Walking the Dales Way

Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere through the Yorkshire Dales
Terry Marsh

IF you’re looking for autumn walks that offer stunning rural landscapes and take in two of the country’s national parks, and all without demanding an enormous amount of effort, a handy guide to the scenic Dales Way could be just what you need.

Walking the Dales Way, which covers the area from Ilkley to Bowness through the Yorkshire Dales, is a brilliant guide from Cicerone Press, an enthusiastic publisher based in Kendal which specialises in outdoor activities guidebooks and has a range of nearly 400 books for walking, trekking, climbing, mountaineering and cycling, covering the UK, Europe and other regions of the world.

And like the other books in their super pocket-sized guide series, Walking the Dales Way – written by Lancashire-born outdoors and travel author and photographer Dr Terry Marsh (pictured below) – comes with a separate map booklet of 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey maps which is contained neatly inside the back of the book and shows the full route.

Presented in six stages of 7-19 miles, with alternative itineraries suggested, the picturesque 79-mile route is recognised as one of the gentlest long-distance walks in Britain. Passing through Wharfedale, Dentdale and the eastern fringe of the Lake District, the walk is scenically at its best in spring and autumn (April-June and September-October) but is an all-year round route for suitably equipped walkers.

Centres are Ilkley, Grassington, Hawes, Sedbergh and Bowness, and clear step-by-step route descriptions link together with the map booklet at each stage along the way. The unspoilt route passes through Burnsall, Buckden, Cowgill, Bolton Abbey, Dent and Staveley, and walkers are rarely away from features of architectural, social, ecological or historic interest like churches, bridges, manor houses, ancient stone circles and Roman roads.

The route is also ideal for anyone wanting to attempt multi-day walking for the first time with no significant physical difficulties beyond the basic need to walk a certain distance each day. The scenery is outstanding throughout, and a string of communities line the route without detracting from the sense of freedom.

The separate booklet of 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey maps provides all the mapping you need to walk the trail, in a convenient pocket-sized format. And to make the walks even easier, the route description in the guidebook links together with the map booklet at each stage along the way with the compact format eliminating the need to carry several maps.

With rich animal and plant life to enjoy along the way, fascinating insights to the area’s history and culture, and a trek planner which highlights information about accommodation, facilities and public transport, it’s time round up the family, grab your handy guide, and step this way!
(Cicerone Press, paperback, £16.95)