Walk Description

Kingsdale is a classic example of a glaciated valley and a glacial lake once covered Kingsdale's very flat valley floor.  Part way up the north side of Kingsdale is an old peat road.  There is a long string of potholes and caves either side of the Turbury Road.  I parked the car in the small lay by near the old track that leads up the fell side just to the west of the main limestone scar.  As we climbed higher, the views up Kingsdale opened up and we could see both Whernside and Ingleborough draped in cloud.  Either side of our path were a number of large erractics that had been weathered into a variety of shapes.  We made the small detour to the top of Tow Scar, where we could see the distant brooding lakeland fells. 

We retraced out steps back to the track and followed it to the Turbary Road.  Turbary is the right of commoners to collect peat and the road was built to help the peat carts reach the Turbary Pasture higher up the fell side.  The Turbary Road follows a limestone shelf along the flank of Gragareth.  Either side of the track are a series of potholes and caves.  We were now cave hunters.  We zig zagged backwards and forwards, determined to see as many of the holes as possible.  Steve seemed to delight in examining the potholes as closely as possible.  We had remembered to bring our torches with us and when we reached Swinsto Cave, we inside a little way.  After a short break for lunch, we rejoined the Turbary Road in search of our next pothole. 


Rowten Pot didn't take much finding.  It is a massive chasm, over 350 feet deep.  We could hear water tumbling through the chasm but couldn't see it because of the trees filling the hole.  We met up with a few potholers as we contiuned along the Turbary Road.  Some were emerging from the holes and we also heard their voices echoing through the depths beneath us.  When the track started to turn up hill towards the Turbary Pasture, we headed downhill towards the road.  Our next port of call was Yordas Cave an old Victorian showcave.  


Yordas is a Norwegian name and either refers to a legendary Norse giant or to the norse word for 'earth stream'.  It is also thought to be Emily Bronte's Fairy Cave in Wuthering Heights.  The main chamber, called the Great Hall Hall, is approximately 150 feet long and 45 feet high.  At the right of the main cave is an opening into the smaller Chapter House.  Unfortunatley our torches weren't powerful enough to light up the waterfall inside the Chapter House.  The floor of the cave was covered with a couple of inches of water and I paddled to the opposite end of the cave to see where the water left the cave.  When we climbed out of Yordas Cave the day seemed to have changed,  gone was the rain that had been hanging over Whernside for most of the day, instead we had bright blue skies with fluffy white clouds. 

We crossed the raod and walked across the field towards Kingsdale Beck.  We followed the beck westwards along the valley towards Braida Garth.  We then left the beck and walked beneath Braida Wood, Botany Bay and George's Scar.  Just before we reached Wackenburg Hill we passed through an area of shake holes, here not only did the path snake between the holes, but lower down the hillside we could see kinks in the field wall where the builders had avoided the shake holes.  Just around the corner from here we could see the lane above the Ingleton waterfalls and its very popular ice cream van.  We made out way down the steep hillside and of course we stopped to buy an ice lolly.  It wasn't far back to the car, but I didn't enjoy the steep pull up the road.
 
This had been a very interesting walk and the 6 hours taken to complete it, reflect the amount of time that we spent exploring the caves. 

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

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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.