Yorkshire Walks

Hell Gill and High Way

Map based on Ordnance Survey mapping by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright.

Distance: 131/2 miles (21.5km)
Height gain: 985 feet (300m)
Walking time: 6 hours
Type of walk: Long and fairly demanding; good paths
Start/Finish: Appersett. GR858907

This long, steady walk is simply splendid and takes you almost to the source of the River Ure, which flows through Wensleydale. The turning point is Hell Gill, the boundary with adjoining Cumbria, from where we trace the route back towards Hawes followed by the redoubtable Lady Anne Clifford as she travelled this countryside in the 17th century. The scenery is outstanding, and the walk best kept for a long day, though it is not difficult and could be undertaken at any time of year.

Appersett is a small, attractive village at the upper end of Wensleydale, but invariably passed through by visitors bound for the delights of nearby Hawes; that's a pity, because Appersett, with its village green and cluster of old cottages, has its own place in the scheme of things, and was originally a Norse settlement.

Walk out from Appersett on the Sedbergh road and cross the bridge spanning Widdale Beck. A short way on leave the road over a ladder stile on the left, and go right, alongside a wall, until you approach New Bridge, which crosses the River Ure. As you reach the bridge, don't cross it, but go left over a stile and walk alongside the river, on its true right bank. The onward route is now marked by stiles and gates, and crosses a succession of riverside, or near riverside, pastures. Keep on to pass to the left of Birkrigg Farm, and cross more pastures. Nearby Hollin Bank is especially pleasing in spring and early summer when it is bright with wild flowers. Here the route takes you away from the river for a while, but gradually you come back to rejoin it. Off to your left is the course of the old Wensleydale railway that once travelled up and down the valley to Garsdale and beyond; what a tourist attraction that would be if it were ever reopened.

Gradually you approach Mossdale Head Farm. Pass in front of the farm and go forward to a bridge spanning Mossdale Gill. Cross the bridge and climb on the other side beside a wall and turn through a gap. Now cross the corner of a field and go down to reach the A684 at Thwaite Bridge. Cross the road with care, and go forward to cross the river, then go left through gates on a track signposted to Yore House. The path now strikes across numerous fields, below the small plantation of Cotter and on to Yore House. Beyond, turning towards the Vale of Eden, you head across more pastures to Blades Farm, where refreshments are usually available.

Continue by going round the back of the buildings at Blades, through a couple of gates, and then on towards a footbridge. From the footbridge, turn sharp right and soon go left alongside a woodland strip. Keep on through two more gates and cross Cowshaw Hill, a low drumlin, and a relic from the last Ice Age. Press on to reach Beck Side Farm, and then traverse more pastures just above the Ure to reach Low West End Farm. Go past Low West End on its access track, heading initially for How Beck Bridge, but then cutting away on a rising track that continues the route northward to Green Bridge. Here you cross the infant River Ure, which rises only a short distance to the east, on Lunds Fell. A short distance further you reach Hell Gill Bridge, the turning point.

Hell Gill Bridge is a fine single arch of stone and dates from 1825, replacing an earlier structure, and a small stone in one of its parapets is thought to be an old boundary stone between Yorkshire and what was then Westmorland. William Camden, writing in the 16th century, mistakenly took the gill for the Ure, his perception no doubt traumatised by the severity of everything he saw: '...it is in most places, so waste, solitary, unpleasant and unsightly, so mute and still...that it striketh a certain horror.' This last remark was about the depth of Hell Gill, but it makes clear that the route across the bridge was in use from an early date. Hell Gill marks the county boundary and the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The narrow neck of land lying between the gill, which later flows into the Eden and out to the Solway Firth, and the River Ure, which flows eastwards to the North Sea, lies on the watershed of Britain, the true divide between east and west.

To return to Appersett, start by retracing your steps for a few strides, and then branch left across an expanse of limestone pavement. The track you are now taking is known as The High Way, and is part of the route taken by Lady Anne Clifford, one of the most renowned noblewomen of the Stuart era, as she travelled between her Westmorland castles and estates. Once this was the major route through the valley from Hawes to Kirkby Stephen, and was in use until the 1820s when the new turnpike road (now the B6259) was built.

As it heads south-eastward, the High Way takes a slightly rising course. Before long it reaches High Hall, formerly an inn called the Highway House, on a well-used route through the mountains - well used, not only by nobility, but also by drovers, tradespeople, and highwaymen, too. And Mary Queen of Scots is said to have passed along it in 1568, on her way from Carlisle to imprisonment in Bolton Castle. Passing for the most part alongside walls and along the steep edge of the escarpment, with a fine view of the valley, the route eventually rounds Cotter End, from where it descends to meet the road. Continue down the road for about 800yds/m, and then leave it, on the right, for a footpath that immediately crosses the river and rejoins your outward route for the final stage back to Appersett.

From 'Yorkshire Dales: North & East' by Terry Marsh

The information given in this walk has been provided in good faith and is intended only as a general guide. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that details were correct at the time of publication, the author and Country Publications Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for inaccuracies. It is the responsibility of individuals undertaking outdoor activities to approach the activity with caution and, especially if inexperienced, to do so under appropriate supervision. The activity described in this walk is strenuous and individuals should ensure that they are suitably fit before embarking upon it. They should carry the appropriate equipment and maps, be properly clothed and have adequate footwear. They should also take note of weather conditions and forecasts, and leave notice of their intended route and estimated time of return.