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Route No. 205 - Tuesday 16 January 2007
Barden Bridge to Cavendish Pavillion
& return via the Strid
- 10km
River Wharfe, Wharfedale
Yorkshire Dales . . .
Map: OS
Explorer OL30 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western areas
Route
Map on 'Landranger' base from OS Open Space service
Open this route in Google Earth
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This
morning I met an old work colleague at Barden Bridge on
the River Wharfe (map ref. SE 052574). We took the footpath
on the western side of the river heading towards Bolton
Abbey.
After
about 1.5km the path climbs up into the woods and gives
a fine view down through the trees on to the Strid. This
is a cleft in the rocks over 10m deep and about 2.5m wide
at its narrowest, through which the entire River Wharfe
passes. Needless to say, people have regularly lost their
lives here over the years. The turbulence is such that
once in the water there is no escape.
Left:
River Wharfe from the woodland path on the eastern bank
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River Wharfe from the woodland path on the eastern bank
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River Wharfe from the woodland path on the eastern bank
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Looking down on the Strid from the woodland path on the
eastern bank of the River Wharfe |
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River Wharfe near the Cavendish Pavillion Cafe |
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About
2km downstream of the Strid we came to a bridge over the
river to the Cavendish Pavillion Cafe. We called in the
cafe for a coffee and then set off back up stream on the
eastern side of the river. It's a very pleasant path through
the woodland and we had another good view of the Strid
from this side of the river.
Left:
Bridge over the Wharfe at the Cavendish Pavillion Cafe
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Hazel catkins in full bloom in January |
Ducks
sheltering in an eddy from the strong currents
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The Strid from the west bank on our way back |
River Wharfe looking toward Barden Tower |
Aqueduct over the River Wharfe
(There's a footpath over it too)
About
500m upstream of the Strid is a stone aqueduct bridge
carrying a large watermain over the river. Just above
the aqueduct we saw a dipper on a rock close to our side
of the river. It's black with a prominent white breast
and just a fraction smaller than a blackbird.
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The rock where we first saw the dipper |
We stopped and watched for a while because the river was
well above its summer levels and running quite fast. After
a few moments it hopped under the water as dippers do to
hunt for lavae under the stones on the river bed. After
about 30 seconds it bobbed up again about 20m downstream
a few metres out from the bank in a fast current. It simply
fluttered its wings to regain control and dived under again.
It did this several times and then flew back up stream past
us and began the process again. I have never seen a dipper
working in this way from the surface of the river. In the
past they have always worked from a rock in the river, but
this little bird seemed to be perfectly happy working from
the surface of the water amongst the fast currents like
a tiny black and white duck. We were soon back at Barden
bridge. The 7km walk had taken us almost two and a half
hours including our cafe stop We both headed home for some
lunch, in my case to see my little grand daughter, and my
wife of course who is amused by the way our 2 year old grand
daughter has me wrapped around her finger..
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Barden Bridge on our return - it hadn't changed much |
