Winskill

This is another walk I did a lot when I was very young, but I actually didn’t recognise it at all as I was walking – not until I got onto the bit I’ve done a few times in recent years, anyway.

I’m not hundred percent sure how much the name ‘Winskill’ refers to. There’s definitely a Winskill Farm, and a Winskill Stones Nature Reserve, which are both at the top of a little cliff/hill, which I want to call Winskill. There are signposts with just that on them, but I can’t find anything else indicating it’s an official name, and the signs could be pointing to the stuff at the top.

Smearsett Scar

Smearsett Scar is a small hill near Stainforth in North Yorkshire. It’s another of those walks I did a lot when I was a child, but I think it’s been over a decade since I last went up there.

I started from the carpark in Stainforth, and went the same way I go when I visit Stainforth Force. I left the carpark by a path leading under a road bridge, then to a track where I turned left and crossed the railway, before turning right as the track became a path.

Stainforth to Langcliffe

This is another walk I used to do a lot in my early childhood. Given it was right on my doorstep, it’s possibly the one I did most. I don’t think I even considered it a walk then; it was just something we did every few Saturday. I must have done it a few times over the years since, but every part of it was so familiar that’s it’s impossible to pinpoint any specific memories.

I know I haven’t done it in a long time, though I have done parts of it, some of which have been in other blog posts. To be honest, this wasn’t the whole walk I used to do either, because I guess adult me is lazier than child me was. But it’s most of it.

I started from Stainforth car park. A path leads out from here, going along a beck and under a road bridge into a picnic area. Then it goes up out of here, up to and over the railway, then alongside it to a very narrow road called Dog Hill Brow. I turned left and walked down here to Stainforth Bridge, which crosses the River Ribble.

Catrigg Force

Catrigg Force is a waterfall I used to visit a lot when I was a small child, but until a few days ago hadn’t been to in many, many years. It’s one of a number of waterfalls like that. I can’t say specifically how many because I remember only really random things about each one, and don’t know if some of those random things were at the same waterfall. What I remembered about Catrigg Force was a small cave I used to climb into.

It’s about a mile outside the village of Stainforth. I started from the village car park, and there’s a signpost to get you started. You head through the village, crossing Stainforth Beck by a set of large stepping stones, and then up a track leading out of the village.

You stick to this track for a long time, until eventually a little path signposted for the Force heads off to the left. Going along off this path, you come in sight of patch of woodland, with a gate leading into it. Head into here and along the path and you reach the waterfall.