Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Continue ahead, descending gently as far as an old enclosure on the left.
A short way ahead the main track bends right to head for Gunnerside. Be-
fore reaching this point look for two smallish cairns on the left, leading to
a larger one. Leave the main track here and follow a narrow path head-
ing towards Gunnerside Gill. For a while the path skims along the rim of
North Hush before moving away, northeast, to descend, steeply in places,
to Blind Gill and the remains of the Blakethwaite Lead Mine.
Cross the stream by a slab bridge to reach the cloistered remains of a
once fine building, thought to be a smelt mill.
GUNNERSIDE GILL
Little more than a century ago the long ravine of Gunnerside Gill was a scene of intense
mining activity. It is visited now only by walkers and those with an interest in industri-
al archaeology. For the latter, it must be a wonderland, for in spite of its present-day
quiet, little imagination is needed to call forth the sounds of men labouring hard and
long hours, often with bare hands and primitive tools. That this mangled landscape is a
mess is obvious - it would take a tolerant eye to find beauty here, yet it is a compelling
place to visit and, ironically, a perfect counterpoint to the surfeit of natural beauty that
is Swaledale itself.
Behind the smelt mill, take a path zigzagging steeply up the hillside to
meet a green, terraced pathway. Turn right along this, with fine views
down towards Gunnerside, and continue in airy fashion as far as Friarfold
Hush, and then on towards Bunton Hush.
The scenery here is confusing, a mess of spoil, litter, gullies, hushes and
collapsed walls. A number of gullies lead to the moors above, but the one
beneath a conspicuous fractured cliff has rather more sense of purpose
than the others, and rises easily to a low grassy ridge on the right, where
a line of cairns is encountered, heading safely round and up to the highest
ground. Here, by a large cairn, a broad gravel track is met, and followed
ahead, through continuing devastation, with barely a blade of grass in
evidence, to the Old Gang Mines at the head of Old Gang Beck.
In spite of the unremitting barrenness of the terrain, there is never any
doubt about the onward route once the high moorland is reached, though
there is precious little in the way of shelter for anyone caught out by a
sudden change in the weather. The heather-clad moors are gone, replaced
by an arid desolation that only man can create, sad but awesome in its
bleakness. On a clear day a first glimpse may be had of the Cleveland Hills,
still some way ahead.
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