Walks around Settle, North Yorkshire

The weather forecast didn't look too bad - indeed it promised some sunny days - so I set off for a few days in the van.

 

This was my base camp - about 2 miles north of Settle

The tourist literature describes Settle as "a bustling market town in the foothills of the Pennines amongst some of the most picturesque scenery in North Yorkshire. The town stands beside the largest outcrop of limestone in Britain - in a region of scars, cliffs, caves and potholes."

The name of Settle is thought to be Anglian 7th. century meaning a settlement. At the time of the Domesday Survey the villages of today were known by the same names, though rather different spellings, for instance Setel became Settle. But because of the rebellion of the north, between 1069 and 1071 the barons’ response was a campaign of genocide, burning and looting, so that much of the area was described as being “Waste” in the Domesday survey.

My explorations of the area included 

Stainforth Force - the river Ribble ran along the bottom of the campsite

The local football team - unfortunately they were not playing during my stay

Nearby Giggleswick School, where Russell Harty once taught and Richard Whiteley was a pupil

Pen-y-ghent - one of the famous Three Peaks

Photo at the trigpoint - taken by a couple I met at the top who happened to be staying at the same campsite and - believe it or not - lived in Banbury (my home town)

 

This is ranked joint 332nd with 16 other trigs in the Triggy charts

Horton in Ribblesdale

Winskill, as seen from the campsite

Craven Lime works - a fascinating site with a well preserved Hoffman lime kiln. This was the first industrialised continuous method of producing lime. The kiln consists of a tunnel about 3m in diameter and in an oval shape in plan about 150m long. There would have been a mixture of coal and limestone burning in the tunnel.

This site was chosen because of its proximity to the Settle-Carlisle railway. There is a trail around the site - well worth a visit

Langcliffe

Views over Settle

Attermire Scar

On route to Malham Tarn

View of campsite from Winskill

Stainforth

No visit to this area is complete without a trip on the Settle-Carlisle railway line.

The line is probably the most scenic railway journey in England. It has survived two attempts to close it - once in the early 1960s and later in the 1980s. Both attempts caused local and national outrage. However, fortunes have now changed as millions of pounds have been spent upgrading tracks and stations. The line first opened on 1st May 1876.
 

The line is engineered to follow the natural pathways through the hills of the Pennines. That is because the line was also designed for high-speed running to compete for Anglo-Scottish passengers. As a result, the local population were perhaps not as well served as they might have been. Examples of this are at Dent where the station is some 4 miles and 600 feet higher than the village it purports to serve, and Kirkby Stephen, 1½ miles away from its namesake market town.
 

 In the 72 miles between Settle and Carlisle there are 14 tunnels and over 20 viaducts. The service today comprises modern diesel trains with occasional steam and diesel charter trains, and frequent freight trains. 

Settle station was opened in 1876 and has one of the large Derby Gothic Style station buildings. It is one of the 3 stations which originally served Settle, the other two were Settle (Old) renamed Giggleswick in 1877 and Settle Junction which closed in 1877.

The station forms part of what was formerly a much larger complex including a goods shed, weigh office, sidings, cattle dock, signal box and water tank. Goods facilities were withdrawn in 1970 but even today the water tank and Station Master's house, although now in private ownership, provide evidence of the station's past

Photos taken on route from inside the train. The famous Ribblehead viaduct - 440 yards long with 24 arches - is close to the station

On reaching Carlisle - where the railway station is the Carlisle Citadel Station, ...

... designed by William Tite in 1847 - he also designed the London Stock Exchange -

I went on the City Walk - following the route outlined in the Heritage Trail leaflet from the Tourist Information Office

Carlisle Cross, which dates from 1682. It is a symbol of the authority vested in the city by Royal Charter to hold markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a prolonged market on 26 August known as the Great Fair

The old Town Hall - now the Tourist Information Office - the central part dates from 1669

 Carlisle Cathedral - known as the Abbey

The Citadel

Dixon's chimney - one of Carlisle's famous landmarks - 305ft high and was one of the tallest in Europe. It was built to take the smoke away from seven boilers in the adjacent cotton mill.

Carlisle is also the home of McVities's biscuits - now part of United Biscuits (which I think is now part of Kraft).

Carlisle Castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it has been the centre of many wars and invasions. 

Today the castle is managed by English Heritage and is open to the public. The castle until recently was the administrative headquarters of the former King's Own Royal Border Regiment now county headquarters to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and a museum to the regiment is within the castle walls

Carlisle Castle was first built during the reign of William II. At that time, Cumberland (the original name for north and west Cumbria) was still considered a part of Scotland. William II arrived and drove the Scots out of Cumberland to claim the area for England.  He ordered the construction of a Norman style motte and bailey castle in Carlisle on the site of an old Roman fort, with construction beginning in 1093. In 1122, Henry I ordered a stone castle to be constructed on the site. Thus a keep and city walls were constructed

The most important battles for the city of Carlisle and its castle were during the second Jacobite rising against George II in 1745. The forces of Bonny Prince Charlie travelled south from Scotland into England reaching as far south as Derby. Carlisle and the castle were seized and fortified by the Jacobites.

 

However they were driven north by the forces of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the son of George II. Carlisle was recaptured, and the Jacobites were jailed and executed. That battle marked the end of the castle's fighting life, as defending the border between England and Scotland was not necessary with both countries again one in Great Britain

Trains and boats and planes

Our walk this week took us east of Sheffield - a circuit around Kiveton Park, taking in the Chesterfield Canal (the "boats" connection) and Netherthorpe aerodrome (the "planes" connection) before crossing to Harthill then back via Kiveton Waters to the Cuckoo Way and the canal.

To make our journey complete and to fit in with the title of the Dionne Warwick hit - we decided to travel to Kiveton Park by train (the "trains" connection).

We alighted at Kiveton Park Station

From the Norman conquest to 1868, Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall. It subsequently transferred to the civil parish of Wales which takes its name from the neighbouring village.

Kiveton gets its name from the Anglo-Saxon for the settlement in the hollow - Saxon 'kyfe' meaning dish or hollow vessel and 'ton' meaning stockaded camp. In the Domesday Book it is written Cieutone, and was under the ownership of William de Warenne. It subsequently transferred to the de Keuton family, who sold the estate on to former Lord Mayor of London Sir William Hewet in 1580.

A major Community History Project has been in progress to record and encourage an understanding of the history of Kiveton Park and neighbouring Wales, particularly their mining heritage. This was based in the Old Colliery Offices, pictured below, and can be explored at  History of Kiveton

When this railway line opened in 1849 there were only three stations between Sheffield and Worksop. These were at Darnall, Kiveton Park and Shireoaks. Kiveton Park Station was built by James Drabble and Company from Carlton. It is interesting to note that it had originally intended to call the station ‘Dog Kennels’.

We joined the canal towpath - called Cuckoo Way - towards Worksop

The Chesterfield Canal runs for 46 miles from West Stockwith on the River Trent, through Retford, Worksop, Kiveton Park, Killamarsh, Staveley and on to Chesterfield. It was in daily use from its completion in 1777 until 1907 when the roof of the Norwood Tunnel collapsed, cutting off the western section from the Trent. It fell into severe disrepair in the mid 20th century, and has been since been restored largely due to the efforts of the Chesterfield Canal Trust and Chesterfield Canal Partnership - see Chesterfield Canal Trust

Construction of the canal began in 1771. It cost under £100,000 and took 6 years, 2 months and 6 days to complete. The architect was James Brindley, but Brindley unfortunately died a year after the project started. John Varley, still in his 20's, picked up the reins from Brindley and completed the whole canal, without the aid of GPS, mobile phone, motor car or laser level. Varley moved his family to Harthill whilst working on the Chesterfield Canal. 

No walk alongside water is complete without a game of Pooh Sticks. Despite calls for a steward's enquiry, Martin's stick was declared the winner

The winning stick basking in its glory

We turned at Turnerwood - which is described in the tourist literature as "a hamlet straddling a basin for mooring boats on the Chesterfield Canal. There's only a few houses and it's a quintessentially picture postcard pretty English hamlet with ducks on the pond, cottages, and several locks"

Mike and Dave discussing the finer points of the differences between a hamlet and a village

Chris just wants to get to see the planes

Netherthorpe aerodrome - the home of the Sheffield Aero Club - where you can find light aircraft and tiger moths, and take flying lessons. 

There are two grass runways 553m and 382m long (the smaller apparently being the shortest in England). The aerodrome is off the road between Thorpe Salvin and Nether Thorpe, and due to the proximity of the roads running around the airfield, planes have to be at an altitude of at least 20ft when they cross the perimeter - landing on the short runway must present a challenge to novice fliers.

A slight detour to this contraption - which we were informed was the Thorpe Salvin weather station - not sure that I believe that

Harthill was part of William de Warenne’s honour of Conisbrough in 1086, having previously belonged to Earl Harold. It had 13 freemen and 11 villagers. There were 12 plough teams, indicating that a considerable acreage of arable land had been cleared.

Harthill seems to have been a substantial village by the late 14th century for the 1379 Poll Tax returns list 156 tax payers. This would suggest a total population in Harthill and Woodall of around 400. The list is headed by John de Keuton [Kiveton], “serigante”(sergeant), and Agnes his wife, who paid the considerable sum of 6s 8d.

Tradition has it that Harthill Church was founded by William de Warenne in 1085. It was one of the churches that he gave to Lewes Priory. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the advowson of Harthill was one of many granted to Henry VIII’s minister Thomas Cromwell. After Cromwell’s disgrace and execution, the advowson was granted to the Waterhouse family. It was again in the hands of the crown in 1674 when Charles II granted it to Thomas Osborne.

Site of the former colliery - now a haven for birdwatchers and anglers

Back to the canal and the Cuckoo Way

We returned to Kiveton Park Station in good time for the 2.24pm train back to Sheffield ...

 ... and a welcome pint of Thornbridge Ale at The Sheffield Tap (Platform 1, Sheffield Station)