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Lofthouse, Ramsgill and Middlesmoor

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Walk directions

Walk downhill past the Crown Hotel. At the main road turn left. Just before the track to High Lofthouse farm go right, through a stile. Follow a clear track bending left to a waymarked stile, then bear left to another stile. Continue down to a slightly raised track (the old railway) and bear left to rejoin the road.

Cross the road and go through a gate, signed Bouthwaite. Bear left off the farm track to a stile and ascend a grassy ramp. Bear left to climb more steeply, then right towards a plantation. Follow a clear path just below the plantation. Pass a house then join a track and follow it past a gate and Nidderdale Way sign to a fork. Bear left, still parallel to the plantation, then turn right over a stile. Descend left of a farmhouse, then bear left to a tall ladder stile. Walk straight ahead, keep a wall to your right and descend into a wooded valley. Ignore a stile on the right and go through a waymarked gate, over a wooden bridge, through a metal gate and ahead. Bear right past a house down a gravelled track to a lane.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Mostly field paths and tracks; may be muddy, 18 stiles

Landscape - Rich farmland and moorland, wide views from Middlesmoor

Dog friendliness - Can be off lead on walled section between Studfold Farm and Stean, but should be on lead for rest of walk

Parking - Car park by Memorial Hall in Lofthouse

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in North Yorkshire

About the walk

Much of upper Nidderdale was proposed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1947 – but official designation happened only in 1994, separately from the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is an area of moorland wildness and deep, farmed valleys. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, parts... of the dale were dammed as a chain of reservoirs – Angram, Scar House and Gouthwaite – was constructed to supply water to Bradford. Monks, Fairies and a Murderer Throughout Nidderdale are small, stone-built settlements like those visited on the walk – many of them of considerable antiquity. The monks of Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, founded the attractive village of Lofthouse as a grange in the Middles Ages. It was one of the bases from which they controlled their vast farming interests in Nidderdale. Lofthouse today consists mainly of 19th-century cottages. Ramsgill, at the southern end of the route, is at the head of Gouthwaite Reservoir, which was opened in 1899 and is renowned for its spectacular bird life. The village was the birthplace, in 1704, of Eugene Aram, scholar and murderer, who arranged for the slaughter of his wife's lover and was hanged in Knaresborough for the crime – a deed retold by both Bulwer Lytton and the poet Thomas Hood. The village was also used in the feature film Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997) about two Yorkshire girls who hoaxed many – including Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini – into believing they had photographed fairies in Cottingley, near Bradford. In the third village, Middlesmoor, with its spectacular hilltop setting, the head of an Anglo-Saxon cross with its inscription to St Cedd in the church again indicates the age of a settlement which today seems to date mainly from the last two centuries. It was once possible to travel from Pateley Bridge up the dale on Britain's only corporation-run light railway. The Nidd Valley Light Railway, originally laid as a narrow-gauge line by the builders of Angram Reservoir, was taken over by Bradford Corporation in 1907 and re-laid as standard gauge. It ran regular passenger services from Pateley Bridge (where it connected with the North Eastern Railway's line) to Lofthouse, with stations at Wath and what was called Ramsgill (but was really at Bouthwaite). It closed to passengers in 1929, but the track is still visible on much of the route.

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About the area

North Yorkshire, with its two National Parks and two designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is England’s largest county and one of the most rural. This is prime walking country, from the heather-clad heights of the North York Moors to the limestone country that is so typical of the Yorkshire Dales – a place of contrasts and discoveries, of history and legend.

Nearby places to stay

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Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

7 miles (11.3kms)

Ascent:

1661ft (506m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

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Lofthouse, Ramsgill and Middlesmoor

Recommended by

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

7 miles (11.3kms)

Ascent:

1661ft (506m)

Walk directions

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2 of 7

Turn right down the lane to a T-junction. Turn left, over the bridge. Turn right by the triangular green, then right gain, signed 'Stean'. Follow the track until it bends left up to Grindstone Hill House.

3 of 7

Go straight on, over four stiles. At West House Farm go over a stile between the farm and a bungalow, cross the farm road, follow waymarked posts (Nidderdale Way) and continue along a track, eventually descending to a signpost near a barn. Follow the obvious track into a valley and over a bridge.

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At a T-junction of tracks, turn left. Follow the walled track uphill, bending right. As the main track bends left to Moor House, keep straight on along a grassy track. Another track joins from the left. Just beyond this, after crossing a stream, turn right. Bend left by a farm and follow the track over a ford into Stean.

5 of 7

Follow the lane right, then take a stile on the left signed 'Middlesmoor'. Descend into How Stean Gorge, down steps, over a bridge and up steps, then follow signs to the road. Turn left into Middlesmoor. Turn right beside the Wesleyan chapel to the gateway of the parish church.

6 of 7

Turn right before the gate, through a stile signed 'Lofthouse'. Follow the path to Halfway House farm. Go through the farmyard to a gate and follow the right side of two fields then bear left across the third to a gate in the corner. In the lay-by go left through a gate, then along the path beside the cricket ground. Cross the lane and go over a bridge, then bear right to emerge near the Market Cross in Lofthouse. Turn left to the car park.

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Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Mostly field paths and tracks; may be muddy, 18 stiles

Landscape - Rich farmland and moorland, wide views from Middlesmoor

Dog friendliness - Can be off lead on walled section between Studfold Farm and Stean, but should be on lead for rest of walk

Parking - Car park by Memorial Hall in Lofthouse

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in North Yorkshire

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

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Get an AA guide

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Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

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About the area

North Yorkshire

Nearby places to stay

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Lofthouse, Ramsgill and Middlesmoor

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Lofthouse, Ramsgill and Middlesmoor

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