{"id":1055,"date":"2021-12-27T23:23:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T23:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/?p=1055"},"modified":"2022-12-26T21:19:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T21:19:00","slug":"20-12-21-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/phoenixwalks.xyz\/index.php\/2021\/12\/27\/20-12-21-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"20-12-21 RICHMOND"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Distance 17.5 Km\u00a0 (10.9 miles)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ascent\u00a0 \u00a0451 m\u00a0 ( 1480 ft)\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Average moving speed\u00a0 2.65 mph\u00a0 \u00a0 Start\u00a0 9.55 am\u00a0 \u00a0Finish\u00a0 3.52 pm\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>

The Christmas Walk, four of us got of the coach in Richmond, the two girls correctly celebrating the occasion by wearing Santa hats.\u00a0 We immediately headed for the market square, passing the church and making our way along the path below the castle walls.\u00a0 Reaching the NE corner of the castle we turned almost through 180 deg down a steep narrow road to the R Swale and the waterfalls.\u00a0 The falls, while not high, are quite wide and with the amount of water coming down the river, looked quite impressive.\u00a0 \u00a0Under a very grey sky, we then headed downstream, mostly next to the river, until we came to the ruins of Easby Abbey which I had not visited before.\u00a0 Many of the walls are still standing so we had our coffee stop on a seat adjacent to one of them.\u00a0 Leaving the abbey, we headed for the old railway bridge and after crossing it, followed the route of the old track to Richmond station which has been renovated and is used for cafes and some specialist shops.\u00a0 Passing the station we reached the A 6136 and traveled a short distance SE along it before turning west on a narrow and sometimes uneven path to Richmond Bridge.\u00a0 This provided us with good views of the castle from the south side of the river.\u00a0 From the bridge, we continued west taking the left hand path, which climbs through the woods, rather than the right hand path which is partly rocky, is right next to the river and which I suspected may be underwater in places.\u00a0 Eventually, after the path had swung northwards we began to descend onto\u00a0 a grassy area which was much more muddy than I recollected from previous visits.\u00a0 After passing Round Howe and following the footpath rather than the RoW we came to the footbridge across the R Swale.\u00a0 Turning left after the footbridge I led the group to a grassy area which has several tables and seats or at least it used to, last time I was here.\u00a0 Now there are two dilapitated seats and 4 wooden toadstools or perhaps I should more correctly say 2 toadstools and 2 half toadstools.\u00a0 The girls took the half toadstools possibly correctly thinking that they did not require as much support as me.\u00a0 Anyhow, we had a good extended lunch-stop with a bottle of wine and various items to eat.\u00a0 After a quick trip to the toilets, next to the car park, which I am pleased to say do still exist, we were on our way again.\u00a0 Having missed our intended path as it is not quite as far west as shown on the map (and my gps), we backtracked 50 m or so, crossed the A 6108 and then headed W along a track which took us to Lownethwaite Farm.\u00a0 We then crossed a field and into Whitecliffe wood where a good track through the trees continued NW until we emerged onto\u00a0 a nice grassed area next to the river.\u00a0 \u00a0Although not the RoW, it provided good walking until we rejoined the RoW a bit further on.\u00a0 This was quite an attractive part of the walk next to the river although the very overcast sky did not help.\u00a0 As we headed W, I pointed out Whitcliffe Scar above us explaining that that was our route back to Richmond.\u00a0 Approaching Low Applegarth, the hard work started, as we started ascending the narrow tarmac road.\u00a0 While not too steep at first, as we entered the gully at Deepdale , the gradient became worse although the 3 “youngsters” seemed to have little problem.\u00a0 Eventually, near the top,\u00a0 we were able to turn off the road, climbing a short grassy slope onto a path alongside a stone wall.\u00a0 Following the path SW along the contour, I was able to get my breath back in time to take photos of Swaledale.\u00a0 Heading east along the Scar, we reached Willance’s Leap (search Google for info) and look up and down the dale although the sky was becoming quite dark by now as it was almost 3 pm on an already murky day.\u00a0 Crossing the wall at this point,\u00a0 we continued eastwards on barely visible paths and over stiles until the path swung SE and descended to High Leases.\u00a0 Here we joined a tarmac road and continued eastward until we reached the outskirts of Richmond.\u00a0 What is often a good view looking down to Richmond was unfortunately spoilt on this occasion due to the gloom.\u00a0 Once into Richmond we headed straight to the car park and the coaches after a good walk, somewhat spoilt by the dull day.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0Click on any photo to view full screen.\u00a0 \u00a0 Move through the gallery using the\u00a0 \u00a0<\u00a0 >\u00a0 arrows.<\/p>

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