Tea trek

WE did this toddle in a fine evening after a longer walk nearby in the southern Dales. Supper was our main objective, and as the pub at Linton is on the Inn Way we felt there was no way they could balk at our boots, scented socks, sacks and general grubbiness.

Timing was of the essence, we were out and about on the stay-at-home and watch-the-telly Bank Holiday, but quite a lot of others were as well.

So we planned to park somewhere else, walk to the pub and hopefully hit the lull between afternoon parties and evening guzzlers.

Linton Falls made an appetising start. We stood on the bridge right above the crashing water.

Upstream of the weir the River Wharfe was glassy smooth with rising trout and cruising ducks, down river the water boiled amongst the smooth white rocks.

A little wander took us over a packhorse bridge (with later squeezer) over a pasture to tailgate other tourists to the upper weir. Children bathed off a shingle beach.

A few pastures next, a kestrel stooped for something, cows munched, contented, we ambled into the setting sun and up a little hill and across the abandoned railway line a couple of times which pumped up the appetite a bit.

A spring was negotiated and a beech copse, and a roe deer stood still and camouflaged in tussocks of grass by a stream. Then we entered famously pretty Linton.

The last picnickers on the green were packing up rugs and guitars and a visitor reversed his oblong shaped and silver family transporter into a local's burnt orange MG Midget.

We had a quick gander at the 1721 faade of Fountains Hospital which is a possible Vanbrugh design, then peeled off our boots and got a table for an early sitting supper, packed our rucksacks on an empty chair and chomped away for half an hour at the Fountaine Inn. Like the cows, content.

Replete, we crossed Linton Beck, and left the houses and barns. On the way back is a camp of abandoned long and low wooden huts.

They were obviously institutional, like a prototype Butlins, or scouts or perhaps military.

I inquired at Grassington Tourist Information Centre and was told that they were built in about 1940 by the Bradford authority for "delicate children", presumably clean air for those suffering from the then very grimy towns. I thought of asylum seekers.

The last leg was blessed with nice sunset views of distant hills and a bird's-eye angle down onto an s-bend of the Wharfe and the church there. An alley full of aromatic sweet cicely finished the walk, except for one last linger at the falls.

Fact file

Distance: Three miles.

Time: An hour and a half.

General Location: Southern and Western Dales National Park

Start: Linton Falls car park, Linton.

Right of Way: The complete route is along public rights of way.

Date walked: Saturday 1 June 2002.

Road Route: From Grassington over the river, immediately left, then right. Follow sign to Linton Church.

Car Parking: £2 for more than 1 hr.

Lavatories: Car Park.

Refreshments: Pub at Linton. Grassington nearby.

Tourist & Public Transport Information: Grassington National Park Centre Tel: 01756 752774.

Map: Based on OS Explorer OL2 Yorkshire Dales southern and western areas.

Terrain: Pastures around village.

Points of interest: Waterfall. Pub on route.

Difficulty: Easy/moderate (stiles).

Dogs: Suitable.

Weather Forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1 Left along road from car park, steps on right after house (signed). Right for look at falls and return to small stone packhorse bridge, path across pasture, beside river, through trees. Left to road.

2 After schoolyard, gate on right to track. Over disused railway. Dog-leg right across road to squeezer, path across pasture, stile and footbridge and diagonally across field, under disused railway.

3 Path by wall/fence, gate and left to path into Linton, right to road, left and pass pub, left to cross green and river, right to road.

4 Fieldgate and left between house and barn at end of road, 150 yards (fieldgates) on track, ladderstile on left and straight on (maintaining height) to gated stile (near tree). Straight on by barn, stile, ladderstile, stile and immediately left, 50 yards, gate and dog-leg right across road.

5 Squeezer into field, diagonally across it, squeezer, squeezer by barn. Squeezer by fieldgate to walled path down to road then left to road.

Click here to view a map of the walk

Updated: 09:18 Saturday, June 22, 2002