Moughton Field Trip Part 1
Yesterday was a bright but cold October day and being in the area I decided to drag child 2 and child 3 out for a brisk hike across the Yorkshire Dales. I had read in Grinding and Honing part 3 and in various walking blogs about the route to the Moughton Whetstone Hole. Good exercise for the kids... And maybe a hidden agenda from me.
As you can see on the map the hole is actually the site of three springs which start in a valley below Moughton Scars. Moughton stones can still be found in the bed of the stream that emanates from these springs.
There are two main routes to the Whetstone hole, from Austwick, which is the most direct route and the road of the old quarry, and from Horton in Ribblesdale following the Three Peaks route which is longer but more picturesque. Unfortunately I got confused over the location. I thought it best to start in Helwith Bridge so that's where we headed and had lunch before I realised my mistake. As it's not clear exactly where you can start on the Austwick route and the day was already half gone I drove up to Horton in Ribblesdale and parked there.
The route is straightforward and there are a quite a few hikers walking the three peaks. You cross the river and walk through the town, cross the railway line and there join the three peak trail. Within about 15 minutes the kids started complaining about the cold and how they wood any moment catch hypothermia, but we all settled down to an easy pace and in truth it wasn't too hard going, except for the cold and the wind. The path undulates but generally climbs until you get to a fork in the path leading South West.
From there we were on our own. The other hikers were all continuing due west to climb the peaks.
Over the brow of hill we reached wall and the path continued in the shelter of this until we got to a large stile. The other side of the wall was a barren rocky plateau upon which were a couple of derelict stone shelters. It was cold and lonely, and I couldn't help thinking of the men that had worked up there around the quarry. From what I've read these stone shelters were originally built by shepherds but later used by stone "getters" in bad weather.
We reached the edge of the plateau and looked over. To our right the Moughton scars snaked into the distance, to our left Moughton and over that Austwick. The ground dropped away in front of us and... there they were, down a steep drop, where the slope meets the valley floor, the three Whetstone springs glittering in the autumn sun, the source of Moughton Whetstones.
Yesterday was a bright but cold October day and being in the area I decided to drag child 2 and child 3 out for a brisk hike across the Yorkshire Dales. I had read in Grinding and Honing part 3 and in various walking blogs about the route to the Moughton Whetstone Hole. Good exercise for the kids... And maybe a hidden agenda from me.
As you can see on the map the hole is actually the site of three springs which start in a valley below Moughton Scars. Moughton stones can still be found in the bed of the stream that emanates from these springs.
There are two main routes to the Whetstone hole, from Austwick, which is the most direct route and the road of the old quarry, and from Horton in Ribblesdale following the Three Peaks route which is longer but more picturesque. Unfortunately I got confused over the location. I thought it best to start in Helwith Bridge so that's where we headed and had lunch before I realised my mistake. As it's not clear exactly where you can start on the Austwick route and the day was already half gone I drove up to Horton in Ribblesdale and parked there.
The route is straightforward and there are a quite a few hikers walking the three peaks. You cross the river and walk through the town, cross the railway line and there join the three peak trail. Within about 15 minutes the kids started complaining about the cold and how they wood any moment catch hypothermia, but we all settled down to an easy pace and in truth it wasn't too hard going, except for the cold and the wind. The path undulates but generally climbs until you get to a fork in the path leading South West.
From there we were on our own. The other hikers were all continuing due west to climb the peaks.
Over the brow of hill we reached wall and the path continued in the shelter of this until we got to a large stile. The other side of the wall was a barren rocky plateau upon which were a couple of derelict stone shelters. It was cold and lonely, and I couldn't help thinking of the men that had worked up there around the quarry. From what I've read these stone shelters were originally built by shepherds but later used by stone "getters" in bad weather.
We reached the edge of the plateau and looked over. To our right the Moughton scars snaked into the distance, to our left Moughton and over that Austwick. The ground dropped away in front of us and... there they were, down a steep drop, where the slope meets the valley floor, the three Whetstone springs glittering in the autumn sun, the source of Moughton Whetstones.
