A Walk From Settle To Scaleber Foss

Steep Slopes In Settle

Settle is not a place to drive but almost every place seems to have a unique construction, in the centre every house, shop and whatever is a different construction. Settle is full of steep hills which must really test the handbrakes of parked cars, but these can be navigated but must be hellish for someone who is disabled or unfit. Even I feel it when I am walking back to April Cottages from the Co-Op via Robin Hill.

I also walk up to Castleberg Crag, which is another steep climb made more difficult by some large steps and soil paths that get slippy in the rain but it is so worth it for the view of Settle that you get to the top, where the flagpole is flying a Ukrainian Flag at this moment in time.

The Walk To Scaleber Foss

I think I have done this walk three times and the although Scaleber Foss is a small waterfall it still impresses me and I love spending time around Scaleber Woods. My friend Patricia tells me that Foss is Scandinavian for Waterfall. I see it referred to as Scaleber Foss, Scaleber Force, Scaleber Fall and probably more.

The distance is about a mile and a half from April Cottage where I stay and after a quarter of a mile, there is an ominous sign that says the gradient I will be walking will be twenty per cent that's a one-foot rise for every five feet you walk. After about a mile it sort of levels off and becomes a little less hard to walk.

The first time I tried to find it I made the mistake of using Google Maps and ended up halfway across a very wet field before giving up and returning to the road. Continuing along the road I heard a distant roar from a group of trees and knew that I was on the track to see Scaleber Foss.

When I got there I met some nice people who took a picture of me against the Foss, there is a significant drop from the path to the water so you need to be careful, but since then I have sort of got the hang of taking selfies with my phone using the timer.

I took photos and videos and shared them on Social Media, and then made my way back. On the way down, which I found almost as difficult as the way up, I met two guys who were older than me, I think, actually riding up the one-in-five road, I told them I only just did it walking. They laughed, but I was very impressed with them.

The second time I did this was after my first cancer operation and I didn’t think I would be able to do it. The problem is that it is a long steep road and there is not really anywhere to rest for a while, although I ended up leaning against a dry stone wall for a while before continuing on. It really helped that this time I knew where I was going, so when I hit the top of the rise and saw Scaleber Wood I knew that I would get there.

This week was my third time, and though the walk is hard, you do get some great views of the town of Settle and the surrounding countryside as you walk up, plus there are a lot of sheep that often come to the gate to see you.

This time I took a few selfies, there was no one to take a picture of me, but I followed the road to see the water source of the Foss which comes down off the moor and is a remarkably small stream to be the source of such a powerful waterfall.

Conclusion

I expect to be back again next year and will keep walking to ensure that I can once again take a walk to Scaleber Foss. I included Black Sabbath's "Hard Road" from "Never Say Die" as those two titles encapsulate the feeling I get from this walk and it is my favourite Black Sabbath song.

You can see loads of Instagram posts here.

Here are a few more places around Settle.