On a dry but somewhat overcast and slightly misty day, seven of us left the coaches on the A685 on the north edge of the village of Newbiggin on Lune.  We headed NW, slightly uphill on a minor road past the farm of High Lane.  After about 1.3 Km we left the minor road and joined a footpath heading in the same direction.  Initially, the footpath was barely visible but after a while it joined a better defined path which had obviously left the road earlier than we had although we were bang on the grid ref on the map when we left the road.  Anyhow, we continued on this path  (The Dales High Way) until we approached a diamond shaped walled enclosure where we left the DHW and covered the few yards to the enclosure to have our morning stop.  While it would have been better to enter the enclosure, the entrance was blocked so we sat with our backs to the wall and this gave some protection from the noticeable wind. 

After our coffee or whatever,  we continued on the DHW which then swung WNW on a fairly good track providing easy walking.  After 4 Km as we approached the road ahead of us, I was reminded (at least four others in the group had maps on their phones) that we should have turned N to join the road earlier, although only one member had observed the track.  So rather than add extra distance heading straight on to join the road, we headed north across rough ground until we were on the good surfaced minor road.  After a short distance NE along the road, we turned N onto a reasonable grass track which was a continuation of the Dales High Way.  While this started fairly level, it soon began to climb although it was always possible to walk evenly at a reasonable pace.  After approximately 1.5 Km of climbing alongside a stone wall on our left hand side we entered the area of limestone pavement.  At this point it was no issue as there was a wide grassy area on which to walk.  Reaching the point where the wall turned left through more than 90 deg, we decided to stop for lunch, near the wall for shelter from the wind, rather than beside the cairn which was a short distance away in the open. 

After lunch, the fun and games began.  Having only once walked on limestone pavement, at least 15 years ago, I had no great concerns about the way ahead.  Was I in for a shock – the previous occasion was at Malham where the pavement was fairly smooth and my recollection was that gaps between the rocks were small.  This was not the case here, with sharp rocks which in a number of cases were not flat and worse still there were many large grass filled gaps between a number of the rocks.  This would not have been easy 15 years ago – now with my knee problems, it was very slow going.  Several times the group had to wait for me to catch up and I was supposed to be leading.  The weather did not help, as I had hoped for sunshine shining off the pavements facilitating some good photos – the misty/cloudy weather meant that everything looked dull and dreary.  Anyhow, after 3 Km with 1 fall and one or two others struggling, we reached a bridleway cutting across the wall at 90 deg.  Thank goodness, I knew that this bridleway would bring us on to some reasonable tracks making for easy walking.  So we headed NE down the bridleway before turning NW then SW on reasonable footpaths and tracks until we reached a disused quarry.  Fortunately the quarry road was in good condition so we headed NW and W at a reasonable pace.  This track brought us out onto the B 6260 road, so we headed down this in a SW direction with good views of Orton Scar on our left – the sky was becoming somewhat lighter.  Just after a junction with a minor road and a quarry on our right, we stopped for a group photo before turning off the road onto a RoW on our left.  After passing a small kiln on our left we head down an initially steep path which brought us to Broadfell.  A decent path then continued S bringing us into our destination of Orton.

Not the best of walks.  The dull weather and the difficult walking across the limestone pavements made certain of that.  However the fact that we made it across 3 Km of pavement was an achievement we will remember!!