Pry House to Keld via Ravenseat and the C2C Path
A walk from the doorstep of the farmhouse.
Its sometimes nice to put your pack on your back, leave the car behind and let your feet do the walking. This walk from Pry House Farm follows the road to Ravenseat Farm and then picks up the Coast to Coast footpath to Keld. Varied and diverse, it has become one of my favourites.
Head west from Pry House Farm and turn right signposted Ravenseat. This is a quiet, single track road and easy walking.
After a mile and a quarter Ravenseat Farm and hamlet comes into view. Walk over the stone, packhorse bridge. Instead of walking up to the farm follow the path right towards Ravenseat Cottage.
Walk over the wooden footbridge. As you approach Ravenseat Cottage there is a fingerpost signposted Tan Hill and Keld.
Through the hinged gate and you are on the Coast to Coast footpath to Keld.
This is an easy walk to navigate as it is well signposted with stiles, gates for walkers, fingerposts, yellow waymarkers and several sections of flagged paths which have been laid by the Yorkshire Dales Rangers to prevent erosion of the peat paths. Fabulous - no maps needed!
See Whitsundale Beck rushing along to meet the River Swale.
A little further along keep a look out for Hoggarths and Pry House Farm. They are over to the right. I like to see the farms from this angle - they look completely different.
After walking through pastures and moorland on paths, track and sheep trods, after passing disused cow'uses and derelict houses the track drops down past Smithy Holme.
Shortly after Smithy Holme and as the track drops steeply, keep a sharp look out for a post with waymarker signs and a sign for Frith Lodge Bed & Breakfast both directing you left.
This next section of the walk is the most intriguing and the most exciting. The path is directly above the huge limestone scarr that rises above the river from Wainwath to the Old Smithy. What you see and what you experience depends on the season.
From beating a track through a jungle of giant bracken ....
....... to enjoying the autumn colours
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| A glimpse of the river through a fracture in the limestone. |
A cluster of brightly painted toadstools; a feast for the imagination, a fairytale in the making.
The path finishes half way up Silver Hill (the twisty, helter skelter hill that goes up to Tan Hill). From here take the footpath directly opposite to East Stonesdale then down to Kisdon Force and up the steep path into Keld village.
Alternatively where the path meets Silver Hill turn right down the hill and at the junction with the B6270 turn left signposted Keld. In Keld you will find the Keld Countryside & Heritage Centre, an unmaned visitor centre with some names and places you may recognise! Keld has both a winter and summer tearoom and public loos!
Pry House via Ravenseat and the path as described above is 4 1/2 miles. To return to Pry House by the road is 2 miles.
If you prefer a more scenic route back to Pry House then I suggest you walk onto Angram and take the moorland path back to Hoggarth Bridge. In Angram, at the telephone box, walk up the lane a short way. Look out for a fingerpost on your right pointing you in the right direction.
Click on the link http://pryhousefarm.blogspot.com/2020/07/a-walk-from-pry-house-farm-b-doorstep.html for details but don't forget this blog describes the walk from Hoggarths Bridge to Angram and you are doing it in reverse! However it will give you an idea of the lie of the land and like most walks if you follow the tracks and stiles - you can't go far wrong. Enjoy!
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