The Ribble Cycle Diaries: The Ribble Way Part 4, Stainforth to Wigglesworth: Soaked to the Skin, Voluntarily and Otherwise…

A Ribble Way Day of Water, Weather, and Bovines – were we bovvered? Read on to find out…

The weather didn’t look too much like it would live up to the gloomy forecast for heavy rain as we set off up the A59 once more, as it was cloudy but bright. With today’s planned diversion being a swim at Stainforth Force, several members of the party were planning a jolly good soaking today anyway. As it turned out, we all got soaked to the skin by the end of the day – and we had yet more episodes to add to the growing saga of our Adventures Amongst Yorkshire Livestock! But a spontaneous diversion off the Ribble Way at Stackhouse proved to be one of the most memorable parts of today’s journey for all the right reasons…

We would have liked to have taken in other diversions today – including to the famous Scaleber Force waterfall to the East of Settle, and to the Ebbing and Flowing Well (which mysteriously only produces water in a rhythmic ebb and flow, surprisingly, given its name!) to the North West, but we hope to get good views of Long Preston Deeps on the final half of the journey.

This fantastic series of winding horse-shoe bends in the Ribble below Long Preston is a sssi site because of its unique floodplain habitat, very rare so high upriver. Here, the river’s water quality is very high, supporting unique aquatic flora and a healthy population of Salmon, Sea Trout, and Brown Trout as well as a large variety of coarse fish such as chub, roach, pike and lamprey eels. There was historically a large lake here but this was drained in the 1800s, leaving a wetland and marsh floodplain which supports wading birds such as Snipe, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Lapwing, as well as numerous other bird species including Teal, Pink Footed Geese, Whooper Swan, and Black Tailed Godwit…
Long Preston Deeps also look fabulous when glimpsed from the A59, so a better look from walking the Ribble Way on the West side of the Deeps, albeit set well away from the river itself, is much anticipated...

We parked the first car at The Plough Inn at Wigglesworth and, after throwing the girls in the stocks while we unpacked the rucksacks from the car…

…we all squeezed into the van for the drive up to Stainforth.

At Stainforth, we left the car park and set off up the B6479 for a few yards before turning left/west onto the road to Dog Hill Brow and Little Stainforth.

Dog Hill Brow.

We cross the Settle railway line and also pass a useful and somewhat portentous sign, as it turns out…

…and then Stainforth Bridge over the Ribble – a bridge which looks delightful as you cross it...

...and absolutely fantastic when you follow the Ribble Way path down to the river and see the bridge from there...

The Ribble at Stainforth Bridge is wonderful – and not surprisingly already very busy with other Ribblesiders by the time we arrive.

The Bridge is an ancient and peculiarly organic structure (an organic use of stone which is exemplified much later on our journey…), looking almost “home-made” in its lack of airs and graces but beautiful geometry, structure, and sturdy usefulness. The River itself flows in a fairly wide, shallow bed beneath the Bridge, before suddenly dropping down a couple of steps and then falling over the edge and into the deep and impressive cavern it has carved into the limestone rock below the falls.

The deep water in the cavernous pool is so deep it is black, and this is where Darren, Chris, Hattie and Rachel have all planned to join Muddy for a swim – but as it turns out, whilst Muddy may have started us all on an increasing enthusiasm for swimming in the Ribble during our adventures, on this occasion the poor dog could only stand and watch everyone else exploring the Ribble at first-hand as the high, steep sides and metal rung ladder prevented her from joining them!

She would have happily taken a leaf from a number of other children already throwing themselves over and leaped over the edge herself, given half a chance, but then she would have had to swim quite a way downstream to stand any chance of ever getting out again, so she was forced to restrain herself. My excuse for not joining in with the swimming was that someone had to take the pictures, and Carol said someone had to hold the towels too, so we left the others to it...

Darren enters the dark water first...

Chris ventures in after him - a bit worried about suddenly plunging into the icy cold depths!

Both intrepid Ribblesiders swim for quite a while but are barely visible to the camera in the black water and gloomy depths of the cavernous pool...

The girls keep to the shallows...

...and Muddy has to content herself with watching!

After a very rather bracing swim in that dark, deep water, they all clambered out and dried themselves on the usefully-held towels, then we set off along the Ribble Way towards Settle and Wigglesworth…

The Ribble valley along from Stainforth to Settle is absolutely fantastic: the valley lush and green with numerous trees…

…the banks and slopes full of wildflowers (even in mid-September)…

Insects busy on the Woundwort...

Red Campion...

Yarrow...

Meadow Cranesbill...

Ragwort...

and Fumitory...

…although many wouldn't keep still long enough for close-ups as there is quite a breeze today.

The views are fantastic and ever-changing…

…and the river itself one minute babbling and rushing over mossy rocks and water-carved bedrock…

…the next slowly moving through deep pools, and when we stop by one of these slow pools for our picnic lunch, Muddy soon finds somewhere she can swim - and promptly shakes herself all over us!

There are occasional old mills along the river banks...

...and fabulous old trees...

...and birds singing and cawing and twittering from the river and the trees all around us...

At Langcliffe, there is a substantial weir across the river, which, although being provided with a fish pass, clearly changes the navigable quality of the river here for migratory fish – and we were astounded to see a good-sized fish (probably a Trout) leap high into the air and hang for what seemed a moment frozen in time just below the weir before it splashed back into the pool below – and of course the camera was not at the ready!

Here at the weir, the Ribble Way turns West away from the Ribble, to follow Stainforth Lane a short way past Stackhouse, before rejoining the Ribble again just above Settle. We are relieved that a handsome but very large bull is having a lie down as we pass…

…and once up on the road, we decide to take a minor diversion onto the footpath going through the village of Stackhouse as its rather interesting architecture tempts us in…

What we find is amazing. Stackhouse is an ancient village which seems unchanged by the centuries: there are no roads into the village, just a stony track between old stone walls which seem to grow out of the ground, and the whole village has the kind of unchanged and unchanging almost medieval air that is normally found in villages in the outer reaches of France or Spain, hundreds of miles off the beaten track.

The footpath passes behind the back of the village - enclosed behind its ancient walls like a medieval village...

I have fallen in love with the place. It’s absolutely fantastic.

We leave Stackhouse reluctantly once we find ourselves back at the road again, but continue on the Ribble Way towards Settle, and begin to quicken our pace as we see the threatening clouds hard on our heels…

At Settle, the Ribble still retains its rocky bed, in some places forming small falls and staircases, in others smooth shallow flows of water, and is attractively flanked by the stone houses of Settle.

And we even see a Heron...

...who watches us for a while before flying off...

But the attraction of Settle is marred by the sight of pollution being washed into the river from nearby houses…

…showing that even people who live in an apparently harmonious setting like this can still ignorantly treat the Ribble as nothing more than a waste-channel into which they can dump their rubbish.

From below Settle, the Ribble Way follows the river for a relatively short while to Gildersleets and the A65 and rail bridges across the river, where the path leaves the river behind for the rest of the day. Before we leave the river behind, we pass through fields host to some impressively long-horned cattle - including a number of bulls -

- and I'm afraid some of the party walk right on the edge of the river bank here, preferring the idea of a quick wade across to the other side if the need arises than the alternative, should the bulls get shirty!

As we carry on along the last part of the river here, the weather catches up with us.
A hard, driving rain is in our faces and sets the tone of misery which is to dog us for a large part of the next stage of the journey…

Leaving the Ribble here, almost opposite Long Stream Barn, there are no Ribble Way signposts or markers pointing us in the right direction for the footpath itself or Holly Dene to where it heads next. There is just a wire fence with a broken stile which we have to cross somehow, complete with children and dogs and driving rain.

We survive the passage and spend a good while wandering around the field looking for the footbridge across the stream here. The rain is awful now, so cameras and maps are hidden in the deepest recesses of our coats, and the tide goes relentlessly in and out inside our boots with every step we take - the rain is that bad.
Eventually, we give up looking for the footbridge and throw children and each other over the stream as best we can. Then Darren spots the footbridge but we've already crossed the stream and are now looking for the next stile out of the field.

After another wander around, we eventually spot a stile over the distant stone wall, over which we throw children and dogs once more, then soon find ourselves on the farm track to Holly Dene and Hollin Hall. Here there is a helpful Ribble Way marker and a rather long but narrow stile, but on the other side of the wall it is unclear exactly which way we are supposed to walk next...

After retrieving the map and huddling over it with the rain running down our necks, we see from the map that the Ribble Way passes through the middle of the farm at the top of the hill, Green farm, so we follow the unmapped telegraph poles up the hill towards the farm. As we approach the gate, we realise that a herd of bulls and cows are huddled in the shelter of the farm and blocking our way. Given our now all-too-familiar experiences of Yorkshire Bovines this past few weeks, we are understandably undecided about the best way to proceed. This is decided for us when one young Bull detaches himself from the herd and sets off at a brisk pace in our direction.

Slightly hysterical children are herded off at an acute angle towards the wall to our left so that we can throw them over if necessary, and we walk away from our intended course towards a gate in the wrong corner of the field. Bull still coming after us, we have no choice but to climb the gate, then the next wall with no stile of any kind to assist us - sort of rolling children and dog up the wall and down again on the other side - and then we have to back-track to the farm on the wrong side of the wall. Another look at the map shows an ordinary footpath passes through the back of the farm and crosses the Ribble Way, so we pursue this line.

Finding ourselves crossing a stile into the back garden of the farm, we eventually find our way back onto the Ribble Way once more, a marker being on the relevant stile…

Heading across the fields to Rathmell sees us having to heave wet dog over even worse stone wall stiles than we have so far encountered, these being very high with narrow stone “steps” to climb in driving rain with said wet dog in arms, and after several of these, we are not sure whether the wet and miserable adults, the wet and miserable children, or the wet and miserable dog are the most fed-up…

A happy respite of the shelter of trees and a beautiful moss-covered footbridge between Rathmell and the farms at Cappleside gives us a small breather...

- along with brief glimpses of sunshine through the trees -

- before we find ourselves yards away from The Biggest Bull we have ever seen, lying luckily with his back to us as we theatrically tiptoe through Cappleside Farm past him…

Interesting items such as a charcoal burner divert our gaze as we tiptoe past the bull...

...then we have the absurd situation of trying to get ourselves through to Far Cappleside when the stone stile is blocked with huge chunks of stone...

...the gate is tied shut...

- and for good measure, the bottom of the gate is rendered useless for passing dogs underneath as it has been blocked with the uprooted Ribble Way signpost!!!

To cap it all, we are then unceremoniously herded off the farm by some very organic Bulls!

ok, we're going!

After walking down the road a short distance, the Ribble Way then goes through a gate marked “Beware of Cows with Calves” (I kid you not)… we seriously consider carrying on down the road – which goes straight to Wigglesworth and our destination – but we have come to Walk the Ribble Way, so Walk the Ribble Way we will!

We enter the field and walk on, crossing into another field and walking along the fence towards Hollow Gill Bridge, and as we reach the brow of the hill, said cows with large calves see us and immediately set off in pursuit!
Reaching the next stile before they do, we throw children, dog and ourselves over, then I have the leisure to photograph said cows, the leader of which feels that, Job Done, a snack is in order...

There is a marker on the stile, pointing out the Ribble Way is in a Westerly direction, so we walk along to the next gate and find ourselves approaching the road. Double-checking the map, it appears that the Ribble Way in fact heads in a South-Easterly direction, roughly following the line of the road, to Wigglesworth Hall Farm, so we back-track and follow the trees down the steep hill, climb across a footbridge, almost gallop up the steep slope on the other side in the hope that the cows massing in this field will calculate that we’re likely to beat them to the next stile, we eventually pass onto Rake Head Laithe.

Here, another cow-free breather is in order, and the rain has finally stopped, the sun is emerging, and we have fantastic views of the rain-washed clouds and fells all around us…

Try as we might, there is no view whatsoever of the Ribble on this second part of the journey – of particular disappointment as we were so looking forward to seeing the beautiful winding curves of Long Preston Deeps, which look so fantastic from the fleeting glimpses you can see as you drive up on the A59 - and look marvelous on the map!!

After taking the time to admire the fabulous views, we set off through Wigglesworth Hall Farm – passing through yet another herd of cows but luckily they were only just coming back into their field after milking, and were all busy looking up the hill at their colleague busy giving birth!

At Wigglesworth Hall Farm, we leave the Ribble Way for the day, taking a permissive footpath away to the South-West behind the Hall itself (now a rather enormous barn) – and find ourselves in the hilarious situation of being pursued out of the field by a herd of the widest-headed Rams we’ve ever seen!

We finally get to the village of Wigglesworth - or more appropriately Gigglesworth as we are laughing so much over our day of Livestock Pursuits we can barely put one foot in front of the other.
Chris and Darren drive up for the car while the rest of us pile into the Plough Inn for a truly fabulous pot of tea, and 2 fabulous hot chocolates for the girls, who almost feel it was worth while getting so wet and miserable, particularly when reminded that feisty cows produce feisty milk - which is what made their hot-chocolate drinks so delicious!

We walked a total of 9 or so miles today, which would have seemed half the distance without the rain and the awful stiles (let alone the Bovine Adventures), but we still managed to have another Grand Day Out on the Ribble Way – although not as much of the Ribble itself as we'd have liked as we didn't see the beautiful series of horseshoe bends of the Ribble's Long Preston Deeps at all - just a beautiful view of the valley through which they wind...