Self-Guided Walk
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill
This is a hard walk to the summit of Ingleborough. There are outstanding views from the top and
on the descent the famous pot hole of Gaping Gill can be viewed with care, and the Ingleborough
show cave visited. The final section is through the beautiful Clapdale Woods with many trees and
plants brought back from the Himalayas by the renowned botanist Reginald Farrar who was at
one time the owner of most of Clapham.
David Butcher, route researcher
Key Information
Distance: 10.8 miles (17.3km)
Time: allow 6 hours plus stops
Route Grading:
Start & Finish: In Clapham village the large public pay and display car park is to the right of the road which runs up the right
hand side of Clapham Beck. It is next to toilets and a cafe
Distance
Km
0.8
Miles
0.5
Directions
Photographs
From Clapham car park turn right. Follow lane north
through village to reach church. In front of church turn
right and then left in front of the gates of Ingleborough
Hall and follow public bridleway (signpost Austwick).
Continue on track ascending under 2 tunnel-like
bridges to reach at the end of a wood on the left the
junction of Long Lane & Thwaite Lane (A).
Ingleborough
Tunnel-like bridge
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill – Page 2
Distance
Km
3.2
Miles
Directions
2.0
Turn left at signpost along double walled Long Lane &
follow to gate (B).
6.1
3.8
10.2
6.4
Pass thro’ gate & bearing right ascend green
track/footpath, through another gate and at a wall
corner first bear right and then left to reach a Pennine
Bridleway post. Bearing right rise up on the green track
and follow other marker posts then bearing left to follow
a wall on the right and reach Sulber Gate with views of
Pen y ghent over to the right. Through the gate go
straight ahead eventually reaching a crossroads of
footpaths at Sulber Nick (C).
Turn left at the signpost at C (Ingleborough 2½ mls) &
ascend a green and muddy and at times stony path
through gates, past a ruined building. Towards the
summit the path rises more steeply and some use of
hands is advisable. Walk forwards across the summit
plateau to reach the trig point and stone seating with a
windbreak of walls on the summit (D). From here take
care otherwise you may find yourself descending to
Ingleton necessitating a few miles of road walking
Photographs
Signpost
Gate
Wall corner
Gate
Signpost
Stone seating
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill – Page 3
Distance
Km
11.6
12.9
13.4
Miles
7.2
8.0
8.4
Directions
Photographs
Retrace steps for 300m (heading towards Pen-yGhent in the far distance) and over the ruined stone
ramparts to the edge of the summit plateau then turn
sharp right to join a path narrow at first initially around
the edge, and then follow the good path south
descending to Little Ingleborough (E). Beware
compass readings on the summit may be
misleading because of the magnetic rocks
Ruined stone ramparts
Now descend bearing left down engineered steps and
bearing left again at a fork of paths at the bottom to
view Gaping Gill (F).
Beware this is a 365ft deep shaft and you must not
approach the edge.
Path
Gaping Gill
Double ladder stile
Stile
Rejoining the main path follow it south & in 400m reach
double ladder stile and turn right (G)
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill – Page 4
Distance
Km
15.0
17.3
Directions
Miles
9.4
Photographs
Keeping wall on right descend through Trow Gill
Gorge - beware slippery rocks - to reach
Ingleborough Show Cave on right (H). If it is open the
show cave is worth a visit (toilets for visitors) and there
is a shop with refreshments
Trow Gill Gorge
Ingleborough Show Cave
Nature Trail
Ticket machine
Follow the privately owned Nature Trail (Clapdale
Drive) through Clapdale Wood to pass man-made lake
10.8 & exit the Ingleborough Estate (paying a nominal
charge at the ticket machine provided) to reach
Clapham car park .
Local Information
Refreshments: Tea shops at Ingleborough Cave and in Clapham next to car park - check opening times in morning. The
pub is the New Inn.
Facilities: There are toilets in Clapham next to car park.
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill – Page 5
Places of Interest:
• Clapham means homestead on the noisy stream (from the Old English: claepe – noisy stream; ham – homestead). It is a
fine traditional stone built Dales village with a good example of an ancient pack-horse bridge. The parish church has a
15th century tower. The surrounding scenery of woods, fields, and moors has been shaped over 200 years by the Farrer
family. Their former home, Ingleborough Hall, stands above the village.
• Thwaite Lane is part of an ancient route connecting Fountains Abbey with its many interests towards the West,
particularly the upland sheep farms which were a source of wealth as a result of the wool they produced. The route is an
extension of probably the best example of a 'green lane' in the whole of the Dales - Mastiles Lane between Malham and
Wharfedale. Long Lane connects Clapham and Selside and then ran northwards towards Gearstones connecting with
other routes heading for Hawes and other parts of Wensleydale. The route had probably originated further south, perhaps
from Sawley Abbey. The old roads nearly always followed the drier routes of the limestone, necessitating quite an
amount of ascent and descent.
• Gaping Gill & Ingleborough Cave – Beneath the slopes of Ingleborough are deep potholes and a honeycomb of
passages. At Gaping Gill pothole, Fell Beck goes underground on its way to Ingleborough Cave. The Beck drops 365ft
from the moor into pothole, Britain's 2nd largest known cave. The fall of the Beck is Britain's highest unbroken waterfall.
Gaping Gill was first descended in 1895. The Ingleborough cave has been a show cave since 1837 when it was first
discovered and made accessible by James Farrer.
• Ingleborough – The name comes from Old English meaning “The fort on the peak” (ingel – peak; burh - fort). It is one of
the famous Three Peaks (Whernside and Pen-y-ghent being the others), and is climbed by over 150,000 people every
year. Ingleborough plateau has an often missed panorama plate on the summit shelter. Other remains are those of a
hospice tower built in 1830, then destroyed shortly afterwards, Roman walls around the perimeter, and a fort, part of the
defence system built by Venutius, a Brigante chief, to keep out the Romans!
• Ingleborough Hall began its life in 1807 as an architect’s drawing, with final completion of the main buildings, stables,
tunnels and nearby lake accomplished by 1841. During this period the Farrer family made considerable changes to the
Ingleborough and Gaping Gill – Page 6
northern part of Clapham village. The London based Farrer family, owners of the vast Ingleborough Estate, used the Hall
originally as a shooting lodge or country house until they moved north to Clapham in the early 1930's.
• During the Second World War the Hall became home to evacuated prep school children and in 1952 it was sold to the old
West Riding of Yorkshire to be run as a residential school. In the early 1970's a consortium of nearby Local Education
Authorities took over and the Hall began its present life as an outdoor education centre. It is currently owned by the City
of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
• The Lake is artificial, created when the Farrers dammed the beck. It is up to 15m deep, holds 15 million gallons of water
and provides power to the water turbine at the Sawmill. In 1896 water power was harnessed in a small generator,
providing one light to each house in the village. The lake also used to provide the village with its water supply.
Please Note: All self-guided walks and cycle rides are undertaken entirely at guests’ own risk. Route directions are supplied in good faith;
however HF Holidays cannot be held responsible for any errors contained within.
Newfield Hall, Airton BD23 4AA. T: 01729 830235
© HF Holidays Ltd, January 2015
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