Subtitled : Learn some of the history of the villages of Upper Nidderdale.

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to another year of rambles (in more senses than one!)

Dalesbus arriving at Ramsgill in Nidderdale

Such a pity that I missed Part 1! But I had never heard of Dalesbus Ramblers when that walk took place. At the end of last year I discovered walking with the Friends of the Settle – Carlisle Line and one the leaders told me about Dalesbus Ramblers so today I drove to Harrogate and joined my first walk with that particular group. With my new Metro Concession Bus Pass I enjoyed free travel from Harrogate up through Nidderdale where the group assembled for the walk:

SUNDAY 5th JANUARY 2014: VILLAGES & CHURCHES OF UPPER NIDDERDALE Part 2
Learn some of the history of the villages of Upper Nidderdale.
Start: Ramsgill: 11.05
Finish: Pateley Bridge: Approx: 14.20
Distance/Grading: 5 miles / Moderate
TRAVEL: Outward: Bus 823/825 from York (08.58), Tadcaster (09.20), Wetherby (09.40), Harrogate (10.05) and Pateley Bridge (10.50). Connections on bus 36 from Leeds (09.15) to Harrogate or Ripon (09.45) to Ripley.
Return: Bus 24 to Harrogate for onward connections.
Walk Leaders: Duncan & Brenda: 0796 951 2743

Naturally, our first church call was at St Mary the Virgin, Ramsgill just across the road from the bus stop.

St Mary the Virgin, Ramsgill

Most of the 20 or so houses in Ramsgill were built in the 19th century and the church was built in 1899 but on the much older site of a grange of Easby Abbey. The remains of the Abbey buildings are  behind the present church.

Remains of Easby Grange, Ramsgill

We also found out that Ramsgill had been one of the film locations for the 1997 movie ‘Fairy Tale: a true story‘ about the two little girls in Cottingley, near Bradford, who in 1917 took a photograph believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies [The Cottingley Fairies]. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was one of those who believed this to be true.

Ramsgill scenes :

Ramsgill Village Hall

Ramsgill Houses

The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill

So we moved from Ramsgill to Bouthwaite where we came across our second church – the Wesley Chapel built in 1890 and joined the Nidderdale Way down to Pateley Bridge.

Bouthwaite Chapel

Wesley Chapel, Bouthwaite

Ramsgill and Bouthwaite lie less than a mile apart at the head of Gouthwaite Reservoir. Our walk continued down the valley parallel with the reservoir and mostly overlooking it as far as Wath which lies at the southern end of the 3 mile long body of water.

Gouthwaite Reservoir lunch stop

Looking back up Gouthwaite

Gouthwaite and the Nidderdale Way

Gouthwaite Dam

The small Wesleyan chapel at Wath seats just 50 and has 5 walls. It also has links with Rudyard Kipling whose grandfather was once minister here.

Walkers stop at Wath Chapel

Wath and Chapel

From Wath our path joined the trackbed of the former Nidderdale Light Railway to our destination Pateley Bridge where there was just time to have a well-deserved cuppa before catching our return bus to Harrogate. The Dalesbus system, which operates on Sundays with limited winter timetables, enables walkers and others to reach more remote and beautiful areas in North Yorkshire and I hope to make more such excursions during the year.

The track of the former Nidderdale Railway track approaching Pateley Bridge