaders: David Turton Stuart Norris	This circular walk starts at Horton along a quiet lane to Brackenbottom. From here we make our only ascent of the day, which will be taken slowly, to meet the Pennine Way at the foot of Pen-y-Ghent. Weather permitting, we will have extensive views of the surrounding countryside from here, before making a gentle descent via the Pennine Way and Long Lane to the Helwith Bridge Inn. Our route back to Horton is the Ribble Way which follows the river through fields.