Riverside Walk - Hawkswick to Arncliffe

Walking at Malham left me exhausted, but being only in Yorkshire for two full days I didn't want to spend much time sitting around resting, so next day we started with a gentle amble beside the Skirfare river and back along a quiet road (as recommended by our AirBnB host); three miles there and back.

Just upstream of Hawkswick the river is crossed by this pedestrian bridge, and from there a path follows the water, then crosses sheep pasture, before returning to the river before Arncliffe.

It's an easy enough path to follow, flat and undemanding but some of the stiles and a smaller footbridge could be tricky with fully laden rucksacks.

 

At the end of April the water level was low and the river flowing slowly, but some recently carved 'cliffs' showed how furious it could be in spate. 

From the open fields the path moves back to the riverside, following it into Arncliffe by the church.

Arncliffe's a small village with  relatively few houses surrounding an enormous open green space. Maybe this was once a village green, or perhaps a market place? Now, it's planted round the edges with daffodils, and diagonally cut by the road. 

There's a pub (too busy unfortunately for an outside lunch) and a couple of interesting bridges - a single span over Cowside beck, and a larger one over the Skirfare. 

Our route back took us over the latter, across a field with views across the river to the church, and then along the quieter of the two roads which run up the valley.

It was really peaceful, with just a couple of cars and a cyclist passing us, but one of those roads where you need to remember to turn round and look at the views in both directions.

At first the road was flanked by open sheep pasture but as we neared Hawkswick it was lined with blackthorn bushes, still in flower this far north, and banks of primroses and bluebells.

It was a pleasant not-too-energetic walk to stretch my legs, and leave me fit for further ambling later in the day.