16/04/16 - The Inn Way to Yorkshire Dales - Summary

Distance of the Inn Way to Yorkshire Dales - 80.5 Miles
Days completed in - 6
Pubs Visited - 26
Geocaches - 14
Timeframe - 11/04/16 to 16/04/16

The Inn Way to the Yorkshire Dales is an out of print guide book to a walking route that takes in the best that the Yorkshire Dales can offer.

Fine routes through Wharfedale, Littondale, Raydale, Wensleydale, Swaledale and Coverdale and stops at various sized villages for lunch and evening meals/accommodation.  The only criteria for the stops are there has to be at least one pub.

And the pubs, hotels, food and beer were universally excellent.  Yorkshire takes hospitality very seriously.

As with all undertakings - there needs to be a roll of honour.

Best Walk - The Grassington Lead Mines on Day 6
Best Pub - The Buck Hotel, Reeth on Day 3 
Best Pint - Theaskston XB at the Buck Inn, Buckden on Day 1
Best Pie - Meat and Potato at the Bluebell Inn, Kettlewell on Day 5
Best Breakfast - The White Rose, Askrigg on Day 3

The walk provided a perfect opportunity to get away from it all and immerse myself in a week where the only thing to worry about was what time was lunch (usually liquid) and what sort of pie to order for tea.

Each leg of the walk has been detailed on a separate blog, available at the link;

Day 1 - Grassington to Cray
Day 2 - Cray to Askrigg
Day 3 - Askrigg to Reeth
Day 4 - Reeth to West Burton
Day 5 - West Burton to Kettlewell
Day 6 - Kettlewell to Grassington

Now the big adventure for 2016 has been completed, we need to look forward to 2017.  Fortunately, there are plenty of options.

Future Holidays

The Photo Album on Flickr

16/04/16 - Day 6 Yorkshire Dales Inn Way - Kettlewell to Grassington

Previous days on the Inn Way - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5
Distance - 13 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Pubs - 5

"Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me - Winston Churchill"

 Getting Going

The Yee Har has a strict time for breakfast.  8am.  No options, no excuses.

This is because they are catering at an industrial scale.  2 Ramblers and 40 Lycra clad Tri-athletes.  I'm going to say little about about the attire apart from Tri-athletes come in all shapes and sizes.  It's easy to determine the round-heads from the cavaliers.

The drying room has completed a wonderful job on our wet clothes from yesterday.  But will we need waterproofs for today?

What do you wear in the Snow?

The Walk


So, this is it.  The final day.

Every step today will be savoured for tomorrow, we return to normality.  Liquid lunches and daily pies will be a thing of memories.  To avoid the on-set of melancholy, our walk today - down through the Grassington Lead Mines - is the finest of the week.

And we start off in snow!

A Dusting, I grant you

We quickly gain height ascending Langcliffe and the Trig point at Capplestone Gate means we climb no more.  It genuinely is all down hill from here.

Camera on Capplestone Gate Trig Point

We follow Conistone Turf Road (does what it says on the tin, a grass covered lane) and hit the first evidence of the mining industry.  Neil demands we invesigate the portal entrance and a limestone pavement of weird trees.

Tunnel Entrance?

Freaky Forest 

At Scot Lane Gate, we pick up the Dales Way for a short time.  It's a Saturday and the sun is out, so for the first time this week we meet plenty of other ramblers.  I check them carefully for the #Walk1000Miles of WFP badges but find no evidence.

Scot Lane Gate

Around the deserted farm house - aptly named Bare House - and we pick up the Grassington Mines at Yarnbury.  In a week of exceptional walking, this really is the highlight.  Fascinating remnants of mining industry, complete with notice boards, provide an insight into times gone by.

And its all down hill alongside Hebden Beck.  To the pub.

Hebden Beck - all Downhill to the pub

The walk is going too fast.  Soon we will be back in the land of punitive Tax Codes and which bin is it to put out this week.  We do what any sane person would do to maximise our pleasure.

We stop for lunch and learn the contents of a Yorkshire Platter.  Think ploughmans with Wensleydale Cheese and piccalilli.

Pub 1 of the Day

Fed and watered, we head out for another stunning section - crossing the River Wharfe.  The Stepping Stones would have surely been used if it wasn't for a tricky middle section.  The suspension bridge comes to our aid.

Maybe for the Summer

We went suspension

The route stretches the day out by taking us around Grassington, through the pretty villages of Thorpe and Linton - where Pub 2 of the day is found.

And what a pleasant little setting Linton is.  A fine way for the final pub of the walking route to be celebrated.  Neil gets the celebratory beers in (our first sub £3 pint of the week), whilst I hunt for the final cache of the week near the little bridge.

Coming out of Thorpe and looking at Grassington

The Fountaine at Linton 

We've done it - Pub Number 26

Almost, but not quite.  Blogfans will remember that we saved the 3 Grassington pubs for our final night.  We just have to get there.  And the walk across Linton Falls is suitably impressive to round off our journey.

Crossing Linton Falls

To arrive back at the beginning

So, what can we expect from a Saturday night in Grassington?

We're staying at our poshest place of the week - The Devonshire Arms.  A Timothy Taylor Hotel, with automatic lights in the bathroom.  Funny the things you remember.  We are checked in but told there is no room to eat tonight - so we save an investigation of the ales until last thing.

No Room at the Inn (to Eat)

We move onto the Black Horse Hotel.  Again, mental busy - but they can fit us in later.  We book a table for 8:30pm and spend the 90 minutes in-between investigating the Forrester's Arms.

What is going on in Grassington?  Another packed pub.  We sit on a table next to three elderly farmers that must be out on their annual jolly boys outing.  They are as drunk as lords and telling stories of siring that are not about their livestock.  We feel part amused, part dirty.  But we have to come back after our meal - as they have entertainment on - a talented singer who can do anything you ask - as long as its played in the same key.

"Name that Tune" was never so difficult.

Our Restaurant

Home of Singers and Drunken Farmers

So, a nightcap back at the Devonshire and a reminder about the best thing about the Inn Way to the Yorkshire Dales.

The glorious views.

Yorkshire Views

15/04/16 - Day 5 Yorkshire Dales Inn Way - West Burton to Kettlewell

Previous days on the Inn Way - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4
Distance - 14 Miles
Geocaches - 2
Pubs - 4

"Ah, beer. The cause of and the solution to all of life’s problems - Homer Simpson"

Getting Going

After the monster breakfast of yesterday - containing all possible breakfast ingredients known to man - we are brought back to reality when our host at the Fox and Hounds suggests "Bacon and Eggs".  On day 1, we would have been disappointed.  Today, we are secretly delighted to dine on something that isn't belly busting.

We vow to make up for things during our evening meal.



The Walk


Today's walk looks like it has a double hop. Escape from one valley to drop down to another. Find a pub. Escape that valley and drop down to find the 3 pubs of Kettlewell.

Nothing could be more straightforward.

We get into a breakfast conversation with a couple who overtake us on the road up to Fleensop Moor.  They are interested in our adventure.  When they pass on their way back down, they pull over and advise us that "there are no pubs up there lads".

Not yet there aren't - as soon as we cross the Moor we drop down to Horsehouse.  If we have timed things correctly, it should be midday and opening time at the Thwaite Arms.

Abandoned Railway Cart on the Ascent 

Wild Descent into Horsehouse

We arrive at Horsehouse at 11:57am.  We are getting good at planning.  Neil checks the pub and comes back with grave news.  Very grave news.  They don't open at lunch time.

We sit and stare in disbelief at what could have been.

What are we going to do now?

Surely there has been some mistake?  I didn't even fully fill my water bottle today, expecting replenishment here.  I go and have have a look at 12:03.

There is hope - the sign actually says that they don't open at lunch time in Winter Hours.

Just where does April fall in Yorkshire calendar, where the seasons are mainly defined by the wetness of the rain?

I see movement through the window and then the most wonderful sound in the world - the scrape of a bolt being pulled and the door edging open.

I pounce on the Landlady to ask if they are open.  They're almost not, as I appear to have induced a heart attack.  She's not used to customers and certainly not ones as keen as us.

The Day is Saved!

We're in and in good spirits at this change in fortune.  She tells us all about the history of the pub and the village and then fetches her husband who tells us where our Route author has gone wrong for this afternoons walk and how we should avoid the road and head up Little Whernside.

Then the most extraordinary thing happens - they both leave us alone to go back to tending the garden and suggest we ring the bell if we need them.

Can we be trusted at an unmanned bar?

Of course we can.  We're not animals.

We check out the route for this afternoon.  A walk along the River Clover, before picking up a steeply rising road to get to moorland and drop down into the next valley and Kettlewell.  A three pub metropolis.

And when you think there is nothing to talk about - we find this.

Country Folk with their Country Ways

A fence with dead moles is always going to warrant debate.  Through discussion with other ramblers and the use of the #walk1000miles facebook page, we eventually determine that this is how the farmer knows how much to pay the molecatcher.

We leave this scene of multiple varmint homicide and pick up the road, stopping for a cache at Cover Bridge.

Geocaching Ground Zero

It's then all uphill to Hunter's Stone, where the weather closing in.  Properly closing in.  We are at the start of a bad storm that rages all night and get thoroughly soaked through.  It's a shame, as the views of Kettlewell Valley would have been superb... although that we are slightly disturbed that Kettlewell itself doesn't appear to be coming to view.

We need something to maintain enthusiasm and we promise to ourselves that it will appear as we turn every corner and descend every hill.

Hunter's Stone and the Weather Changes

Where's Kettlewell?

It turns out that the village is tucked away right at the end of the valley, huddled beneath the very steep slopes - presumably for protection against the elements.

Tonight, we are staying at the Yee Har.  There is no problem spotting it from the hill, it has a huge model giraffe in the garden.  It's also the Post Office.

The Yee Har

We are just in time, as we are sharing the accommodation with the Thames Valley Triathletes.  Our host advises us to get into the Drying Room and showers quickly, before they return from their bike ride/swim/run and infest the place with Lycra.

Sound advice - by the time we have showered, they are swarming all over the place.

We decamp to investigate the three pubs marked in the Inn Way.  Who would have thought that a small village would need so many gastropubs?

The best, and where we ate, is the Bluebell.  After five days of walking and three pies - the winner can be announced.  Meat and Potato (all the food groups covered) at the Bluebell takes gold.

Vegetables - Including Roast and New Potatoes yet to arrive

Copper Dragon and Yorkshire Dales Brewing Company

Next Stop - The Racehorses - Over the Road

Some of the party animal Triathletes come over.  They drink halves.  They don't eat pie.

We leave them to it to check out the Racehorses, directly over the road.  We liked this place for the Timothy Taylor beers (exceptional condition) but every table was given over to dining - which was being completed in a strange semi silent manner as though people were too scared to talk.  Sitting at the bar watching a Yorkshire Man getting a Polish barmaid to decipher "bacardi and coke" offered limited entertainment value, so we headed out into the storm to check out the 3rd and final pub.

The King's Head

Another pub mainly geared to food and we did get to try a new beer - Dark Horse - but we had to admit to ourselves that the Bluebell was the best and head back, tails firmly between our legs.

They don't hold it against us and we stay until closing.

On arriving back at the Yee Har, it's apparent the Triathletes have all gone to bed.

14/04/16 - Day 4 Yorkshire Dales Inn Way - Reeth to West Burton

Previous days on the Inn Way - Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
Distance - 11.6 Miles
Geocaches - 2
Pubs - 4

"Everybody has to believe in something.....I believe I'll have another drink - W C Fields"

Getting Going

Breakfast is the biggest of the week yet.  Each day has added a new ingredient.  We started with your classic F.E.B - Day 2 added Fried Bread - Day 3 added Black Pudding and here we are on day 4 with the daddy of them all.  We have all the previous - and Hash Browns.  Breakfast can only go downhill from here.

Chester the dog's owners are also in the breakfast room, but they soon tire of the hits of the seventies played instrumentally on pan pipes that is coming through the speakers.  We also nearly have to abandon the behemoth of a breakfast for the same reason.

A look around Reeth in the daylight and saddle up and head out for the days walking.

The Walk

Double good news today - on the weather front, its not raining - in fact, its warm enough to walk like Phil Collins with No Jacket Required.  Secondly, the author - fearing mid point weariness might be kicking in - has made day 4 the shortest mileage.

Back of the net.

So we head off, with the river Swale guiding us out of Reeth.  We are following Chester the dog.  His owner is walking in a very stooped way - not another UDI as suffered by a member of our party - he slipped badly on a wet rock yesterday.  We say our goodbyes at Grinton Bridge and watch him gamefully hobble off in a different direction.  We can only hope they manage to finish their Coast to Coast.

Say Goodbye to the River Swale at Grinton

With only a mile of walking completed, we always knew we would have been far too early for the first pub of the day, the Bridge at Grinton.  Even so, we cannot help but suffer from despair at this initial disappointment.

Morning Blues

The climb up the road onto Grinton Moor focuses the mind.  It's a slog, but we can look behind us to see how much height we have gained and to say goodbye to Reeth.  I make more farewells than Neil.

I can also achieve distraction from the incline by finding an early geocache, leaving my walking partner to befriend the locals.

Looking back on Reeth

Ewe've either got it, or ewe haven't

The climbing is over for the day.  We have sunshine and a gradual descent to a place that I have been looking forward since plotting the route - Castle Bolton.   Like something out of Game of Thrones.  And it only disappoints by not having a pub.

Smile if the climbing is done for the Day

Castle Bolton Poking through the Trees

Magnificent since 1379

We spend a while on a bench in it's shadow before heading off again and grabbing the 2nd and final cache of the day in the castle grounds.

It's not too long until our first liquid stop of the day.  The Wheatsheaf at Carperby is famous as the honeymoon stop for James Herriot in the 1930s.  We have the place to ourselves.  Neil uses the time to peruse the map and optimistically declare that we can easily add another pub to the day by tacking on an extra mile.  Every Trip needs a Neil - boundless enthusiasm and a passion for overcoming tragedy.

First Stop of the Day

It's not as if we don't have the time this afternoon.  We turn into rambling tourists, with it only being another mile to the honeypot of Asygarth Falls.  They are splendid.  And before we know it, we are degaitering for the 2nd pub of the day - the Asygarth Falls Hotel.

Middle Force

Higher Force

Aysgarth Falls Hotel

Further refreshed, it's only a slight detour along the road to Neil's bonus pub - The George and Dragon.

We can't quite understand why this most excellent of venues was omitted from the guide.  It may well be our pub of the week.  3pm and we are greeted by the most wonderful roaring fire, the smell of 1000 hotpots and drink under a canopy of knick-knacks to some top banter with the Landlady.  Another couple (for clarity, we are a pair - not a couple) come in and join the conversation.

This is what the English pub is all about.

Petitioning for its inclusion in future revisions off the Inn Way

Because of this

It's tough to leave, but we need to find home - the Fox and Hounds in West Burton.  Less than 45 minutes later, we have checked out the sixth largest village green in England and are settling in to our fourth different room of the week.

West Burton Village Green

Fox and Hounds - Our room in the Courtyard to the left

We fall for the place big time - the back of the menus have a list of all the stupid things that customers have asked the bar staff.  To show that its not all one sided, the management have obliged by posting several and apparently meaningless notice signs off their own around the place.  Our favourites, in no particular order;

"This curtain rail is not load bearing.  Do not hang things off it"

"It has been noticed that a dog has been chewing the legs on the bar stools.  Please ensure your dog does not chew the furniture"

and one just out of the public view for the staff

"White cloths are not for Brasso.  Someone has been using the white cloths for Brasso"

It's the only pub in West Burton and a fulcrum for the community.  Whereas in days gone by, people would have gathered around the fire to talk, they now congregate here for the broadband.  It's not quite strong enough to stream video, which is a shame, as Neil wants to watch the Liverpool game.

And its a belter of a game - some are listening to it on Internet Streamed Radio, some on betting apps and some through Twitter.  The only problem is that the goals are reported at different times.  A man with a green head band leaps off his chair - he has  earlier placed a 5-3 bet on when Liverpool were 2-0 down and Liverpool have just got it back to 4-3.  30 Seconds later, the radio reports the goal and the rest of the pub cheer.

Although Liverpool go through in the most dramatic of fashion, he never quite gets his 5-3 prediction.  He cheers himself up by putting another bet on a women's football game finishing with more than 7 goals that is currently being played in Russia.

Having had a fine evening - we retire to our room to watch the highlights on ITV.

Attempting to watch the football on a phone