Lady Anne's Way - Skipton to Barden Bridge

 Friday 11th September 2026

What a good day but bracketed at each end firstly by a steep ascent from the start and a steep ascent at the end, and  secondly bracketed by logistic considerations at both start and finish.

I booked a taxi the day before to pick me up at Barden Bridge at 8:30am. There is limited parking at the bridge which fills up quickly most days and I was relying on getting a spot at that early hour, but worried that I might not. The alternative was to park  at Barden Tower, and walk back down to the bridge for the taxi. Fortune prevailed: that parking spot was slmost empty. Suffice to say when I returned later in the day it was crammed full. In order to ensure I would have time to sort out the potential parking change I had allowed myself an extra half hour for the drive. 

Logistics at the end of he day were dictated by a new TV. That was scheduled for Thursday but re-arranged by my tv man for this day and I had told him it would have to be after 4:00pm. That meant I had to walk 7.6 miles with 1052 ft. of ascent (about as much as I want to do these days) and leave enough time for the one and a half hour drive back home to arrive by 4:00pm so my walk was under a little bit of time pressure.

I had just driven onto my drive at excatly 4:00pm and had phone in hand to let Tv Man know I was home when I looked up to  see him arriving.

As I walked past the start of Lady Anne's Way in Skipton the church clock struck 8:45. The road passes over Eller Beck which was used in the past to provide power for mills down steeam but now powers a turbine for input to the National Grid. Wikipedia has an incredibly detailed entry for Eller Beck. Just after the beck crossing a dauntingly steep tarmac road eventually leads to a cropped grass steep climb to summit Park Hill at 169m. That was a toughy for me at the start of the day but there was a grand view of Skipton and surroundings. The well found path descended now to cross Skipton golf couurse, quiet at this time in the morning. On the narrow tarmac lane leading to Embsay there were good views of the proper little mountain of Embsay Crag where climbing features and now more popular with the inrease in bouldering as a sport in its own right.

The planner for modern housing in Embsay had been obliged to leave a narrow fenced public footpath in front of of the houses bordering onto the outake fields, I thought of it as The Embsay By-pass. I popped into the church at Embsay. There was a grave there for a guy called Randle who must have been a keen cyclist or motorbiker. An enlarged version of a cycle chain had been well sculpted from polished wood laid on the grave.

At Eastby I took a shot of Eastby Crag, another venue of short but immaculate gritstone climbing in this part of of the Dales. Here I met an elderly woman with two large containers of tomatoes she had been picking, red and green for two different kinds of chutney I was told. I had been perusing my map on my phone and she tried to direct me onto a footpath, "but it's very nettly" she said. Fortunately I realised that was not my path, but it is easy to be mislead by well meaning folk met along the way.

I was intrigued by Mawking Hole shown on the map. That turned out to be a hollowed out feature of reeds and swamp with little to commend it and no reference whatsover that I could find on the internet. At Halton East I passed by Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream. Here a larger than one would have thought justified are large farm like factory premises with a repository of perhaps twenty or thirty redundant ice cream vans which much go back many years and left to rot and somewhat of an eyesore in this particular countryside. All quite strange. 

From Halton East pleasant grassy sheep pasture soon started to climb for my grand finale, end of the day, steep climb to go over the shoulder of Middle Hare Head. Nearer the summit the path although well established was shrouded by deep rushes and heather making for a section of hard going before a welcome long descent on a better path to the road and a walk out back to Barden Bridge. A great day in superb Dales country with the added nostalgia of my many wanderings in the Dales during and after my formative years.

  WORTH CLICKING PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Barden Bridge - 8:00am. The parking is off to the right of the photo

Skipton church. Note the clock at 8:45am

Eller Beck. Ex provider of power for the old mills, now for the National Grid

The steep climb out of Skipton, halfway up

This seemed to be the standard format for perhaps fifteen or so that I straddled and wobbled over during the walk

Embsay Moor and in the distance Burnsall Fell 

The Embsay by-pass

A good bit of posher Yorkshire Dales architecture

Eastby Cragg

Embsay church

The wooden crafted bike chain presumably for a biker or cyclist

In Eastby, and below

Eastby Crag

On of the many old Yorkshire Dales lanes - this had evidence of cobbled pathway under a modern spread of chippings, but still full of atmosphere and good for walking

The disappointing Mawking Hole

Cragg House Farm

The Halton East Mission. An ex unconsecrated place of worship, now a residence I think

Pleasant pasture before the climb over the left dhoulder of Middle Hare Head seen in the distance

A bit of tough going approaching the summit. There was a path but it was shrouded with the reeds and heather

Barden Moor

Barden Tower

Just the bit in the middle now. Looking forward to that. Can be done without taxis

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