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Five Walks For History

Five Walks for Harrogate History

Date Posted: Tuesday 16th May 2023

Put one foot in front of the other and explore Yorkshire’s heritage with these five walks across the Harrogate area. From the ancient right of sanctuary to the Victorian industries that shaped a dales town, the history of our civilisation can be traced through the marks left on our countryside. Immerse yourself in the captivating Harrogate history.

Similarly the story of a town can be told through its buildings, they tell how a town came to be, help us imagine the railway that once ran across its streets, or the many and varied uses that some of the more iconic buildings have been put to over the years.

Or walk the ancient route between two significant places of worship, following a path trodden by countless feet, over hundreds of years.

Cathedral in the sun Ripon City Council 823796846

Sanctuary Way – Ripon

The Sanctuary of Ripon was created by King Athelstan in 937, and to tell travellers they were within one mile of the Cathedral, eight stone markers were placed on each of the main thoroughfares into the city.

All but one of these stone crosses have now been lost, but their locations have been mapped into this walking route with three options from three to ten miles. Starting the seat of the sanctuary, the striking Ripon Cathedral this walk takes in riverside paths, woodland and open fields.

Sanctuary Way Walking Trail

Prosperous Lead Mines - Ladies Riggs and Ashfoldside Moorland Walk

Enjoy this Nidderdale classic of a walk as it explores a hidden little valley full of curiosity. Coming in at under seven miles this is a wonderful and easy to follow walk setting off from Pateley Bridge.

The walk takes in the old coaching house of Eagle Hall, an impressive and dominant building that is now a collection of private residences. Then a gentle winding track connects numerous farmsteads and an ancient woodland.

The most striking feature comes at the halfway point of the walk, as you descend through the abandoned Prosperous Lead Mines, weaving through the numerous spoil heaps, down to the remains of the wheelhouse that once ran the pumps. Nidderdale has seen several phases of industry over its years, but the one that left the most visible scars was probably the lead mining of the 1800s.

The return walk will follow the track used to take the lead back to Pateley Bridge, passing the mill where the lead was smelted.

Ladies Riggs and Ashfoldside Moorland Walk

Harrogate Heritage Plaque Walks

Harrogate is a town that was created with impressive buildings of status, coming of age during the 17^th and 18^th centuries as British engineering began to allow more impressive civic buildings to be constructed in the newly expanding towns.

As Britain entered the industrial revolution and more people had money to spend, Harrogate responded with large hotels and a variety of buildings dedicated to providing visitors with the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the town’s mineral-rich spring waters.

Over the years 93 plaques have been placed by the Harrogate Civic Society to mark the significant buildings in the town’s history, both those that are still standing and those that were lost to progress during a time of relentless change and progress.

Harrogate Heritage Plaque Trails

Ripon & Fountains Abbey Walk

A magnificent cathedral and the immense scale of Fountains Abbey in its heyday made Ripon an immense centre of power for many years. It is impossible not to walk between the two and be aware of this history.

As you enter the Studley Royal estate a long straight avenue leads up the hill to the church, and if you turn around to look behind you it also lines up directly with the Cathedral.

This is no chance, but an intentional use of landscape and focus by the same family who cared for the estate at the time of the church's construction.

Ripon & Fountains Abbey Walk

Scot Gate Ash Quarry

Our second walk exploring the industrial history of Pateley Bridge and Niddedale covers the opposite northern side of the valley.

Beginning at the bottom of the high street where there was once a level crossing connecting Nidderdale's two railways this walk features some steeper more serious climbs but rewards you for them with magnificent views across the dale. As you leave the town it is well worth stopping to explore the ruins of the town's first, and smaller church - St Mary's.

HARR FP Gallery Home Large Nidderdale Gouthwaite from Silver Hill spring min 256397420

The walk then visits the quarry that fed slabs of Yorkshire stone of incredible quality onto an inclined railway to journey down the hill and be loaded it onto trains for use across the country. It was said that no other stone could be shaped into such wide flagstones of such shallow depth. Flagstones from the quarry were used at Victoria Station in London.

Having made your way back down to the valley floor you will enjoy a gentle riverside walk that brings you back to town and follows alongside the route of the second of Nidderdales lost railways, the Nidderdale Light Railway that once ran all the way up the valley to Scar House Reservoir.

Scot Gate Ash walking route