Lady Anne's Way 2019 Day 1

Sunday 13^th October 2019 Burnsall

I began the walk right from Embsay, rather than the official start at Skipton Castle, as I had done that initial first short section at the end of my first day of the Dales High Way 2 months prior (and also when I first walked Lady Anne's Way).  The day was drizzly, but the walk was all memories of the last time I had come this way. 

I had it in my mind that, this time, I would not get lost, twice, on the first day, like I did previously.  That resolve lasted for less than an hour or so, as I encountered Billy Bob’s yet again.  This time though, the signage was clear as to which way to go, it’s just I didn’t want to go that way.  Strangely, 6 months on, I now can’t recall why, and I’ve made no mention of it in my journal.  It was likely either that it was muddy, or that there was a ruddy great bull in the paddock.  Whatever it was, I scarpered and took the long way around, exactly like I had last time, although I did manage to turn, correctly, left out of the driveway this time.

After eventually leaving the road and veering perpendicularly away through fields and upward, the vista after cresting the line of hills was as marvellous as I had remembered, and I almost wanted to just stop and stay there for the rest of the day, but instead I walked down the slope to the road that would lead me to Barden Tower. 

Once I reached the river, I expected the ice cream truck to be there, as it had been on my two previous visits to Barden bridge, but this time it wasn’t.

The stocks in Appletreewick

It was relatively quick walking alongside the river, so I detoured to the Craven Arms in Appletreewick for a mid-afternoon sandwich and cider, before walking the short stretch to Burnsall and my BnB for the night, where I had stayed the previous year while walking the Dales Way.  After killing some time reading in my room, I wandered to the pub for a cheese board.

Day 2