Lady Anne's Way - Hawes to Thwaite Bridge (final)

 Saturday 3rd October 2026

The last  of Lady Anne's Way in day walk sections.

I used The Little White Bus for the second time leaving my car at Moorcock Inn and boardng the 09:27 to Hawes for a walking start at 09:50. There was only one other passenger.

This LDP is certainly worthwhile with a mixture of country walking on easy going Yorkshire Dales sheep pasture and olden day tracks, and then higher ground again on old established tracks in the middle sections, and all in the best of Yorkshire Dales scenery. *

Today's section had all that, but the last two miles on the switchback A 684 with long stretches of uphill was tedious and hardgoing for me. A bit of an anticlimax. Suffice to say that is not actually part of LA's Way but it was necessary for logistical reasons. 

I only discovered the bus service for these last two sections and it may have been incorporated for others if I'd known.

Leaving the A684 just out of Hawes

Disused railway. I went under towards Appersett

Widdale Beck bridge at Appersett

Following the River Ure from the bridge at Appersett

LA's Way after a short section on the A684 to start the steepest ascent 

on the whole route. That enabled me to join my walk 

from Thwaite Bridge on 5th July last year: Click to view post

On the ascent, steeper than it looks.
 Last year's walk gave me the idea of mopping up this LDP being inspired by
 a woman backpacking the route that I met high up on the old rack.

Here I met my previous walk and turned left through the gate to follow the path back down to Thwaite Bridge,and the sapping two miles dodging traffic back to Moorcock Inn.

Looking back at the tough ascent. I was quite pleased with my performance

 

Back at Thwaite Bridge.

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Click to enlarge. 

Light Blue = LA\s Way. Blue = today. 

Red flags = previously researched parking spots

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 I write "Yorkshire Dales" to incorpoate the whole area which may include parts of other counties.

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It is becoming inreasingly difficult to construct these posts with Blogger's increasing number of glitches cutting off text or sending it off the end, and problems with underlining and putting strange frames round captions amongst others.  I have had to adopt centre aligning on the captions and create paragraphs where I wouldn't want in order to keep text going off the end. I have spent much time searching for answers on the Internet, some have worked but others not. I have been blogging for years now and am reasonably competent atsorting problems but it is just getting harder and harder. I am not prepared to spend any more valuable time for the moment trying to fix all this.

 

Lady Anne's Way - Askrigg to Hawes

 Wednesday 30th September 2026

I'm not sure if I have some kind of phobia about public transport but looking up timetables and making sure I am at departure times correctly sends me into semi-panic mode. I have already phoned the Little White Bus people who operate in Wensleydale to make sure they are still there and to confrim exactly where to wait in Hawes for the 09:17 bus to Askrigg.

To be on the safe side, and although it is only just over an hour's drive I set off at 07:12. I travel again via Ingleton and that seventeen mile deserted, switch back wild terrain B 6255 motor cylists heaven (or nemesis) and arrive at Hawes three quarters of an hour early. I sit and sup coffee from my flask and play my Freecell Daily Challenge on my phone, and worrying about discharging the battery too much. Forecast  had said rain until 10:00 then sunshine,. They were only partly correct aabout hte rain. It persisted as I waited outside the Board Inn with a walking couple from Otley. We were the only travellers. The driver was known to my couple from their previous use of the bus. He was a jolly chap and using common snese just waived me through when my bus pass didn't work - it is dated to 2029 but as far as I can remember the last time I used it was several years ago.

I am ready for the off by the church in Askrigg at 09:35. The square church tower has a ghostly appearance apparently painted uncharacteristically in an off white. It seems that essential repairs to the stonework demanded using authentic materials in sympathy with the church's age which included a limewash or similar. There has been mixed reception from locals, and others from distant parts of the globe.

In the wall an ancient indecipherable stone plaque caught my eye with a modern plea for cylists not to despoil by leaning bikes on it.

 Gleaned from the Internet:

JanetandDavid Lewins

 · 

Marion Connett. The stone was above the door of the Old Hall. Unless you were a Latin Scholar you would be unable to read it. A translation is "For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God". (taken from "Wensleydale" by Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley)

Cul de sac tarmac lead to paving stones across a sheep pasture and into a wooded ravine. Climbing steeply on a wide path I was mildly concerned at the worryingly steep drop on the right plunging sixty feet down to the stream . There was no great danger, the path was wide but it was scattered with substantial gnarly roots from mature beech trees  and if one had tripped there was no way you would have stopped before hitting the bottom.

  

More fields gave extensive views across Wensleydale to Bainbridge and Addlebrough.  Alonother stretch of cul de sac tarmac road teminated at Skell Gill. From there ancient tracks more or less contoured high up on the slopes pf Wensleydale  punctuated by a line of old stone barns and the odd farmhouse all the way to Sedbusk. I do not exaggerate when I say there were I think more than twenty of those spring loaded gates akin to wildlife snares.  Although forecast had said sun at ten it was somewhere along here after eleven that sun appeared and I stashed the waterproof. Despite the shin trapping gates it was all good going on sheep pasture with views to the right up to the limestone escarpment now shinng white caught by the overdue sun. Perfect walking.

At Sedbusk paths descended to cross the Rivere Ure and a walk back into Hawes and my car. Country walking as good as it gets in my favourite locale.

I did ponder why Wensleydale and not Uredale as per the river. It seems the dale is named after the village of Wensley, but it was known in older times as Uredale or Yoredale. 

WORTH CLICKING PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

The white church, more so in real life. It stands out as a kind of anomaly and can be seen at great distance from many viewpoints in the dale

JanetandDavid Lewins

 · 

Marion Connett. The stone was above the door of the Old Hall. Unless you were a Latin Scholar you would be unable to read it. A translation is "For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God". (taken from "Wensleydale" by Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley)

Walking out of Hawes

The woods and start of the climb up the ravine seen in the far distance

I have darkened the image to try and capture the overexposed stream at the bottom. The slope in many places was even steeper but difficult to photograph

Across Wensleydale to Bainbridge - still raining

Barns like this were scattered along this ancient contouring track along the slopes of Wensleydale

Perfection

Skell Gill. End of tarmac. Start of old contouring track

Addlebrough

The walls around here were skilfully constructed and maintained to perfection

High Clint limestone escarpment.
 At last: rain  stopped, sun out.

Sedbusk. Leaving the old track and descending to the River Ure and back into Hawes

Light green - Lady Anne's Way. Blue with dots my route plotted.

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Lady Anne's Way - Addelbrough to Askrigg

 Monday 21st. September 2026

I had walked from upper Wharfedale on my LEJOG past the high point of Addlebrough but from there I had continued down to Bainbridge, and LA's Way branches off at Addlebrough to descend to Askrigg so today I was walking a circular from Askrigg to make the daunting long steep road climb back up to LA's branch-off

The obvious route to Askrigg is by the M6, Sedbergh,  and Garsdale, but the Garsdale road is closed until 16th October. I drove to Ingleton and then took the B6255: seventeen miles of a petrol-head's delight - not another car in sight, sweeping bends and undulations and sections with long views ahead, and all traversing wild upland hill terrain.

As I passed by White Scar Cave memories were stirred of an epic walk from Bull Pot Farm and arriving near White Scar as dusk was falling. I descended from that road and crossed the river. It was now dark. I had no torch, and the route back to Bull Pot was not straightforward and I was to put it mildly, knackered. I had to give in. I phoned for my personal mountain rescue. Son and daughter came to pick me up as I waited in the Wheatsheaf at Ingleton. That is one  of countless recalls I have as I am driving to locations for yet another adventure to store in that memory bank. As age intervenes I think more and more how valuable it is and fortunate I am to have all that to look back on.

A word of advice to those younger. Keep well organised records of your adventures. You will be glad later if you do.

At Askrigg there is a small car park at the top of the village with an honesty box where I nade a donation, it is actually on LA's Way.

A good downhill start through the village and then a pleasant well established footpath took me to the road into Bainbridge. As I looked over the bridge at  the impressive falls they were hurtling down with glistening dark brown turbulence topped by creamy white froth and spray dispelling mmeories of our recent heatwave and drought. A middle aged couple were also taking in the view but seemd reluctant to talk but from accents I gleaned rhey were American. As we carried on up the steep road climb out of Bainbridge these two were ahead, then they stopped and I passed, and then I stopped and they passed, 'twas all a bit irritating. I noticed rhey were conforming to that all too often observed scenario of male out ahead and female trailing often longish distances behind. Evntually I was glad when they peeeld off onto the track for Semerwater.

The one and a half kilometres road climb to the the summit  where LA's Way branches off on footpath is relentlessly steep. I adopted a steady small step rhythmical plod and I was well pleased to get rhere with hardly a stop, dare I say that there is some small improvement in my breathlessness?

A broad grassy track, now on my LDP proper followed level for a while with good views of Addlebrough summit to my right until it  dropped down steeply to Worton. Again memories of trout fishing on the river Ure there in the Sixties wirh good friends, and many a pint in the Victoria just up the road, now sadly closed I think.

Pleasant walking following the Ure on the northern bank underlined much of quality in this long distance walk as I sat on  on a good log with a Gainsborough like view of the Ure downstream and munched my sandwich and sipped my coffee  The coffee came from my battered flask that has been with me for a long time having topped most of he Munros and hundreds of Marilyns amnogst  its many other travels.

From the Ure I climbed up to Nappa Hall, an impressive fortified farmhouse.

From AI:

History and Architecture

Built: Constructed between 1459 and 1476 by James Metcalfe and his son Thomas. James received the estate after fighting at the Battle of Agincourt. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Design: Features a single-storey central hall nestled between a four-storey western tower and a two-storey eastern tower. [1]
Significance: Historic England regards it as probably the finest and least-spoilt medieval fortified manor house in northern England. [1, 2]
Status: It is a Grade I listed building, but it is privately owned and not open to the public

There is much on the Intrnet and about Nappa Hall with more tnan usual interesting history too long to include here but rhe most digestible I found was: CLICK HERE

The last mile from here threatened to belie my praise a few lines back. In that mile there were ten field boundaries with a mix of stone stiles with no handpoles and those awaul spring loaded mini gates that threaten to spring back and potentially srrip skin from you shins or calf. However,  this had been an enjoyable and rewarding trip.

 Only two more sections now, another from Askrigg and one from Hawes.

Descending in Askrigg

Yore Bridge and the River Ure

Bainbridge

Bainbridge Falls in pomp

The American couple, her unusually infront...

...bu now well behind after rhey had branched off my road for Semerwater

Plod. plod, plod up to Addlebrough summit

Looking back down at conquered road

Semerwater

Addlebrough summit

Note the level road, leaving that, now, at last for my missed bit of the Way

Good level going after leaving rhe road

Thistles (gone over) and Addlebrough summit from Lady Anne's Way

Now. descending on limestone path to Warton

Worton and below

Crossing onto the north bank of the Ure

Gainsborough?

One for Alan, it looks a bit old and obviously unused

Nappa Hall

One of the many field boundaries on the last mile. The curious cows had followed me across their field

The car park is about a hundred yards up the road

Clockwise from Askrigg