Grass Wood, Ghaistrill's Strid & Linton Falls

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Route: Grassington, Cove Scar, Lea Green, Bastow Wood, Grass Wood, Ghaistrill's Strid, Linton Falls, Grassington

Date: 20/04/2019
From: Grassington

Parking: Overflow car park west of Grassington
Start Point: Grassington
Region: Yorkshire Dales

Route length: 6.0 miles (9.6km)
Time taken: 3:50
Average speed: 2.3mph
Ascent: 291m
Descent: 287m

Points of interest: Grass Wood, Ghaistrill's Strid, Linton Falls

On the hunt for some early spring flowers, we found ourselves heading to Grassington and the nearby Grass Wood, one of the largest broadleaved woodland areas in the Yorkshire Dales. It's easily accessible from Grassington, where we left the car for the day, bound for a short, 6-mile yomp around Wharfedale.

The Dales Way leaves Grassington

We followed the Dales Way out of Grassington and up towards Lea Green before taking a fork to the left that leads down to Bastow Wood. Bastow Wood, like several areas nearby, is listed as a SSSI specifically for its broadleaved woodland and calcareous grassland. Entering the wood, it was clear we were probably a few weeks early for any flowers, despite it feeling particularly summery.

Looking across to Grass Wood

The Dales Way at Cove Scar

Cove Scar and the path into Bastow Wood

Bastow Wood

Grass Wood is a large ash woodland with areas of exposed limestone which forms part of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Grass Wood Nature Reserve. We made our way through the woods, generally following a route downhill rather than any specific path. We rounded Far Gregory, which is signposted Fort Gregory in the wood.

Bastow Wood

Grass Wood

Wharfedale from Grass Wood

Grass Wood

Sara heads down towards the river

Far (or Fort) Gregory is a complex of stone-built enclosures on top of the Far Gregory ridge in Grass Wood was interpreted in the nineteenth century as a prehistoric fort and was wrongly presumed to have been built as a defensive structure by the native Brigantian tribe during the early decades of the Roman conquest. However, the defensive interpretation seems unlikely, given the fact that the site is overlooked by a higher part of the ridge. Nonetheless, its position at the end of a ridge appears to have been carefully chosen.

We made our way down through the woods, weaving among the trees and grasses until we found ourselves in the lower woods next to the River Wharfe. A few more flowers seemed to be waking from their winter slumber in this lower, warmer part of the woods.

An early spring Bluebell

A smattering of bluebells

We proceeded to follow a path along the edge of the wood and back out to open pastures. Just a short distance further on we came to the large bend in the river that contains Ghaistrill’s Strid.

The River Wharfe at Kirk Bank

Lower Grass Wood

The River Wharfe

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Ghaistrill's Strid is a narrow, fast-flowing section of the River Wharfe located on a sweeping bend in the river. It's a popular spot with many people to swim in the river or admire it from the banks as we did. It's not as well known as The Strid further downstream.

River Wharfe

Ghaistrill's Strid

Ghaistrill's Strid

Ghaistrill's Strid

Ghaistrill's Strid

Some of the Wharfe's watery inhabitants

Continuing on from Ghaistrill’s Strid we followed the riverbank to Grassington Bridge and onwards to reach Linton Falls a short distance across some open fields. Given the warm, dry weather the falls were looking less than impressive as they fall over the limestone ledges below Tin Bridge.

Grassington Bridge

Grassington Bridge

The hydroelectric weir

Linton Falls

The River Wharfe above Linton Falls

We returned to Grassington along the narrow Sedber Lane where we enjoyed some well-earned refreshments in one of the local pubs. It would be a shame not to on such a fine day.