Ilkley to Burnsall

28 June 2011 - Ilkley to Burnsall

Distance - 14.9 miles

Weather - Sunny

We stayed at - The Red Lion, By the Bridge at Burnsall, Skipton, North Yorks, BD23 6BU 

Cost - £99.50

River Wharfe

We left the hotel, and headed down to the River Wharfe and began making our way northwest along it. We followed the Dales Way today, which was well marked. The whole day was following the Wharfe gently upstream, through fields and woodland and the occasional small town.

After making our way through the outskirts of Ilkley and a couple of fields, we came across the town of Addingham. The parts we saw well all very pretty sandstone. On past a weir or two and 5 miles into our trek we stopped for refreshments at a tea room on the A59, on the edge of the Bolton Abbey estate. This huge estate is owned by the same people as Chatsworth. The beautifully maintained grounds are pretty much open to the public for walks and picnics etc. The walk through the estate is spectacular, with grasslands and woodlands. 

Approaching Bolton Abbey

There are a set of stepping stones across the Wharfe, 57 of them, which, of course, Alistair had to have a go at crossing. It turned out these were considerably smaller and further apart than the last set of stepping stones he'd been on at Dovedale. Having his full, 10kg rucksack on didn't help, and neither did the odd wobbly stepping stone. The river was a lot deeper than he was expecting too, maybe 3 or 4 feet (1 metre). He found this out the easy way though, using a walking stick to steady himself twice, and made it to the other side with dry feet. He even got a few claps from the 100 schoolkids who happened to be going past at the time. I'm sure he'd have got more had he taken a tumble!

The Strid

Further up is a section of the river called 'The Strid'. This bit is almost narrow enough to jump across, but has the same amount of water going through it as the stepping stone section. It's believed to be 9 metres deep, with swirling potholes to drag you down. If you fall in, you may not come up for days, as many deaths testify.

From the north edge of the Bolton Abbey estate, we made our way through fields to our evening's destination, Burnsall.

This hamlet is dominated by what must be one of Britain's most over-specified bridges. The road curves as it passes over the bridge, unnecessarily yet aesthetically pleasing, sweeping gracefully into Burnsall and is supported by several well-proportioned arches. It is one of the most photographed bridges in Yorkshire. All this is great, but the road only goes one place, an even tinier hamlet called Appletreewick (pronounced Aptrick).

Burnsall with its huge bridge!

Anyway the pub at Burnsall was great, not only had they moved us from their Manor House annex, where all the 'cheap' rooms are, but they'd given us a free upgrade. The room we had normally costs £60 more than we paid. Did I say we were supposed to be in a 'cheap' room? Well, I wouldn't call it cheap, but I couldn't find anything more reasonable nearby. Location, location, location. The view from the room was stonking, looking up at the hills. Tea was good too, the pub has a good reputation and it did us proud.