WALKING FROM BALLOWFIELDS TO CARPERBY PAST LADY HILL IN WENSLEYDALE IN A CIRCULAR MANNER

As promised, our walk past Lady Hill, a fleeting yet beautiful glimpse from the footpath! A friend and I decided to walk from Ballowfields.

It isn’t marked as such on the map but it is marked with a big blue ‘P’ for Parking. Ballowfields is an area of Special Conservation on both sides of Eller Beck. The area has grown up, or over, the remains of old lead mining tips and is now full of unusual and, rare to the dales, plants due to the mining hundreds of years ago. Intriguingly though on this very same area in the 1930’s there was a holiday camp! There were wooden chalets and even a dance hall called Liberty Hall and people arrived at the railway station in Aysgarth and walked from there. If you’d like to read a little more please follow link.

Please do plan your route, it’s about four, four and half miles, depending on your preferred route and as always wear appropriate footwear and clothing and don’t forget to take drinks and snacks. To stay in this wonderful part of the world, please do call me Nadine or my daughter Joanne on 01969 663559 for help to find your perfect holiday cottage or of course book online on our website.

Setting off from Ballowfield there are two car parks, it’s the west one you need to find the bridge to go over Eller Beck, follow the path off to the left, this path is marked as a permitted one on the map, keep going to a little waterfall. There is a bit of rocky ascent here, so be careful but it’s only a dozen steps or so. Turn right, east, after the waterfall onto a track, Oxclose Road, past Oxclose Gate, when you get to cross roads of tracks, Peatmoor Lane, turn right and descend into Carperby

Once in Carperby head west again through the village, stop at The Wheatsheaf Inn if you fancy, always a warm welcome, otherwise keep going through the village in a westerly direction, past the cross and then keeping right on to the narrow road.  Where this road goes off to the left to meet the main road go straight ahead and soon a stile will come into view in the corner up a steep little bank. Through here and walk on to the playing fields. Keep to the left hand side of the playing field but in front of changing rooms, walk to and then along side the childrens play area, more or less north, and eventually you will come to another stile up a little bank on your left. Take this one and keep going, walk along by the wood and here keep looking for that glimpse of Lady Hill. Down through the wood and soon your vehicle will come into view and then just back over the bridge to where you started.

Do hope you enjoy!