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WALK 3

Simon’s Seat

Start	Cavendish Pavilion car park, Bolton Abbey (SE 078551)
Distance	8.5 miles (13.7km)
Total Ascent	490m (1608ft)
Time	3hr30
Terrain	Generally good paths throughout. Note the Permissive Path onto Barden Fell may occasionally be closed for shooting between August and December; dogs are not allowed at any time of year.
Maps	Explorer OL2 – Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western areas)
Refreshments	Café by car park
Toilets	Beside car park
Parking	Cavendish Pavilion car park

Barden Fell is the culmination of a long, broad ridge that separates Wharfedale from Nidderdale, and although at just 485m it is not particularly high, its bulk and relative detachment invest in it an exaggerated sense of scale. In good weather, this ascent through the Valley of Desolation onto the upper moor is straightforward and contrasts with a meandering return beside the River Wharfe.

From the Cavendish Pavilion car park, cross the River Wharfe on the bridge in front of the café and follow the riverbank upstream. When you reach a gate, climb a zigzag path to the lane above. Turn left, but after 250m, leave through a gate on the right beside Waterfall Cottage. A track rises above Posforth Gill for 800m, eventually arriving at a marshy pond where you have your first view into the valley below. Branch left off the main track there, down to a footbridge nestling in the base of the valley.

The River Wharfe below Posforth Bridge

VALLEY OF DESOLATION

The Valley of Desolation is now a hardly fitting title for this charming glen. But in 1826 flash floods from a heavy deluge transformed the babbling beck into a raging torrent. It swept down the valley stripping bare the vegetation and uprooting massive trees to leave behind a naked gash cleaving the hillside. Now, apart from the odd ancient rotting stump, only the name gives any hint of its past devastation. More recently, nature has been given a hand, with the planting of some 8000 trees in a scheme to illustrate how the area might have been colonised by a succession of different types of vegetation in the 12,000 years since the last ice age.

The upper waterfall in the Valley of Desolation

The ongoing path winds upstream on the opposite bank through bracken-carpeted woodland past a pretty waterfall and into the upper glen. Beyond another bridge, branch off to remain beside the meandering stream, shortly reaching a rocky pool at the foot of a second cascade. Neither of the falls is spectacularly high, but their setting is beautiful. Surrounded by trees, dark mosses feather the dripping rocks while ferns find root amongst the shaded crevices. Both falls give some idea of the erosive power of the beck, as each has retreated upstream more than 800m during the last 10,000 years as the lip of the underlying rock has been progressively worn back.

With no way forward you must return to the main path, climbing along the valley-side to a small gate entering a conifer plantation. Join a forest track and, ignoring the track off sharp right, follow it forward towards Simon’s Seat climbing through the trees onto the open moor overlooking a confluence of streams. The ongoing track rises ahead above Great Agill Beck, later briefly dipping across to continue up the opposite flank. Further on, beside the path, stands a sturdy stone picnic table, sheltered from the wind by a curving wall. After passing a track off on the right, the way arcs around the upper reaches of the catchment to a junction.

Choose the right branch, which leads past the jumbled rocks of Truckle Crags, a prominent vantage breaking the vast rolling sea of heather and bilberry, and on to Simon’s Seat further to the north, distinguished from the other craggy islands by its size and a trig column adorning its highest boulder.

Having taken your fill of the view, clamber back off the summit, but instead of returning along the path past Truckle Crags, descend south west on a short section of paved way, refurbished in an effort to reduce erosion. Dropping steadily along the flank of Barden Fell, the path makes for the corner of a forest plantation rising in the middle distance. Below, the Wharfe sweeps a corner to drop through a wooded gorge, although from here it is evident that it once described a longer course to the east around Haugh.

As you reach the plantation, cross a stream and join a descending track that soon turns into the forest. Emerging below zigzags at a clearing, take the right fork and continue downhill to Howgill. Looking back to the forest fringe, the upper reaches of How Beck are spanned by an elegantly arched aqueduct carrying water from the Grimwith Reservoir high up on Appletreewick Moor.

Reaching Howgill Lane, cross to the continuation of the track, which ultimately emerges onto Stangs Lane. Take a farm track opposite, signed as the Dales Way towards Barden Bridge, bearing right just before the farmyard to find a path beside the Wharfe. Following the river downstream, there is a fine view back of the hillside, while in front, Barden Tower shortly appears. The path finally ends at Barden Bridge.

There is now a choice of riverside paths back to the Cavendish Pavilion, each equally enjoyable, but having their own special attractions. That on the northern bank climbs higher but in return offers some spectacular views along the valley, while the other gives the opportunity for a close-up view of The Strid. The paths leave the road either side of Barden Bridge, and if you change your mind, you can cross a little further downstream on a footbridge over an aqueduct. Whichever you choose is a fitting finale to the walk.