Sunday 15th October 2017 - Malham, Yorkshire Dales

This month our walks are in the Yorkshire Dales.  The coach will leave school as usual at 8.00 am prompt and travel direct to Malham where all the walks start and finish. There will be no stop enroute as there are adequate toilets in Malham.  Boots are essential on all walks.  There is a good choice of refreshments in Malham from where we will depart at 5.00pm arriving back in Formby about 7.00pm.

The cost of travel will be £11.00 for members, £14.00 for non-members and £5.00 for Leaders, children and students in full time education. Please note the changed coach fare. Please make your cheque payable to Range Walking Club and ensure it is signed as it is inconvenient for the Treasurer to chase up such omissions.

Please send in your return to the Treasurer Monica Sealey before 5th October; places will be booked on the coach by the treasurer on a first come first served basis.

Cancellations: if you need to cancel or make a late booking, please contact the Treasurer on 01704 809287 or by email monicatuk@yahoo.co.uk who will endeavour to substitute your booking from the waiting list.  If you cancel after 5th October and it is not possible to fill your place on the coach, regrettably, we will not be able to give you a refund as coaches will have been booked on initial returns.

‘A’ Walk Distance: 12 miles Ascent: 1,500 ft Leaders: John Hughes Gordon Spence	From Malham there is a pleasant half hour walk to Janet’s Foss, a fairy glen waterfall, where we will stop for coffee. Good paths continue to view the grandeur of Gordale Scar . We then retrace our steps a bit and take a path to the ridge above Gordale Scar for a bird’s eye view. The path gives passage to a stunning rock bowl a larger waterfall, and a good path  to the plateau above.   There is a pleasant path / track to Great Close Hill for lunch, overlooking Malham Tarn. Our circuit of the tarn includes an interesting boardwalk over the moss, watching out for some interesting wildlife. We continue south to the Pennine Way and Malham, which includes crossing the limestone pavements and viewing The Cove from below.
‘B+’ Walk Distance: 11 miles Ascent: 1.500 ft Leaders: Lynne Smith Claire Lyons	This walk takes in some of the dramatic limestone scenery around Malham.   Starting our walk from Malham we go westwards, towards Kirkby fell. Once we have completed the steady climb, we can look back to see excellent views of Malham Cove.  We continue on to Attermire Scar, passing Attermire cave, high up in the limestone. Further north we can visit Victoria and Jubilee Caves – both of which have yielded many historic artefacts, which have provided scientists with a lot of information about the first inhabitants of Yorkshire. After lunch, we have a pleasant walk back to Malham Cove via the Pennine Bridleway. We will spend a bit of time at the top of the cove, before taking the steps down to the road and back to the village.
‘B’ Walk Distance: 9 miles Ascent: 1,200 ft Leaders: Liz Bellman David Willis	Join us for the most magical walk in Malham.   There are many wonders to behold including ice age woodlands and Janet’s Floss waterfall where the queen of fairies lives in a cave surrounded by ferns, herbs and lilly of the valley. Points of interest include bee books if you can spot them. We continue towards Goredale Scar nature's amazing feat of engineering which was formed over 1.5 million years ago by at least 3 giant sheets of ice. Returning to the road we begin our climb to Wheets Top with amazing views of Pendle Hill.   As we descend we walk through two picture post card villages, sadly without amenities, to join the Pennine Way. Towards Hanlith Hall we walk alongside Malham Beck discovering a manmade feat of engineering including a canal which supplied a mill. To complete the  walk we go across fields towards Malham where you can enjoy refreshments in the barn cafe or walk a bit further into Malham to Beck Hall or go to the Buck public house for a well earned beer.
‘C’ Walk Distance: 7 miles Ascent: 950 ft Leaders: Denise Nunn Barry Whitby	From Malham (toilets) we walk south west through fields to the village of Kirkby Malham and then towards Airton. Crossing the infant River Aire by a footbridge just north of Airton we join the Pennine Way going northwards to Hanlith. At Mires Barn we leave the Pennine Way and join the popular track to Janet’s Foss waterfall, returning to Malham by Gordale Lane. If time permits we may visit Gordale Scar waterfalls and if weather is poor there is ample opportunity to shorten the walk and return to the plentiful cafes and pubs of Malham.