Through Dentdale
Although we had not
originally intended to walk so far Anne wanted to
see the bluebells that were growing on the south
slopes of the dale. Although in leafy
Warwickshire this year’s displays had vanished some
weeks ago we were told they were still flowering in
this area. A farm track from our starting point at
Grid Reference SD 668696 lead us downhill along the
Dales Way to Brackensgill Bridge and over the River
Dee to a lane where we turned left.
Anne, walking down the farm track to Brackensgill
Bridge.
When we left Cowgill
the weather had been cloudy but half an hour later
the sun was shining and it was becoming very hot
and I was soon regretting wearing trousers rather
than shorts. Fortunately for Anne she was
able to zip off her trouser legs.
Bluebells on the hillside above
Brackensgill.
On our right, as we
walked along the lane with the river on our left,
the bluebells. Although they were up the
hillside we had good views of them as they spilled
out of the woods onto the meadowland below.
A view of the Dales Way to the east of
Brackensgill.
About a mile along the
lane the Dales Way turns off to the left and soon
we were walking upstream along the south bank of
the river. This was very easy and pleasant
walking with wonderful views of the dale all around
us.
The River Dee near Brackensgill.
The next significant point was crossing the road
near Barth Bridge before we continued along the
river bank until we met the main road into
Dent. Here we left the Dales Way which
followed the river to the north of the Dent and
followed the road into the village.
On many stiles on the path to the
west of Dent a number of plaques, similar to the
one above, were seen. However, although we presumed
they were some kind of nature trail or similar,
during our stay in Dentdale we did not find out the
origin. Therefore many thanks to Bill &
Lisa Randles who emailed me this
information.
On your website..... you
mention a series of metal signs. Well, if you
really want to know more about them I would
purchase The Dales Way guide published by Cicerone.
The author is Terry Marsh. Look at page seventy
five for a detailed description of their origin,
under the heading Network of Gates.
These gunmetal plaques were created by local
children from Dent Primary School. An Artist from
Leeds was also commissioned to work on them. The
plaques are intended to be more thought provoking
than informative. The images were of topics known
to the locals. Apparently there are twenty two in
total, spread throughout the trail.
The village of Dent.
Dent is a lovely
place. It’s steeped in history and is noted
for its knitters (The Terrible knitters of Dent),
cobbled streets, and being the birthplace of Adam
Sedgwick who discovered the Dent Fault
and was President of the Geology Society of
London. Details of these subjects and more
are to be found in the Dent Village Heritage Centre
which is well worth a visit.
The large rock commemorates Adam Sedgwick, the
village's famous son, and the Sun Inn is the
building at the top of the road..
The village also has two public houses, The Sun and
The George and Dragon, and they were open so I
allowed Anne to drag me into the George and Dragon
to enjoy a glass of the local beer which is brewed
in Dentdale.
Break over we initially followed the main road out
of the village towards Cowgill but on reaching the
bridge over the river we turned right and rejoined
the Dales Way. Although the “Way” soon left
the river it soon turned north to rejoin water a
little further upstream.
The bridge over the River Dee just outside
Dent.
View looking east
along Dentdale. Taken just east of Dent
village.
There were certainly no
navigation problems along this part of the
route. We just kept to the south side of the
river, past some stepping stones until where the
river was met by a tributary the water
vanished. We were not surprised at
this. There had been very little rain for
some time and in Limestone country it is not
unusual for rivers to vanish along subterranean
channels and reappear further downstream.
Where's the water gone! A dried up tributary of the
River Dee.
Glorious meadows, very
much a feature of this walk.
Still on the Dales Way we followed the tributary
south east, with the water playing “now you see us
now you don’t” as it vanished and reappeared again
until we reached the road that goes east to west to
the south of the river at Mill Bridge(Grid Ref. SD
721861). Having crossed the bridge we turned left
over a stile and went uphill, through a field of
cows. There were wonderful views at the top
of the hill and I would have liked to have taken
more photographs but Anne was nervous about being
in the vicinity of so many cows and quickly dragged
me downhill back to the river away from the
animals.
Cows and the view eastwards along Dentdale.
Here we turned right and in 100 yards, maybe less,
we reached Tommy Bridge. One of the joys of
this area are the names given to certain bridges
and other landmarks. I’m still wondering who Tommy
was and why a bridge was named after him. I
would add that within a mile or so from Tommy
Bridge there is also a place called Basil Busk and
a Nelly’s Bridge
.
Tommy Bridge
So it was over Tommy Bridge and then we continued
to follow the Dee upstream on its north bank until
we reached the next footbridge and crossed over
back to the southern bank before continuing uphill
past a big drop on the right called Lenny’s Leap.
(Don’t ask) until the lane was reached again near
Laithbank, where we missed a turning.
Limestone wall seen between Laithbank and Little
Town.
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Once on the lane having turned left (east) we
should have taken a path to the right to continue
along the Dales Way, but maybe we were still
thinking about Lenny and missed the turn. But
we were not too bothered as we had done that part
of the Dales Way before and Anne was very happy to
meander along the lane exploring the hedgerow
vegetation.
Wild flower meadows near Little Town.
About half a mile along this lane, on the right
hand side, on the lower slopes of Whernside, is an
area called Little Town which has, on three sides,
conifer woodland. The Dales Way passes
through this clearing from one part of the woodland
to the other just below a large house which has
commanding views over this part of Dentdale.
The clearing also contains a few alpacas. Now
unlike llamas, alpacas are supposed to be quite
docile but I was told later that evening that some
walkers were crossing the clearing and one of them
decided to take a photograph of the alpacas.
Now I don’t know if it was late in the day or if
the shade from the trees caused the camera’s flash
to “go off”, but flash it did. This upset the
animals and I understand that when they are upset
they can get very angry. The result was the
walkers having to make a very swift exit over a
stile into the woodland. I was glad we missed
that turn.
The lane near Little Town.
Soon the lane was rejoined by the Dales Way and
shortly afterwards we reached Ewegales Bridge where
the lane meets the main road going through the
Dale. However, rather than cross the bridge
over the Dee and join the main road, we turned
right and followed the river the short distance to
the Lea Yeat Bridge in Cowgill. From here it
was a short walk to where we were staying.
Lea Yeat Bridge in Cowgill
Although we did not
visit it on this occasion, to the east, half a mile
along the road, is the Sportsman’s Public House,
which, besides being on the Dales Way, is the only
establishment in this part of the dale to sell food
and drink. The map used for this excursion was the
OS Explorer OL2 Yorkshire Dales- Southern and
Western Areas and the total distance walked was
about 7.5 miles.