A-Walking: from Ripley to Ripon via Fountains Abbey

Our three walks on Sunday, 21st October, each took place in the Nidderdale area of North Yorkshire. Both the A-walk and the B-walk set off from Ripley while the C-walk started from South Stainley. All of the walks finished in Ripon.
 
The A-walk was led by Philip Barker (pictured below). There were nine members in the group.
Our 17-mile route took us from Ripley to Sadler Carr, Whipley Hall and Shaw Mills - where we joined the Nidderdale Way. We left this long-distance footpath at Woodfield Mill and made our way north towards High Gill Moor where we changed to an easterly bearing. We stopped for a short lunch-break near Volla Wood Farm and then continued our easterly trek to reach the minor road at {SE 261 649}. Now changing back to a northerly bearing, we navigated a route to Sawley and then the footbridge over the River Skell at {SE 255 689}. From here we made our way to the Obelisk in Fountains Abbey - where we had a short tea-stop. The final part of our route took us to Whitcliffe Hall, Hell Wath Cottage and along the south bank of the River Skell into Ripon.
 
During the day the weather was somewhat 'mixed'. We set off at 10:33 am in quite heavy mist which cleared at times to reveal some nice blue sky. Naturally, the mist made navigation and photo taking quite difficult.
 
A selection of some of the photos that we took during today's walking expedition can be seen by clicking on the pink button below:

Credits:
Many thanks to Jane Thompson and Phil Barker for taking the photographs.
 

---