England - Dales - Ingleborough Clapham Classic

Walk Summary

Classic ascent of Ingleborough with a route through limestone pavements to the top. Trip to Simons Fell for panoramic view over to Penyghent. Descend by Gaping Gill and through the ravine of Trow Gill.

Date: 17/12/2021

Length: 10.9 miles

Height Gain: 630 m

Terrain: Boggy paths. grassy paths, slabbed path, trackless moorland, lightly used roads.

Navigation: Difficult in bad weather. Map and compass required.

Start: National Park Car Park, Clapham

Route: Clapham, Long Scar, Sulber, Simons Fell, Ingleborough, Little Ingleborough, Gaping Gill, Trow Gill

Map: OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern And Western Areas

Weather: Sunny

Walkers: Nun

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Clapham Tunnels

Captain's Log

Clapham Tunnels

The walk started in the pretty village of Clapham. Just after passing the church, the track went through two tunnels. I wasn't expecting that. The tunnels were created by the Farrar family to provide a route under the Ingleborough Hall Estate. I suppose that's one way of avoiding an encounter with plebs.

Suber Cow

The route followed the Pennine Bridleway below Thwaite Scars. It delivered me up to a large, well constructed cairn on Long Scars and was a great vantage point. I could see my first view of Penyghent of the day. I continued through limestone pavements to Suber Gate.The view down the vally to Moughton Scars looked other worldly. The limestone was dark but the tops glinted as the low sun reflected off water on the pavement. A lone cow met me at the fingerpost that pointed on to the path up to Ingleborough. He watched me arrive and he watched me disappear up the path. I wondered if everybody else got thesame treatment.

Suber Cow

Ingleborough From Simons Fell

Simons Fell

I hadn't intended to do Simon's Fell, but when I was walking along the Pennine Bridleway I noticed lots of white spots on the fell. At first I thought it looked like snow but there seemed far too many of them. At Fell Beck Head I headed off up to Simon's Fell on a sketchy path. The path eventually disappeared having led me into a particularly boggy area. The 'white stones' turned out to be bags of stones. There were dozens of them. I presumed they were there to be collected to be used to build a path somewhere. There was a cairn southeast of the top of Simons Fell. I wandered over to it and it provided a great view over to Penyghent.

Ingleborough Summit

The Ingleborough summit is quite impressive. It extends over quite a large area and is fairly flat. There are really only three ways off and on to the plateau, and so it is important to choose the correct path in bad weather. There is a trig which can be used to take a bearing and there is a shelter nearby if the weather is bad. On the plus side, the views from the plateau are amazing. It is worth just walking around the perimeter to take it all in. You can see Whernside and Penyghent, of course, but also the Ribblehead Viaduct, Fountain's Fell and the limestone pavements of Twistleton Scar. The Lakeland fells can even be seen on the skyline.

Twistleton Scars

Ingleborough Crow

Ingleborough Summit Shelter

Ingleborough Lunch

There is a well built shelter on the top of Ingleborough built in the shape of a cross. I estabilished myself in an empty quadrant to eat my lunch. It was facing the wind, but had the benefit of facing the sun. A couple approached across the plateau and I thought they might join me in my quadrant, but they walked straight past. Presumably I looked too miserable for conversation. It became clear they were more interested in the couple in the next quadrant. I listened in on their conversation. It included details about their dog, where they were staying, and their latest thoughts on covid. By the time the conversation got on to how one woman had started to learn the cello '...at 64', I decided time was passing and I should leave them to it. A large crow had landed on to the top of a nearby cairn and had caught my interest.

Gaping Gill And Trow Gill

The route down past Gaping Gill. In truth there isn't that much to see from above. Fell beck trundles down the hillside and disappears into an ominous whole in a gully. Underneath your feet there is a cavern so big that it could hold the dome of St Paul's cathedral. Unbelievable really.

I made my way down to Trow Gill. The valley gets narrower and narrower until you question that you are on the right path. It culminated in a steep rocky section that took me into Trow Gill itself. The bottom of the gill was littered by several large trees that had fallen from the top of the gill. A couple of trees were dangling down with their roots desperately hanging on to the cliff edge above. It all looked rather precarious. It wasn't a place to linger and so I took some photos and moved quickly on.

Trow Gill After Storm Arwen

Moon Over Thwaite Scars

Guns

The sun was setting and the moon was rising as I made my way down the Clapham Beck valley to Clapham. A sign on the valley path said that a firing range was in operation and told me to choose a higher path. Gunfire echoed around the valley. I like Clapham as a village but I wouldn't want that noise on my doorstep. As I entered the main street in Clapham, a number of 4x4s were parked up Their owners were in tweeds and long wooley socks; they were packing their guns away into their 4x4s. I'd found the cause of the recent disturbance.

Apart from the noisy finish it had been an amazing walk, made even better by perfect weather.

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