The original plan last weekend was to make the most of the beautiful sunshine we were treated to on Sunday with a trip to the Lakes to bag a few more Wainwrights. However, waking up on Sunday morning Coal, one of our dogs, had ‘Swimmers Tail’ and was feeling extremely sorry for himself, so we decided that he could probably do with a day of rest and relaxation at home. Therefore we didn’t venture too far afield, not wanting to leave him alone all day, and instead opted for a quick walk taking in Spring in Nidderdale.
Sam found a route for us on the OS Maps app, a circular stroll of around four and a half miles starting from the tiny village of Wath. Parking is free in a small parking area just over the bridge after you’ve driven past the pub.
Crossing the road to set off, the walk follows grassy field tracks and climbs uphill for the first twenty minutes or so of the walk. I’m never quite ready to believe that spring has sprung, so I was a little overdressed with a thick fleece and thermal trousers, but at least I’d left my down jacket at home! After a while you reach a quiet road which leads you to another footpath, where you soon join the Nidderdale Way for a short time.
The views at the start of the walk are very good, with lots of classic Yorkshire Dales features including drystone walls galore. We also met lots of very new lambs tottering around in several of the fields, which was adorable – please remember if you’re a dog owner to be extra vigilant for livestock and extra careful at this time of year.
Shortly after joining the Nidderdale Way we left it, dropping down into the bustling town of Pateley Bridge. Pateley always seems inordinately busy to me, but it’s a popular little place with both locals and tourists, and a good option if you want to stop off for a tea break on your walk. It’s also supposedly home to England’s oldest sweet shop for anyone with a sweet tooth!
From Pateley, you pick up a footpath which takes you along the river back to Wath, although it took us a few attempts to actually find the footpath (the footpath sign was hidden by a parked car). This section is almost completely flat and was a great way to finish off the walk for my tired legs! We did start to see a few more people along here, possibly because it was later on by this point or because we were closer to Pateley Bridge, but either way it still wasn’t what I’d deem a busy walk.
Dog friendly rating – 3/5. For most of this walk, dogs absolutely need to be kept on leads, as you’re continually walking through fields with sheep and lambs. You may also come across horses. There are plenty of stiles to navigate to get from field to field, but these are all the kind which are built into walls and easy enough to get dogs over. The final leg along the river does start off along a riverside path which is fenced off from the surrounding fields, so there is at least one opportunity to let your dog off if you wish to do so. The section of road walking was so quiet that we didn’t see any cars, and the traverse of Pateley Bridge makes use of pavements.
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