Guided Walking with Sightseeing at Sedbergh

Up to 5 miles with some ascent.

Each day’s guided walking and sightseeing will be selected from the following provisional programme.

Admission fees are not included in the cost of your holiday; please allow £30.  If you have a National Trust card, remember to bring it along.

Scout Scar, Sizergh Castle and Gardens

We begin above the Lyth Valley and walk along the broad escarpment of Scout Scar with its dramatic views down to the valley below. We will see across the Kent estuary to Arnside with Morecambe Bay beyond. Leaving the Scar we descend gradually, passing the tiny church at Helsington before continuing on to Sizergh Castle, the home of the Strickland family for over 760 years.

Distance: 3½ miles with 100ft of ascent.

The River Lune, Kirkby Lonsdale and the White Scar Caves

We follow Barbon Beck down towards the River Lune. Along lanes and footpaths to Kirkby Lonsdale with historical links dating back to 1086, we pass through Casterton, a village well known for its association with the Bronte sisters. The coach then takes us to the famous White Scar Caves for an 80 minute tour exploring a massive ice age cavern more than 200,000 years old.

Distance: 4¾ miles with 180ft of ascent.

Swaledale and Hawes

Swaledale is the most northerly of the Yorkshire Dales characterised by the number of barns in fields along the dale. After viewing East Gill Force near Keld, we follow a path through woodland and meadows to Muker, a small village on the site of a settlement dating back to Viking times. The coach takes us over the pass into Hawes, the main town in Wensleydale, stopping to view the Butter Tubs - two groups of deep potholes on either side of the road. You can visit the creamery at Hawes where the famous Wensleydale cheese is made, the rope factory or the Dales Countryside Museum where you can travel through 10,000 years of life in the dales.

Distance: 4½ miles with 260ft of ascent.

Oxclose Road to Bolton Castle and Aysgarth Falls

From the tiny hamlet of Woodhall a short ascent takes us onto Oxclose Road, an ancient track high above Wensleydale. We follow this track to Bolton Castle, a massive fortress built in 1397, and where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned during 1568 and 1569. After visiting the castle and grounds the coach will pick us up and take us to view Aysgarth Falls, where the river tumbles over limestone rocks in a deeply wooded valley.

Distance: 4½ miles with 260ft of ascent.

Dentdale and Kendal

We walk along the banks of the River Rawthey before passing through the hamlet of Millthrop, and into the lovely valley of Dentdale as far as Dent, where there will be time to look around the village and visit the church. The coach takes us to the historic market town of Kendal. Here there is a choice of places to visit: Abbott Hall, one of Britain’s finest small art galleries, or one of the museums. There is also the famous Quaker Tapestry, a visual chronicle of Quaker life through the centuries.

Distance: 5½ miles with 200ft of ascent.