Words & Photos Ian Battersby

August 01 2010

Swaledale. The name just dawdles off the tongue, conveying the impression of a wide sweeping dale with lingering river. Wrong. Take a look at those tightly packed contours around Muker and Reeth while trying not to drool over the map.

Now have a peak at the national park’s eastern boundary. See that long fingering tendril reaching out of the Pennines? That’s Swaledale, reaching as far east as Richmond, and those contours bunch up by the town too. So why not wander around the edges that overlook this contorted dale? The hills are too small I hear you say. Well, once you’ve completed this round you’ll feel like you’ve climbed a Munro.

I set off on a hot, humid morning, with no breeze to ease the toil, and sweated up the minor path that shadows the edge of Whitcliffe Scar. The cliffs below were mostly hidden beneath a solid green canopy, but when the path plucked up the courage to embrace the edge, the views into the weaving dale came to life. Fine grasses feathered the edge, releasing clouds of pollen that lingered over my passage, like the dust trail more akin to a mad dash.

A neat indent in the edge allowed a descent through steep woods to the tiny hamlet of Marske, where Marske Beck mingles with the Swale. More contours crowd the upper reaches of this stream around Throstle Gill, and I detoured up through shadowy dells before breaking out into bright pastures guarded by limestone crags. I’d been here once before in winter, when deep drifts of snow had made the going so laborious we’d limited ourselves to this one, small valley, but today, apart from the heat, the going was easy, and I flew along the dale, weaving a labyrinthine loop back to Marske. A blinded rabbit, riddled with mixomatosis, sat bewildered on the path, and I suffered the usual torment of whether to end its miserable existence. Pest or not – this solution is deplorable.

I took the lane and path by the river to the A6108, admiring the cliffs rising over this tight bend in the river. I had intended to catch a bus back from here, but there was plenty of time, and the other side of the dale had eluded me so far. Sadly the map revealed no immediate paths, so I followed the road a little before climbing back up above the valley to Hag Wood and dropped into the cool shaded paths of Hudswell Woods. I chose one that hugs the river, but there’s a higher option if you prefer, before dropping to the impressive castle remains overlooking the Swale at Richmond. While you’re there, Richmond is a tangle of cobbles and alleyways requiring some navigational skills themselves.

Distance: 19 miles/30km Ascent: 3670ft/1120m Time: 9-11 hours Start/finish: Westfields, Richmond (GR: NZ 166011) Maps: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet 304 (Darlington & Richmond) Information: Richmond, 01748 850252/825994 Travel: Bus connections to Darlington, Northallerton and, on summer Sundays, Leeds. Traveline: 0871 200 22 33, www.traveline.org.uk

Technical Spec
NW then W up Westfields (lane) for 1 mile. NW along path above Whitcliffe Scar turning N to lane. Descend narrow lane S for 500m. Path through gate passing through woods SW to Applegarth then W to large cairn. Path WSW to Marske. Lane then track heading NW through Clints to Orgate. Bridleway NE to lane on Marske Moor. Lane 300m NNW. Path to Dicky Edge, then Telfit Farm, and Skelton Moor. Paths SE through Marske to A1608. N for 1 mile. Path and lane ESE to Hudswell. Paths E following Swale to Richmond.