HALT Day 7 Route Summary
Horton In Ribblesdale to Settle
Distance: 12 miles
Highest Point: 2,267 ft
Ascent: 2,744 ft
Going: Strenuous with one steep climb
Map: OS Explorer OL2
For long distance footpath walkers Horton in Ribblesdale marks the junction of the Pennine Way, the Ribble Way, the Pennine Journey and, now, the Howgills and Limestone Trail. However, for endurance walkers it is the traditional start and finish of one of the most famous ones – the 24 mile Three Peaks Walk over the summits of Whernside, Ingleborough and Penyghent. Horton is one of the leading centres in Great Britain for caving and pot-holing with cave systems nearby. The Trail does not pass Hull Pot which, at 300 feet in length and 60 feet in width and depth, is the largest hole in the country but those walkers who do wish to see this remarkable geological feature can do so, using their O.S. map, by taking the Pennine Way to it before retracing their steps briefly and ascending Penyghent to meet the main route at its summit.
The main route leaves the Millennium Stone on the green and ascends Penyghent via Brackenbottom and after passing the immense shakehole of Churn Milk Hole continues to Stainforth. Using the stepping stones to cross Stainforth Beck in the opposite direction to the Pennine Journey the trail makes its way to Catrigg Force. This gem of a waterfall, set in a deep secluded gorge, is described by AW in Walks in Limestone Country as ‘a double waterfall of 60 feet in a very lovely setting’. The route goes through some dramatic limestone landscape passing Victoria Cave below Attermire Scar before arriving in Settle. The Trail ends at Settle station from where AW set out on 25th September 1938 on his Pennine Journey and a blue plaque in an information room on the platform commemorates this notable event.
All of the photographs on the Howgills and Limestone Trail site were taken by Derek Cockell when he and his wife Alison helped to test walk the route in 2011 and 2012. All photos are strictly copyright of Derek Cockell.