Stainforth Loop - 11th July 2012

Walk: 12:30pm to 4pm  5.7 miles - 750ft of ascent

Today was one of those days when you have a late change of plan and don't expect much, but the day really turns out to be very enjoyable. We'd got over the disappointment from last night when we discovered that the Great Yorkshire Show had been cancelled - we'd really looked forward to visiting this and had bought tickets in advance, however having seen the state of the showground on the news the decision wasn't surprising. We now just need to decide whether to get a refund, or save them to use in 2013 as is one of the options.

Me posing on the stepping stones over Stainforth Beck

Well on to the walk. Our plan last night and early this morning was to go up Pen-Y-Ghent today, however Donna's not been feeling great this week, and as the weather forecast was a little ambiguous - BBC and ITV said it was be ok, and MWIS indicating a little more of a mixed bag, we chose not to. So, I laid the OS map out on the table and pondered a relatively local walk - after our 100 mile trip to Richmond yesterday we didn't fancy driving far.

The peak of Pen-Y-Ghent in the distance from the path down to Helwith Bridge

We packed our rucksacks and headed off to Stainforth, parking in the National Trust car-park. We'd chosen Stainforth as our starting point as it meant that we could take in the raw beauty of Stainforth Force as we came towards the end of the walk - and hopefully after all the rain it should be gushing.

Instead of taking the well-trodden route out of the village in the direction of Catrig Force we headed up the narrow road - Goat Lane I think it's called, running parallel with Tongue Gill. Our 16-month run of 'dry walking' was about to come to an end as first a few spots of rain, then the heavens opened for the next 30 minutes - we did get rather wet but the waterproofs held out. I was pleased in a way as at last my Karrimor Alpiniste jacket got a decent test. I was also wearing my recently purchased Paramo Katmai shirt - or as Donna calls it, my 'blouse' due to the material that it's made from. She does think she's funny!

I won't try to deny that I wasn't posing a little in this photo

As we met the junction with the Ribble Way we sat down to eat, a 20 minute or so stop for some sandwiches and a drink. And like kids we enjoyed a paddle in the many 'mini streams' running along the path. The rain had stopped now and small breaks in the cloud were appearing - a very welcome sight indeed.

Looking back up the path after the skies had cleared

I mentioned in another blog report earlier this week that I'd left the DSLR at home and just brought my new Samsung ST200F compact camera with me. The advantages when walking in poor weather were clear, small enough to pop in and out of my waterproof pocket and compact enough to keep in the palm of my hand - beats having the DSLR tucked away in my rucksack when it's raining. However the main disadvantage I've found is not being about to use a viewfinder to see exactly what you'll get when you've pressed the shutter, and in bright light struggling to see on the camera's display what result you'll get. That said, as the photos I take when on the nills tend to be a montage of our walks and not an attempt at a visual masterpiece, I'm happy.

We headed down into Helwith Bridge, taking lots of photos along the way as the temperature rose and the breaks in the cloud grew bigger - although not yet feeling like summer, we accepted a Spring feel to the day. The recent wet weather meant that the River Ribble was wider than normal, and rushing with great speed below Helwith Bridge as it raced around the rocks, the result was mesmerising. We headed up the hill and round the back of the old quarry which is now I believe a trout fishing farm - not that I know much about the sport!

Donna taking some photos of Stainforth Force

The small lane towards Little Stainforth was our route of choice, the majority of it was walked in isolation - just our own company, apart from a couple of cyclists sharing the road. After turning east at Little Stainforth for the last part of the journey we took the small detour to take some photos of Stainforth Force, and we were certainly not disappointed. The coffee coloured waters powered their way over the rocks, forming rainbows as the spray danced with the rays of the sun. Well worth a visit and a great way to end a great walk.

More photos can be found here.