For newcomers

At the bottom of each post there is the word "comments". If you click on it you will see comments made by followers, and if you follow the instructions you may also comment and I always welcome that. I have found many people overlook this part of the blog which is often more interesting than the original post!

My blog nick-name is SIR HUGH. I'm not from the aristocracy - my middle name is Hugh which relates to the list of 282 hills in Scotland compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. I climbed my last one (Sgurr Mor) on 28th June 2009

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Thursday 29 September 2022

Trigs 99 - Visit 5

Tuesday 27th September 2022

Raygill House Moor.      SE 091 690.       458m.

6 miles. Ascent 1100 ft. +

Now we are into some quality walking in proper hill country.

Instead of the now tedious route over the A66 to Scotch Corner I am approaching by the A65 Skipton road - always nostalgia fro me; memories of hitch hiking to the Lakes in the late fifties and later driving there most weekends from Bradford.. This is a bit longer approach than that previous route but it doesn't seem so.

From Pateley Bridge the roads become narrower as I head up the lush wide valley of Nidderdale. I park in Ramsgill opposite the Yorke Arms, once a highly rated eating  pub but now only catering for large parties and weddings and the like, and no longer a conventional pub or hotel.

I set off up a private road leading to the farm at Raygill but I have only gone about fifty yards before I am hailed by a woman down near the main road. I had passed her a few minutes earlier where she was just going into the church from her well appointed Range Rover, perhaps "doing" the flowers. She reminded me of Margot in The Good Life.  She turned out to be the farmer's wife at Raygill and told me the road was private . She was mainly concerned that I knew what I was doing and would not be getting lost and she had no objection to me proceeding after I had verified my credentials.

The road was steep with a few hairpin bends but the views back up Nidderdale were superb.

At Raygill I had difficulty getting onto the footpath (not public) marked on the map but eventually I was onto moorland along a gently rising Land Rover track. As indicated on the map this track ended abruptly, tnow marked as a continuing footpath which after a kilometre again terminated on the map. From there I would have to beeline and climb moorland steeply across virgin heather to the trig. That path at the end of the Land Rover track was marked by a substantial cairn which would certainly be a welcome marker for anybody approaching from the other direction. Especially so because the footpath was almost invisible and I lost it for a couple of hundred yards and ended up flailing about in deep heather. 

The one and a half kilometres  continuation from the path end up to the trig was arduous and time consuming. At last the trig was visible standing in lonely isolation in the middle of a huge expanse of moorland, the only object sticking up above the level of the heather.

I headed north to pick up another Land Rover track after visiting the curious collection of large bouldery stones: Ray Gill House Wig Stones. They may be of interest to bouldering aficionados - see  this website:  "Unknown Stones, Wild Bouldering in Yorkshire"

A stop for coffee and a munch and then a walk back on the good track to Ramsgill completed a good walk in magnificent surroundings.

I had researched one other trig a short hop from the road only a couple of miles away. Trigpointing UK informed me of ascents up a private track to lead through a disused quarry and then a couple more fields. I had assumed this would be the most practical route. Parking at the road junction where the track lead off was fortuitous on this narrow country lane.  Up the track I went leading through a field opening to a rusty old iron gate leading into the disused quarry, This gate was propped up by three huge stones. The gate had various metal stakes protruding threatening impalement and it was also leaning awkwardly. I tried to climb over but failed. I wandered up the wall side and found no other weak point. Back at the gate I heaved one of the stones away and managed to open the gate enough to squeeze through - there's always a way?  I trekked across the quarry only to find the only exit was over a low wall with a low non-barbed fence, easy enough to stride over but with an eight foot drop into the field below. The thought of injuring myself and having to call out the boys for help and trying to explain that I was two fields and a quarry into private land, and they would probably need to identify the farmer and gain permission, was a sobering thought and I retreated, replacing the moved stone at the gate. That possibility definitely needs bearing in mind when on private land. Extra care and caution is advisable.

I now looked carefully at the map. I saw that the trig is actually on access land and a short drive up the road identified a gate leading onto that land with an easy walk up to the trig! It was now too late and I will have to leave that for next time but with the research done it will only be a short diversion.


The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill

Looking down to Ramsgill church

Nidderdale

My trig is up there somewhere

Land Rover track, easy going until...

...its termination at this cairn

And some time later after a lot of heather thrashing. Ah! But that is what I came for?


Ray Gill house Wig Stones (perhaps they look like the wigs of old?)


Clockwise from Ramsgill

The second trig. Route from Trig Pointing UK in blue. My researched route for next time in red

That trig in geographical context

9 comments:

  1. That's a great day out. Ages since we've been to Nidderdale, which I seem to remember has some entertaining caves to explore.

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  2. As you say some proper hill country at last, well done. Looked a fine day.
    There is an awful lot of 'open access' land in Nidderdale which can not be accessed legally, such as that above Raygill Farm.
    Shame that the Yorke Arms is no longer functioning for travellers. I remember staying there one night halfway across The Six Dales Walk. Starting at Settle in Ribblesdale, 44 miles, crossing Airedale, Wharfedale, Nidderdale, Wensleydale and finally Swaledale at Skipton-on-Swale. I did feel rather out of place amongst the toffs and shooting types, but the food was excellent.
    I've used that wild bouldering website, an awful lot of work has gone into it.

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  3. Never go for a walk without your credentials; you could find yourself up before the magistrates charged with being a fraudulent walker. Stamping down the High Street in tailored alligator-skin boots, then turning into a narrow ginnel where a Range Rover - pre-warmed by one's "man" - is waiting. Pol Roger chilling in the the solar powered fridge; caviar butties in the glove compartment, a slide projector with collapsible screen to create ravishing backgrounds in front of which El Fraudo may pose, thus provimg he went all the way along the 55-mile "classic" first walked by Neanderthal Man. No expense spared.

    And then there are medals issued by the Kazakhstan Pedestrianate Guild, the Alice Springs Whoo-Hoo Boys and the East Anglian 8000 m High Club. Proof that the wearer is "hard" (actually true when it comes to paying for a round). Never knowingly sweats..

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  4. Phreerunner - I'm looking forward to exploring this region some more. It is mostly unfamiliar to me and certainly rewarding.

    BC - I thought I may have given you a new discovery with that bouldering website, but of course, no chance.

    RR - An alternative: doing a Donald Crowhurst? With your imagination you could help me to fabricate fictitious logs of mind boggling expeditions.
    I haven't got the bottle to align myself with the non-sweating royal.

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    Replies
    1. Honest, I'm not trying to out do you. Just trying to add to your excellent narrative.

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  5. BC - I didn't think that at all. I\m always grateful for any contribution.

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  6. That does look to have been a fine walk (even with a bit of heather bashing). I find myself slightly disappointed that the interaction with 'Margot' at the church didn't result in a cup of tea.

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  7. Gayle - I think people are more stirred to offer refreshment when they glean from the conversation that you are embarked on a multi-day epic carrying your world on your back, a concept that seems to be unobtainable within their life. Meeting me on a modest potter around their locale does not have the same cachet.

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