Sssssh! Don't Tell Everyone

The Howgill Fells, that huddle of smooth sided hills that nestle between the grandeur of the Lake District and the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, is one of the north’s best kept secrets. 

The Howgills

They are often overlooked as a walking destination in favour of their better known neighbours, but on a clear, dry day there is nowhere that I’d rather be, away from the crowds and alone with the curlews and Fell ponies.

Fell ponies on the Howgills

Dennis and Jan Kelsall share my love of this landscape as their guidebook book Walking in the Lune Valley and Howgills clearly shows. This is the 2^nd edition of the book they first wrote in 2012 and it celebrates the inclusion of much of the area into either the Lake District or Yorkshire Dales National Parks. It includes 40 day walks of between 3 and 11 miles in the catchment area of the river Lune, stretching from its emergence near Newbiggin-on-Lune and flowing for some 50 miles to the Irish Sea below Lancaster. 

To the east of the river lay the Howgill Fells and the Forest of Bowland and it is in these areas that there are some of the finest walks in the book. Base yourself in the lovely market town of Sedbergh and you can tackle anything from a strenuous circular climb over Winder, Calders and the Calf to a gentle stroll around Dent.

Dent village

There are also clusters of walks in the north around Orton and Tebay where there are fine examples of limestone pavement, and further south in remote little Barbondale. 

The limestone pavements of Great Asby Scar

The final section of the book takes you along the Lancaster canal and out to the Lune estuary were you can see the remains of Cockersand Abbey and explore Glasson Dock, still active after over 200 years, although mainly with pleasure craft these days.

The book is published by Cicerone and is in their distinctive style; pocket sized with 1:50,000 extracts of OS maps to accompany each route description. Directions in the text are enlivened by the historical and geographical snippets that add interest to any walk.

If your walking in the northwest has been concentrated on the Lakes and Dales then this is the book for you.  But sssssh! Don't tell everyone or they'll all want to go there.

Walking in the Lune Valley and Howgills by Dennis and Jan Kelsall is published by Cicerone, ISBN:978 1 85284 916 0 price £12.95

I was sent a free copy of the book to review. The photographs in this review are my own.

A Sense of Self

This isn't the blog I intended to write today. No, I planned to post a story about the four days I just spent walking in the Scottish Borders. Either that, or our week away at the Ride2stride Walking Festival, or maybe my new project to walk A Dales High Way on alternate Saturdays with a group from Nidderdale or.... 

Well you get the idea. I've got plenty going on, most of it involving walking and all of it taking me away from home. And that's where the problem lies.

Last night I had a visit from the secretary of our allotment association, a dear friend of mine, who wondered on behalf of t'committee, whether I was actually going to plant anything on my plot this year. She offered me 3 alternatives - give it up, share with someone from the waiting list or commit to cultivating. I tried to convince her that there was a 4th option - leave me and my weeds to our own devices but no - I have to make my mind up.

My plot looks like this ...

...when it should look like this

Our allotments are stunning, tucked away behind the church in Saltaire and bordered by the Leeds Liverpool canal. I've spent some of my happiest hours there. Me, the dog, a flask and a sunny afternoon. But with a long waiting list and most plots shared by 2 or 3 families already it's really not fair that I hang on to mine.

The canal flows along the bottom of the site

So with a heavy heart I've been down this morning, picked my last rhubarb, collected my tools and handed back the key to the taps. I know it's the right decision. I don't have the time, I'm not at home enough and every time the sun shines there's an almighty tussle between the walking boots and the gardening gloves. It might even be a relief to be rid of it, one less thing to worry about in an already overcrowded life, but I'm heartbroken all the same. 

It's not just that I'll miss the gardening, I have a garden at home, I can neglect that instead. It's not the company - I enjoy a chinwag with my allotment neighbours but I see most of them around the village anyway. It's not even losing the peace and quiet although one of the things I love most is that feeling of being away from phones and emails and domestic responsibilities for an hour or two. 

No, I think I'm saddest about giving up the notion of myself as someone who has an allotment. It's who I think I am - walker, gardener, writer, cook - and giving up the allotment feels like I've lost a part of myself.

Last year's apple and redcurrant jelly

Happiness is ....

A few weeks ago the lovely Susan Briggs @Dales_Tourism asked "What makes you happy?" She's writing The Yorkshire Dales Guide to Health and Happiness and was looking for stories to feature in her book.

And it got me thinking. What makes me happy? Well in no particular order (or there is a particular order but putting the dog first might upset a few people) my family, my friends, the dog, hot baths, cold beers, growing stuff, cooking stuff, eating stuff - and walking.

Any sort of walking.  It doesn't matter if it's an early morning dog walk, an afternoon stroll or a full day's hike.  I love 'em all. But the walks that make me feel happiest in a deep, lasting and profound way are long distance walks. Walks that take weeks of planning and thinking about. Walks where I leave home with my pack on my back knowing I won't be back for a week or more.  I have done lots of these walks and the magic works every time. I set off with my head crammed full of everyday worries and concerns and my body tense with anxiety.

Within a day or so that's all gone. My mind empties and my life slows down to the pace of the walk.  The purpose of each day is just that - to walk. There is no other task. No other jobs to tick off or goals to achieve. I eat, I walk, I sleep and tomorrow I do it all again. I begin to experience the true beauty of the landscape I am walking through, to notice the tiniest speedwell, the highest skylark. Every day brings a new adventure. My days are spent in splendid isolation on the fells, walking to a soundtrack of bleating sheep and the call of the curlew. At night I head for civilisation, to pubs and B&Bs, to warm baths and good food and real ale, and I return home at the end of my walk happy and at peace with myself and the world.

We are lucky here in the Yorkshire Dales to have some of the finest long distance footpaths in the British Isles. There’s the gentle riverside Dales Way and the exhilarating, challenging Dales High Way, the world famous Coast to Coast Path and the fascinating Lady Anne’s Way. There’s the granddaddy of them all - the Pennine Way and many many more. Go on – try it yourself.