Mealbank quarry

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail: As the final stage of the trail meanders down into Ingleton village, there are lovely views back up to the fells. The route passes through a disused quarry, where until 1910 limestone used to be extracted. You can still see some of the workings, including a ruined Hoffman Kiln. The area is now an SSSI, managed as a nature reserve. 

The trail ends in Ingleton village and I should really have had a mooch round there and taken a few photos. I was, however, pretty exhausted by this stage. Five miles is an easy, comfortable distance for me usually but this had been a very strenuous five miles! I'd had enough... and I had to get back anyway as I had an appointment to get a flu jab, which feels a fairly important thing to do this year. 

I'm glad I managed it. As I said, the trail has been on my list to visit for some time. I probably won't do it again as I'm not getting any younger but I'm pleased to have achieved it. 

The Doe and its falls

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail: The return leg of the trail follows the valley of the River Doe, again full of cascades and waterfalls. Past Beezley Farm (where there are refreshments and toilets, so you can have a break if you need one) the first falls are Beezley Falls, with the three waterfalls of Triple Spout side by side. The river then rushes down a steep gorge, full of twists and turns.

Rival Falls (below) plunges into a pool reputed to be 80 feet deep. 

Then comes Baxenghyll Gorge, a very narrow constriction of rocks. You can stand on a viewing platform directly above the water. 

Finally, the route levels off a bit and the valley broadens, through the woodland of Twistleton Glen. 

A glimpse of Ingleborough

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail: Twistleton Lane is an old Roman Road, with far-reaching views. It's said that from here, on a clear day, you can see Morecambe Bay on the west coast, and there are views too of Ingleborough, one of Yorkshire's Three Peaks. It was topped in cloud and mist but you can probably just see its peak rising above the fells. 

In the photo below, beyond where the track drops away, you maybe able to see in the distance the buildings at the entrance to White Scar Caves, a long cave system that snakes through the limestone under Ingleborough. I visited there with my family a couple of years ago (see HERE and HERE). 

 

Up and over

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail: Leaving Thornton Force behind and walking upstream, the Twiss valley becomes broader and shallower.  The trees up here are scrubby and windswept, as the trail crosses open limestone moorland and joins a farm track between a few fields of hardy Swaledale sheep.  

From up here there are beautiful views down towards Ingleton. Though the early mist was still burning off, the sun was getting hotter. 

There are a few farms around here, with this year's fat lambs grazing in the fields and the ever-present drystone walls snaking across the terrain. 

The Waterfall Trail is quite a challenging walk, steep, with lots of steps and a bit rocky and scrambly in some parts. The Covid-induced one-way system means that once you begin you are committed to the entire five mile circuit, no going back! Thankfully there are a couple of coffee cabins along the route, so you can slake your thirst or cool down with an ice-cream if you need to. There is one at Twistleton Farm. 

 

Up to Thornton Force

Ingleton Waterfalls Trail: The valley narrows to a gorge, and there are so many waterfalls that it is hard to keep count of them.  The larger ones are named on the map; the one above is part of Pecca Falls, a cascade of five significant waterfalls. 

We've had a relatively dry summer and certainly the week or two before I explored the Trail had been fairly dry. All the waterfalls would be much more spectacular after rain, but they were still attractive - and at least the path round was dry and not muddy or slippery. 

Further upstream is Hollybush Spout (above). The rock around this area changes from limestone to slates and sandstone, with a consequent shift in the vegetation, and bracken and heathers appear as you approach the open fells. 

Thornton Force is the most famous and spectacular of the falls on the trail. Water plunges 14 metres over a limestone cliff. It has been a tourist attraction since Victorian times and was sketched by the artist JMW Turner. You can tell from the rocky river bed that the water was quite low, so the Force was rather less Forceful than it often is. Even so, it's a lovely spot, a sort of natural amphitheatre.  

There were quite a few young people gathered at the viewing point and some of them decided to climb along the cliff face and round behind the waterfall itself. It looked rather foolhardy and, not wanting to watch them plunge to a nasty death, I didn't hang around there too long! 

If you want to see what Thornton Force looks like in flood, click HERE. 

A tick off my list

'Visit Ingleton Falls' has been on my list for several years now, so it was with some pleasure that I finally managed to tick it off. Summer was segueing gently into autumn and in mid September we had a spell of quite warm and dry weather. I woke one morning, drew back the curtains to the promise of a lovely day and decided 'this is it'! 

Ingleton lies about 40 miles north west of Saltaire, a good hour's drive, in the Craven district of North Yorkshire on the way to the Lake District. It is limestone country, the area known for the famous 'Three Peaks' of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen y Ghent. 

The Ingleton Falls Trail is a circular route that takes in two river valleys, the Twiss and the Doe, which meet in the town to join the River Lune. It's privately owned so you have to pay to enter, and with the current pandemic the route has been made one-way only for safety reasons. 

The trail starts gently enough, meandering through Swilla Glen, with the River Twiss burbling alongside the path. The woodland mostly consists of oak, ash, birch and hazel, and the leaves were just beginning to take on a golden hue. Here you come across the famous 'money tree' - an old fallen oak that, over many years, has been completely covered in coins, hammered into the bark. It's said that a deity lives inside the tree and will grant a wish to anyone who leaves an offering. 

The walk gradually gets steeper, climbing up the narrow valley, the path in places quite treacherous with rocks and exposed tree roots. Peering through the trees affords tantalising glimpses of scenery. 

Join me again tomorrow for the next leg!