Wensley, Aysgarth Falls, Castle Bolton & Redmire circular walk in Wensleydale

Sunday 2nd June 2024

Walking Diary (All Walks) North Yorkshire & Co Durham Wensleydale

Wensley, Aysgarth Falls, Castle Bolton & Redmire circular walk in Wensleydale.

Finally we have some lovely weather - 2024 has been a washout so far and we're into June already.

I've just returned from a spell in New York (my sons wedding) and then a trip to Sicily (friends wedding), so I felt a bit rusty during todays walk and my right leg was hurting most of the day, so I hope that 2 weeks of beer, red wine and good food hasn't had a damaging effect, especially with our big summer walk coming up.

In addition, my car has packed up too - so I had the luxury of my wife's lovely Lexus today, don't think I'll get away with that for long, so I'll have to get another one sharpish.

Anyway, today was amazing - a lovely walk in the rich, green and beautiful Wensleydale with loads of interesting places to visit and plenty of wildlife along the way. I'd purposefully avoided the countryside due to the constant wet weather this year and the couple of time we ventured onto the Cleveland Way we certainly encountered plenty of mud. But today was just right, the ground was reasonably dry and the surroundings were lush and green with the sun beating down all day long - Perfect.

The information contained in the material on this Website is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice.
Distance: 14.4 miles
Duration: 6:00 hours
Ascent: 1332 ft
Difficulty: Moderate/Hard
Accompanied By: On my Own
Weather: Hot & Sunny

3D outline of route

Parking

I parked up just in front of the Bolton Hall estate gates, there's spaces for half a dozen cars - I could get used to travelling in a nice new shiny car.

Holy Trinity Church, Wensley.

Crossing the River Ure by the busy road bridge on the A684.

Walking parallel to the River Ure, the path is initially within woodland.

Every so often, the river can be reached.

Bolton Bridge, which seems to only serve the Bolton Estate on the other side.

Out of the woodland and into the sun

It was so nice here, I stopped for 15 minutes, had a drink and sat on the riverbank watching the wagtails and sandpipers.

Sinkhole, crater, drumlin ?? Any ideas ?

Redmire Force.

The path gained some height, but was never too far from the river.

Now these were tempting - I almost changed my route and headed over to the other side, but fortunately I stuck to my original plan and kept south of the river for now.

Stunning Wensleydale meadows.

Out of the woods and suddenly the Church of St Andrew at Aysgarth appeared.

I treat myself to an ice cold lemonade and had another break at the cafe just across the way from this church.

The iconic view of the Upper Falls at Aysgarth.

It was extremely busy at Aysgarth falls, I couldn't face fighting my way down to the Middle Falls to get a photo, so I went to the Lower Falls instead, still busy but a little bit more space.

After Aysgarth, I followed the path towards Castle Bolton.

There is a small section of road walking, which can be avoided if preferred - but then its back into the fields.

I've seen this before - Impressive.

Now to find somewhere for lunch.

Bolton Castle was built between 1378 and 1399.

What a lovely setting to enjoy my BLT and buttered scone.

Time to press on and find a path to Redmire - This is helpful.

Arriving at Redmire - The pub was tempting, but since I was on my own I pressed on, it wouldn't have taken much to persuade me to have a beer.

After Redmire, I headed towards West Wood and then Bolton Hall Estate.

There's the hall itself.

And back through the gates to my car (well not really my car !) - lets hope I have my own by the time I create my next blog.