Walk Description

Today Steve had arranged for us to meet up with Dave and Josie at Conistone and explore the Dales Way and Grass Wood areas to the south of Conistone. We walked in a mixture of mist and sunshine.  We had a very foggy drive from Rochdale towards Grassington.  However as we drove up the Wharfe Valley past Grass Wood we were greeted with sunshine.  We parked near the bridge over the River Wharfe at Conistone and were surprised at how icy the road was.  Whilst we were waiting for Dave and Josie, we had time to admire the views of Kilnsey Crag and Wharfedale.

Conistone is a typical Dales village, very small and quiet.  In no time at all we had left the village behind and were heading up towards Dib.  The path headed towards a small tight gorge and then after a very short and easy scramble brought us out into the Dib.  Here the cliffs retreated and the area widened out into a quiet, sheltered, wide bottomed valley. As we walked along we could see the mist forming ahead of us hiding the top of Bull Scar.  A slightly more difficult scramble awaited us at the end of the valley.  This brought us out on top of the escarpment where we soaked up views south towards Simon's Seat and the obelisk on Cracoe Fell and north along Wharfedale towards Kettlewell.  We could just make out the shape of Great Whernside drifting in an out of the mist.

We turned south and followed the Dales Way towards Grassington.  This was an easy, level section of the walk, although rather than gates most of the walls had stiles that needed climbing. The views ahead kept appearing and disappearing as the mist formed around us.  We eventually left the Dales Way and took the bridleway heading towards Grass Wood. At one point we had the choice of staying on the main path and walking across a very wet and muddy field or walking on a smaller but much drier path in the adjoining field.  As both paths lead to the same place we decided to give the mud a miss and opted for the dry path.  Grass Wood is a nature reserve and has the requisite information board detailing the wild life that can be seen in the wood.  Needless to say, we didn't see any wild life at all during our walk in the woods.  We stopped for a short lunch break near the turn off to Bastow Wood. We then followed the path through Bastow Wood and back onto the limestone escarpment. 

We had decided that we were going to visit the large cairn at Davy Dimple, so we had to leave the path and make our own way across the moor and fields.  We headed towards a small unmarked cairn on the skyline.  It was a good view point from which we could see the inversion in the valley below Cracoe Fell.  From here on it was a case of finding our way as best as we could across the fields and a number of stile free walls.  Steve and Dave led the way and helped us to negotiate some of the trickier wall crossings. The cairn at Davy Dimple is definitely worth visiting.  It stands on the edge of the escarpment above Conistone and has commanding views up and down Wharfedale. We could clearly see the bridleway far below us leading back to Conistone, so we carefully zig zagged our way downwards.  The recent snow and very cold weather seemed to have caused a lot of problems for the rabbits and we were surprised at the number of dead rabbits that we saw on the walk.  The bark of many of the trees and bushes had been stripped clean away to a height of about 2 feet above the ground.  When we looked closely, we could tell that it had been nibbled away, perhaps by the starving rabbits. 


This had been an enjoyable and varied walk with excellent company.  Thanks to Steve for arranging the walk and thanks to Dave for choosing the route and passing on his local knowledge.  Special thanks to Josie for keeping me company as Steve and Dave manfully strode ahead.  The walk took just under 5 hours and this of course included plenty of time for exploring, taking photographs and lunch.


   

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

Photo Opportunities

Walk Profile

The route map shown here should not be used as a replacement for the appropriate map(s). Before attempting the walk you should check the suitability of this route in relation to your capabilities and experience.