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WALK 8 - A Circuit of Kisdon Island This
wonderful walk circles the heather-clad limestone
mass of Kisdon Hill. It has a good variety of
terrain and scenery. The views are excellent and
will certainly be memorable. The
Kisdon Gorge and the river Swale Keld
is surrounded by some of the wildest countryside in
Yorkshire. Nine Standards Rigg, Great Shunner Fell,
Lovely Seat, and Rogan's Seat are among the
outstanding features. It is a sedate little
village, with its collection of cottages huddled
around a small open square. People
living in such wild places need to be sturdy and
strong minded. This was demonstrated in 1789 when
Edward Stillman became pastor of a ruined chapel at
Keld. Needing funds for repairs, he embarked on a
remarkable walk to London and back, raising
£700 from preaching and begging. Another
tribute to Edward Stillman's character lies in the
fact that his total expenses for the journey came
to only sixpence. After rebuilding the chapel he
served the people of Keld for forty-eight years.
The chapel was rebuilt again in 1860 with the added
features of a bell and a sundial. Near the road
junction at the top of the village is the former
Cat Hole Inn. This became a private house in 1954,
and now serves only diesel from a solitary pump.
From
Keld we follow the road down the valley for a short
distance where a stile leads onto a meadow path
below Angram. Across the valley of Skeb Skeugh Beck
is the heather clad Kisdon Hill. This shapely hill,
encircled with limestone scars, reaches a mere 1636
feet (499m), but it still gives access to some of
the finest views in Upper Swaledale. It was formed
during the last Ice Age, when glacial action
widened the valleys and smoothed the hill tops. As
the glacier retreated a debris of rocks and boulder
clay blocked the valley, diverting the river Swale
to its present course, leaving Kisdon as an
isolated hill. On Jeffrey's Map of Yorkshire, 1771,
it is shown as 'Kisdon Island'. During
our descent to Thwaite, the views are impressive.
Lovely Seat directly ahead remains prominent
throughout. Thwaite
is a welcome oasis for many thousands of Pennine
Way walkers as they descend from the heights of
Great Shunner Fell. It is a picturesque village
with a small humpback bridge spanning a turbulent
tributary of the river Swale. In 1899, a great
storm drenched the dale and the normally placid
Thwaite Beck became a raging torrent. Dogs, sheep,
hen-houses and roofs were swept away by the force
of the water. The cottage gardens near the beck
were also engulfed by the deluge. It was said 'the
flowers planted at Thwaite bloomed the next year at
Muker', 2 miles (3km) away! The
village was the birthplace of two famous brothers,
Richard and Cherry Kearton. They were pioneers in
wildlife photography from the 1890s well into the
twentieth century. The cottage in which they lived
is marked by a stone lintel carved with animals and
birds. The Kearton's used many ingenious methods to
get closer to their subjects including a papier
mâché cow, which tended to blow over
in strong winds and apparently it once encouraged
the attentions of a bull! Leaving
Thwaite we follow the Pennine Way, climbing steeply
to Kisdon Farm. Below is the attractive village of
Muker with the river Swale disappearing into the
distance. Great Shunner Fell, the Buttertubs Pass
and Lovely Seat complete the panorama. Our route
continues along the Pennine Way, traversing the
higher slopes of Kisdon Hill. Across the valley
there are excellent views of Ivelet Moor, Swinner
Gill and the forlorn ruins of Crackpot
Hall. Less
than a mile from the finish of our walk, we should,
if time allows, make a detour to visit the
spectacular Kisdon Force. This has the reputation
of being Swaledale's finest waterfall. Here the
river Swale plunges 30 feet (10m) over two
cascades. It tumbles down a small upper fall into a
beautiful tree shaded pool, taking an encore over
the lower fall. The area near the falls is often
wet and slippery so extra care should be taken.
From
the falls we retrace our steps and continue along
the Pennine Way path returning to Keld. |
