It was going to be quite a short days walk to Newton Grange (near Gargrave) today, and so that I didn’t arrive too early I had a late breakfast. There was less incentive to get going as the sun was hidden behind clouds and there was a chill in the easterly wind.

I was soon walking briskly out of Cowling, trying to keep warm, and out onto higher ground – which gave good views back to the monuments on the hill to the south, which are perhaps worthy of a visit another time.

As I continued further north into the village of Lothersdale it was becoming apparent that I had left the high peat moorland behind for a while and was starting to walk further into the Yorkshire Dales limestone landscape.

There was a bit of low moorland to be crossed (Thornton Moor) but it was fairly tame in comparison to Bleaklow Moor and I was soon back into another lush green valley near Thornton-in-Craven.

The Pennine Way around here makes use of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which provided some good walking and a chance to sit down at a nice café at East Marton, just after the double bridge.

By now the clouds had thinned out and it was a lovely day, provided you could find a little shelter from the strengthening wind. It was only just lunchtime, so I made use of the facilities at East Marton, and nearly drank them dry of tea as the B&B was only a mile or so further on.

I considered tying my shoelaces together, to slow my progress a little, but thorough better of it and got about to writing some postcards before taking the longer route to the B&B by meandering along the canal towpath.

Center of map

Route

More photos (from all the days of walking) can be found in the photo gallery.