How to get there

From East Lancashire the best route is from Settle along to the Ribblehead viaduct and then turning right through Hawes and then onto Aysgarth. From the A684 take a minor road over the river Ure to reach the village of Carperby where there is plenty of street parking at this time of the year.

The walk

Did I make the mistake in this column a couple of weeks ago by saying that “spring had sprung”? I was wrong! I did this stroll on Monday 13 May and got caught twice in a hailstorm.

This stroll to the Aysgarth falls has been trodden by artists and photographers as well as film makers. It was around and across the falls which “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” and “Little John” were shot.

My Walk: At the Wheatsheef Inn look for a footpath sign to Aysgarth. Greta Garbgo (1905-1990) once stayed at this pub and so actors were in the best of company. Follow the Aysgarth sign through a gate and into a field. Follow the well signed track through fields to reach Low Lane which is very narrow.

Go left for a short distance and look for a gap in the wall.Here is sign marked Aysgarth Walk. Follow the track through fields to reach a gated stile into a wood. Descend and bear left to reach a pleasant little car park. Turn right here and follow another obvious signpost indicating Upper Falls. Here there is a packhorse bridge built in 1539. Veer slightly to the right along the river bank and then to the same area of car park.

Follow th footpath sign to reach the Lower Falls and close to the extensive visitors centre. This can be a busy place and I always spend some time there. It is, however, my reason for basing this walk around the much quiter Caperby. From the falls go left into Freeholders Wood. This is famous for its edible hazelnuts and is one of the few remaining sections of the ancient Forest of Wensleydale. This route provides some of the best views of the Middle and Lower Falls. This then takes you to a footpath marked first FP Castle Bolton and then another marked Redmire and Castle Bolton. Approach Hollins House. Hollins is the old name for a holly tree. Turn right along a track.

Bear left on a substantial track, ignore a footpath sign to the right and keep left over a cattle grid. You are now on the line of a long abandoned railway. Look out for a sign to Caperby village.

Turn right and through a gap in the wall and return to the starting point. In future walks I really do hope that in May I may have “something of a spring in my step”.