Map:
Distance: 4.5 miles
Getting There: Hawes is served by buses from Garsdale Station (bus 113) and Bedale (bus 156/157, with connections from Northallerton on bus 73) and Leyburn (buses 156/157). On Summer Sundays and Bank Holidays there are DalesBus services from York, Leeds, Ilkley and Grassington (bus 800), from Northallerton, Bedale and Leyburn (bus 856) and from Settle, Ingleton and Ribblehead (bus 832). In the summer months there's also Vintage Bus 127 from Ripon and Leyburn.
Risk Assessment: An easy walk, suitable for beginners with a reasonable amount of fitness. Quite a steep climb up to Sedbusk and lots of stiles to negotiate.
The
Route:
1. From the bus stop outside Hawes Post Office, walk up Brunt Acres Road, on the left hand side, to a gate, with a sign for
the Pennine Way. Walk on this paved path, across a meadow to come out just
before Haylands Bridge [A].
2. Cross the bridge and then turn right, going uphill, on a footpath towards
Sedbusk [B]. Cross the road, and go through a gate stile and up the field path
to come out at Sedbusk Lane [C].
3. Cross the lane and go through a gate stile and turn left, and go forward,
following the meadow footpath, through gate stiles in the walls, coming out at
Simonstone.
4. Cross the road bearing slightly left, going through a signed stile and
walking in front of Simonstone Hall [D]. Go through a gate stile on the left,
and follow the footpath downhill, coming out at Hardraw, just before the Green
Dragon Pub [E]. To visit Hardraw Force, you must go through the pub and pay a
fee. Those who do not want to visit the falls can sit in a little garden, just
over the road from the pub and to the right.
5. After visiting the falls, cross over the road, and follow the signs, over
meadow paths, to come back onto the road, just before Haylands Bridge and return
to Hawes.
Getting
Back: Return from
Hawes on bus 113, 127, 156, 157, 800, 832 or 856.
Points of Interest:
Turner sketched Hardraw Force, reputed to be the highest unbroken fall in
England on Sunday morning 28 July 1816. He had stayed at the Green Dragon Inn
overnight.
[A] The paved paths around Hawes were made by the men who worked at the stone
quarries in Hardraw and Burtersett. The farmers were tired of their meadows
being trampled by the men, on their way to work, so the quarry owners provided
the stone and man power, to make these footpaths in the 19th century.
[B] There are fine views of Wensleydale, looking towards Hawes and Gayle from
the farming hamlet of Sedbusk.
[C] Sedbusk Lane was part of Lady Anne Clifford’s Way which goes to Kirkby
Stephen. She was High Sheriff of Westmorland in the 1660’s and she travelled
from Skipton with a huge retinue of people, visiting all of her castles.
[D] Simonstone Hall was built as a hunting lodge in the late 1700’s. It is now a
Country House Hotel and a popular venue for weddings.
[E] Another claim to fame for Hardraw Force was that it was the place where
Kevin Costner took a shower in the 1991 film “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”.
Walk details provided
by
Leyburn Walkers are Welcome - June 2010
Public transport information is available at www.dalesbus.org
This webpage is provided by the Yorkshire Dales Public Transport Users Group, you are advised to confirm details of bus services with operators before travelling. Please check bus and train times carefully, particularly those of the last return journey.