Guided-walk reports 2023

On this page are reports, in reverse chronological order, on four guided walks that took place in 2023. To jump to any one report, click the relevant link:

Nov – Aysgarth and Castle Dykes Henge, Wensleydale.
Sept – Slei Gill, Arkengarthdale.
July – East Mellwaters, Gilmonby, Teesdale.
Apr – Ballowfields Nature Reserve, Wensleydale.

November – Aysgarth and Castle Dykes Henge, Wensleydale.
A few hardy souls braved the weather, which was much worse than forecast. The first port of call was the Edwardian Garden in Aysgarth. This is a significant structure built in 1906, even on a wet day in November it is a peaceful and beautiful place. This is a grade II listed “building” and is now in the care of Aysgarth Parish Council. From the Edwardian Garden, the Quaker Cemetery is visible – this is one of the “Gaffs” behind the cottages at the west end of Aysgarth village, a few random gravestones are placed at the south end of the plot. There is no reference of where the actual Quaker Chapel was situated.

Continuing on towards Thornton Rust, we turned off the road and followed the walled track known as Flout Moor Lane to the stile leading to Castle Dykes Henge. Jane Harrison gave an informative overview of the geology of the area, discussing the distinctive limestone landscape of the area and including the numerous “glacial melt water channels”. These are shallow valleys that ran parallel to the glacier and carried the melt water from the retreating glacier.

The group then walked around the henge area – originally described as a “Neolithic Henge” work carried out in 2016 by a group of archaeologists along with members from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute had some unexpected results – showing radiocarbon dating for short lived materials – indicating the monument was constructed in the Iron Age. Using the report the group looked at the henge and surrounding area – to the west an enclosure field with hut circles, to the east other potential hut circles.

Four people in winter hiking gear are walking around the top of a right-curving, grass-covered embankment, with just beyond them a dry-stone wall marking the horizon of the photograph. The embankment slopes steeply down to the right of the frame, where the grass is taller, to about knee height. — Walking the outer bank of Castle Dykes Henge.

The low cloud lifted and the group were able to view the ancient landscape – Addlebrough (Rock Art / Bronze Age burial cairn at the summit), numerous settlements along the southern slopes of Addlebrough, view across the valley to Ox Close Pasture and the Bronze age enclosures and settlements, Penhill – settlements and field systems above West Burton.

In the foreground is an area of rough grass. Behind it is the horizontal line of a low grass embankment broken by a gap about 10 metres wide. Beyond that are dry-stone walls bordering grass enclosures. There are a few tress in winter attire, and in the far distance are the lower slopes of a large hill rising to the right. — Penhill and the east entrance to Castle Dykes Henge.

This can raise a few questions – does this indicate Castle Dykes Henge was a Bronze Age henge as initially thought – a central point to an ancient landscape, or is it an Iron Age “copy”, or is this something so important to the area that the Iron Age locals repurposed the henge for their own requirements? To read more, there are two interesting documents – “Surveying and Sampling at the Castle Dykes Iron Age Henge, Wensleydale, North Yorkshire” – which should be available on http://www.researchgate.net and a Bradford University Report on Threshfield and Yarbury Henges in Whafedale (Survey and Excavation at the Henges of the Wharfe Valley, North Yorkshire, 2013-15).

The group then retraced their route, grabbing lunch hunkered down behind a wall before continuing along Folly Lane and then crossing the fields back towards Aysgarth village. Crossing two of these fields there are great examples of Strip Lynchets. Progressing on towards Tom Gill the group descended the gill and investigated an obvious ditch and bank – this feature shows on LIDAR running across the hillside, the upper part of the feature having been ploughed out in the field to the north of the gill.

View along the left-curving ditch of a high-level hillside ancient earthwork covered in rough grass in winter. On the left side, a high bank rises up steeply from the ditch, while on the right side is a lower embankment that appears to fall away down a steep hillside. In the middle distance are bare trees in winter following the steep line of the hill sloping down to the right. In the far distance is the opposite side of a large valley and behind it a higher, rugged hill. — Ditch and bank on Tom Gill, Aysgarth.

Crossing the road, we started back towards the village moving around a possible enclosure and “burial mound” and passing through a deep dry valley – this is now indicated to be another glacial melt water channel. There are two potential trackways entering this area from the summit of the hill and the area of the ditch and bank investigated earlier. Could the melt water channel have been used a defensive ditch? Following the channel along towards north-east the group then turned north-west and past the old kennels for the hunt hounds based at Flattlands House.

In the foreground, a grassy footpath runs straight ahead and down into a depression where there is a stile in a dry-stone wall running across the frame. A footpath signpost indicates that the stile is at a crossroads. The path continuing ahead rises up a grassy slope and disappears at the lowest point of a significant dip in the horizon. The path running crossways appears to follow the bottom of a dry channel in the landscape. — South of Aysgarth village, the main glacial meltwater channel, running right to left, is met by another where more meltwater has overtopped the dale-side at a low point and caused the notch in the near horizon.

See also Field Walk Reports 2011-2017, Database Number-group PDF 752-801. Scroll to record no. 774.

September – Slei Gill, Arkengarthdale.
Alan and Judith Mills lead a very informative and interesting walk joined by 13 members and friends on a very hot and humid day on Saturday 9th September.

Lead mining in the Arkengarthdale area can be traced back prior to the Norman Conquest. In the early to mid-19th century a significant population in the Swaledale (8K) and Arkengarthdale (2K) were in some way employed in lead mining.

Passing through Arkle Town – the old administrative centre of Arkengarthdale – we passed through the old church yard – the church having been moved in 1820. The first area of mine workings was reached at Booze Wood Level where the entrance to the level can be clearly seen. Moving along the bottom of the valley and through a tunnel we approached the area that had held the crushing mill and water wheel that powered the crush rollers.

Close-up view of the hill-side entrance to a brick-arched tunnel, overgrown by vegetation, and with a few inches of clear water covering the stony tunnel floor — The entrance to Booze Wood Level.

Returning to the main footpath we approached the area of Slei Gill. Visible were the hushes on either side of the valley and going up towards Fell End. As we moved along the track and into Slei Gill, Alan explained how the area had been devastated by the flood in 2019. Old mine working had been lost and new areas had been exposed. These were recorded only to be lost again in November 2019 during another flood event.

A long view looking up a steep-sided, rough-grass-covered valley, with a small beck winding through, it's banks widely strewn with sandy-coloured boulders and stones that had been washed down after a recent violent flood. — Slei Gill, Arkengarthdale.

Travelling further up the valley we observed bell pits, hushing and several level entrances – including Scotts level, Booze Wood, Doctor, Procter, Sun Gutter, Tanner Rake. Alan indicated the areas of other crushing mills, railway lines and the site of the smelter. We then returned along the track passing the Tythe House and into the hamlet of Booze, and on to Langthwaite.

July – East Mellwaters, Gilmonby, Teesdale.
At the beginning of July, eight SWAAG members joined leaders Anne Jowett and Jane Harrison for a guided walk along the river Greta. The starting point was Bowes Castle, which also offered the opportunity to look at the remains of the Roman Fort of Lavatris.

Low-level view across a natural pavement of straight-cracked, red-brown rock, gradually sloping away and into the still waters of a fairly wide shallow beck coming from the left. On its left side, the beck has undercut its steep earth bank and is overhung in the middle-distance by a large green-leaf tree on the same bank. On the right is an area of tall grass bordering the stone pavement and reaching the beck in the middle distance. The beck is perceived to stretch away to the far distant horizon of green trees. — Sleightholme Beck.

The destination was East Mellwaters Farm, where the sites of several late prehistoric settlements can be seen in the fields along the Sleightholme Beck. We were given permission by the landowner to explore the largest of these, which consists of a stone-banked enclosure with several hut circles. There is also a ditched settlement on the scarp edge to the south and another unenclosed settlement, consisting of house platforms and yards, to the north. The relationship between the sites is unknown. They have not been excavated but are thought to be Iron Age or Romano-British in age.

An archaeological plan of the remains of an ancient settlement showing raised outlines of former round houses within enclosure embankments. — Plan of the remains of an enclosed settlement at East Mellwaters, drawn by Tim Laurie.

We also looked at the geology along the valley, where the River Greta has eroded through an upfold or anticline in the Carboniferous rocks. The more resistant limestones in the Yoredale sequences give rise to the escarpments along the valley sides as well as to small rapids along the river’s course. The mudstones overlying the Four Fathom Limestone, along the Sleightholme Beck, are particularly fossiliferous. Some of the group spotted fossils in the rocks along the stream bed as the water level was conveniently low. Glaciation has also affected the landscape as the broader area of the Stainmore trough was overrun by ice from the Eden Valley during the last Ice Age.
J.H.

Close-up of the rough face of a section of rock in mottled red-brown and yellow colours and several feint imprints of shell fossils. — Carboniferous fossils.

Eight people dressed for a summer walk on a dry sunny day, all sitting on a grass bank in a line going away from the camera, all smiling and looking at the camera. Behind them on the left is a higher grass bank, and to right is a grass pasture lined by mature green trees in full leaf. — Lunch at East Mellwaters.

April – Ballowfields Nature Reserve, Wensleydale.
We had a lovely if cool day for our walk from Ballowfields Nature Reserve. Seventeen members joined David Brooks and Les and Sue Knight to explore the Nature Reserve and associated lead-mining area along the ancient trackway (Oxclose Lane) that runs from Castle Bolton to Askrigg.

The woodland area close to the carpark is coppiced hazel and contains the residual mine workings and waste heaps (fingertips) from the lower levels of the mines. The flora are of types that are resistant to high mineral and metal content in the soil (metallophytes) – plants such as thrift, Pyrenean, scurvygrass and spring sandwort.

View of a narrow but high fall of white beck water crashing down the rocks at a fault in a narrow valley. In the foreground is a small piece of rusted and abandoned machinery set on a decaying stone-built platform, high above the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. — Remains of a hydro-electric generator below the mine workings.

Proceeding up the gully past the water turbine that provided power to Woodhall garage we entered the main area of the lead mines. This area had been used up to the early 20th century when the waste was processed to extract fluorite and baryte. Evidence of the mine workings were explored – hushes and water races. A little higher up the slopes above Oxclose Pasture is the evidence of a settlement – several circular structures along with liner field enclosures.

A long view of a wide, high-level, grass-covered terrace of yellowy rough pasture, with the remains of a large stone circle in the foreground. On the right is a steep slope rising up to a sheer-cliff rocky crag. In the far distance to the middle and left of the view are higher moorlands and peaks. — Oxclose Pasture

Heading further east and leaving the area on the mines, three circular features are encountered. One large circular feature, with two smaller circular features. Finds from this area indicate this area was inhabited during the Prehistoric / Mesolithic and Bronze age periods. Les gave us the geographical background of this area limestone / shale and sandstone.

View of the back of a hiker walking through rough grass-covered terrain strewn with stones once part of an ancient building. A steep slope rises up to the left. In the middle distance is a lower grass-covered terrace stretching to a horizon atop a major valley. Beyond it can be seen the valley's mist-covered far side and horizon. — Settlement remains above Oxclose Pasture.