Pennine Way - Hawes to Horton-in-Ribblesdale (★★★★☆)

Today we are back on the Pennine Way, and having walked an excellent segment of this trail between Bowes and Hawes on the previous day, we are today continuing on to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

And so the day begins, by heading through town, stopping off at a local shop to get some food and drink, and then passing out of the town through the fields.

Through the fields

Hawes itself is worth a bit of discussion, and sits at the upper end of Wensleydale - with the name 'Hawes' again being of Norse origin (as was the case with Keld yesterday), and is a derivation of the Norse for 'pass between mountains'.

Here Wensleydale does indeed offer a fairly flat route through the Dales - with Northallerton lying to the east along this valley - and with this cut through the hills continuing on towards either Sedbergh or Kirkby Stephen to the west (depending on which river you follow).

Despite this though, the town does not seem to have a particularly long history - with the first real references only appearing in the early 14th century.

But this (relatively) easy route between the hills did result in the arrival of the railway in 1878 - although it was never particularly well used, and was closed in 1965.

On the stretch of this train line outside of the Yorkshire Dales, freight services continue to operate between Redmire and Northallerton (to provide onward transport for the limestone mines in Redmire) - and this continued until the early 1990s.

And these days this section of this railway line operates as a heritage line between Redmire and Leeming Bar - although that heritage line has only been able to go as far as Leyburn since 2023 (but is hopefully set to restore services to Redmire fairly soon).

This former railway (along with the former line between Darlington and Kirkby Stephen), is one of the more interesting 'missing-links' that exist in the north of England in terms of public transportation (and it's modern limitations).

Here I can introduce you to a game I like to play - which is to pick two train stations, and to work out if it would be faster to cycle (on the route offered up by Google), or to use public transport, to complete the journey between those two stations.

In this case the stations we will be using are Northallerton (at the eastern end of the old railway line) and Garsdale (at the western end of the old railway line). 

And here the benchmark for cycling (as determined by Google) is three hours and fifteen minutes (on a fairly direct 34 mile route), whilst below we have our competing public transport options:

The good news, is that it is a 'win' for public transport - as the speed of the East Coast Mainline makes the journey down through Leeds 30 minutes faster than our benchmark time pedaling on a bike. 

But with the same journey taking 75 minutes by car, it does feel that public transport isn't going to be the most popular option here. Particularly since the train service along the Carlisle-Settle line is relatively infrequent.

For those in the south of England wondering what the fuss is all about - the 'winning' train journey is the equivalent of travelling between London and Reading on a three hour train that goes via Worthing. And here it may be unfair to be too critical of all the traffic clogging up, and parking all over the Yorkshire Dales, without first providing some sort of public transportation.

So far the one bit of progress made towards restating this railway link, is work to purchase the land and then build a multi-user path along the old track bed between Hawes and Garsdale. 

This is a route I would be interested in walking once it has been completed - but in all honestly it is just going to increase the amount of parking at either end of that new trail.

But here I have digressed from our walk somewhat - and having broken free of Hawes, we are now heading up onto a ridge that will eventually look out over Snaizeholme Beck - and across to Widdale Fell (the other side of which is Garsdale and Dent train stations, on the Settle-Carlisle line).

The view heading out beyond Hawes

A friend I made along the way

Initially our route up this ridge only gives us views back down towards Hawes - but it isn't too long before we cut across to meet up with a track that runs along the western front of this ridge, with views down into the valley below.

The track along the side of the ridge (with two of the Yorkshire Three Peaks peaking over the far ridge)

Here we have a valley that is in many ways a smaller (and admittedly less impressive) version of High Cup Nick - with this track offering a lovely vantage point to look down into the valley below.

And behind it we can just about make out Ingleborough (left) and Whernside (right) poking their little heads over the top of the intermediate ridge.

Now starting to pass by Dodd Fell Hill

Looking back

Further up the path

A final look down into the valley (and it should be Whernside in the distance behind)

After an enjoyable walk along this ridge, we do eventually start to head away from it, and meet up with a road that is about to turn into a farm track.

A brief section of road (with Pen-y-Ghent behind)

Here we have also met up with the Pennine Bridleway - which has come across from Wold Fell - and together we set off along this road, with it quickly turning into a track that looks across a shallow valley below.

View out to the side (apologies for the light)

Here we are following the route of an old Roman Road that used to run between the old Roman Fort at Bainbridge (to the east of Hawes) down to Ingleton (on the far side of Ingleborough, and on the route of the A65).

It is still possible to walk the stretch of this old Roman Road from here to Bainbridge - with that route passing over Wether Fell, and looking on paper to be a very nice route. 

Whilst in the other direction the Roman Road takes on the route we are following, before turning right to Gearstones - and then being the same route used by the current B6255 to Ingleton (not so good for walking).

From here we continue to follow this old Roman Road for the foreseeable future, as we continue to look out towards the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

Eventually though, we reach that point where the Roman Road heads off to Gearstones - and where we bend to the left, and start heading more directly towards Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Now off the Roman Road, with Pen-y-Ghent again quite easy to pick out

From here we continue to run in tandem with the Pennine Bridleway, as we drop down to cross over Cam Beck - along a wiggly stretch of path.

Cam Beck

Walking above the Cam Beck and here looking out towards Ingleborough (I think)

A stream coming down over the limestone

At Old Ing, we say goodbye to the Pennine Bridleway - as it heads off towards Clapham (passing beneath Ingleborough) - and here we briefly head eastwards, before turning to head almost directly south.

Heading eastwards

Now heading southwards

Here our route across the countryside is quite a peaceful one - there are no big ridges, no big hills - and it's quite a pleasant stroll across the countryside - with the main interest being the sheep we pass along the way (and on a few occasions we disturb some lambs having a sleep next to the path).

Here there are also patches of limestone that show off some of the fairly unique geology of this area, and these provide some additional interest along the way.

Looking at Ingleborough past 'The Tarn' and the limestone around Jackdaw Hole

Some limestone (with Pen-y-Ghent photo-bombing)

Some more limestone (and Ingleborough)

Eventually though, our path takes us far enough south for the views out towards Horton-in-Ribblesdale to open up - and here we are on the very final stretch of our day's walking.

Looking down towards Horton-in-Ribblesdale

And once Horton-in-Ribblesdale comes into view, it is a relatively short walk before we find ourselves arriving on the main road through town - from which it is a very short trip across to the station.

The train station (with Pen-y-Ghent behind)

From here my quickest route home is to head down through Leeds, and then back up on the far side - but I have arrived a little early (it is 2pm, and my train is at 4:30pm). 

At the same time I don't really fancy doing anything more today, and with there being a train heading north at 2:30pm I opt to take the prettier (and less busy) - but longer - route round to Teesside via Carlisle.

This train will get me in at exactly the same time as the one in two hours time, but it's a lovely train route up along the Carlisle-Settle line (looking out across many areas I have been walking previously), and then on past Hadrian's Wall to Newcastle (after which it all gets a bit dull again).

I wouldn't complain if they put in slightly more regular trains along this line - as four hours between trains is a bit of a wait - but all the same, it has been another good day on the Pennine Way.

It didn't quite have the drama of the previous day - but it's still been a great walk. And ever so slowly, we are starting to tick off the final stages of this long and challenging trail.

Total Distance: 13.7 miles (13.4 miles on the Pennine Way)

Total Ascent: 1,535 feet (1,526 feet on the Pennine Way)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

Click for a writeup of the joining section of the Pennine Way to the south, from Gargrave to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Click for a writeup of the joining section of the Pennine Way to the north, from Bowes to Hawes.

Click for a writeup of a walk from Dent to Horton-in-Ribblesdale that joins up with this walk.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 98 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Pennine Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in well way-marked and easy to follow for this section