The Herriot Way

Last week I headed up to Aysgarth to walk the Herriot Way. For those of you who may not have heard of this slightly lesser well known path, it is a circular walk of around 52 miles, taking in Hawes, Keld, Reeth and Aysgarth in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s a perfect route if you are walking alone due to the fact you can leave your car at the start and it’s there for you at the end, there’s no working out how to get back to where you left it.

The route is really lovely with lots of it alongside the River Swale or Ure. Day One took me from Aysgarth to the pretty market town of Hawes where they sell the most delicious ice cream. There is lots of accomodation here, and I chose the YHA which is about 400yards out of the town, and directly on the path for the next day’s start. It is a great break into a long distance walk, covering around 12 – 13 miles of relatively flat fields.

Day two is a harder day as it is up and over Shunner Fell which is the third highest peak in the Yorkshire Dales. It’s not particularly tricky as a climb but it is a non stop steady up hill. Unfortunately for me, this was the one day in just about the last three months, that there was rain, so I was layered up. The temperature, however, didn’t seem to drop much so it was a hot and very sweaty day. I think this day was the one that ‘nearly’ broke me. I’d had such a good start on day one and getting up to Shunner, whilst isn’t a walk in the park, wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. However, after walking for a couple of hours from the summit across the moors on flagstones (part of the Pennine way to preserve the moorland, but hurts your feet!), I arrived in a little village called Thwaite.

Being a Tuesday, nothing was open sadly, so no cold drinks, however, the village shop does have a drinking water tap outside to refill. Lucky I chose to do that as I hadn’t quite expected the next couple of hours to ‘hop’ over to Keld to be so demanding. At this point, the path climbs again, but there are some parts where the path is really narrow, close to the edge or erroded, so be warned. It takes you over the top of the moorland so you can come into Keld from the top. I thoroughly enjoyed the views from here. There is another route around the hill again, but this seemed extraordinarily long, so I chose up!

Keld is tiny! There is a campsite, a lodge and a bunkbarn, the latter being where I stayed. Keld bunkbarn is fantastic, Jim and Jill who run it, used to live about nine miles from me here in Northamptonshire! The welcome is so warm, there is a hot tub should you want to use it (it is extra), a waterfall and area where you can swim and the most delicious home cooked meals (order 24 hours in advance). Up to this point I had not gone short of any food. All the places I chose to stay in offered breakfasts, packed lunches and dinners, bar Grinton YHA which didn’t do a packed lunch (all at additional cost, but it did save the hassle of finding somewhere to get bits for the next day). I also met up with a couple from the Netherlands who were on the Coast to Coast so it was fun to spend an evening talking to people (rather than myself 😉 )

Day three takes in some of the most beautiful scenery as you come through the Swaledale valley if you choose to do the lower route, which I did. I think this was probably my favourite day until I got to Reeth. There is an upper route, but the weather was a little unpredictable so I felt I’d rather have the scenery guaranteed. Many people do say the lower route is preferable, prettier too. This was the only day where I did make a slight error with my route and had to do a short turnaround, but it wasn’t anything too serious. There was also one badly managed path that was quite overgrown so I got extremely soaked and needed to do a sock change as soon as I could. On arriving in Reeth I found a pub as the Youth Hostel check in was not until 5pm, so I had a couple of hours to kill, it meant I could savour a pint and write my diary. I also ran into the couple I was with at the Bunk Barn again so we caught up as this would be the last time our paths would cross as the Coast to Coast then goes on to Richmond whereas I began to turn back round to Aysgarth. Reeth has lots of places to stay, a couple of campsites I think, and at least three inns. I, however had chosen Grinton Lodge YHA.

Take this now as your warning: If you choose the YHA, who will have another 45minute – 1 hour walk out of Reeth and up the hill, probably a further 7-800 feet of climb and it’s on road too, so after a long 12 hour walk and wet feet, I rather wished I’d had a second pint or stayed in town!

The final day, again has two choices, a slightly shorter but less well marked route over the top of Grouse Butt from Grinton, or a longer route that takes you round the hill. I chose the up and over. I think of all the days the first third of this day is the most monotonous. There are two options, round the bottom of the moor, but I think I needed to return to Reeth to start this, or up and over the top. This day is the least well marked, but if you use Stuart Greig’s little pocket ‘Walking the Herriot Way’ book, he describes it really well and I think it would be hard to get lost unless there was really poor visability and then the longer route would be better.

Planning:

The Herriot Way as a route is not marked, however, the paths you use are well marked. You just need to know a landmark and there is likely a fingerpost with it named. There are sections where you are on the Pennine Way, much of Day two for example and the Coast to Coast, some of day three. As I mentioned, I used Stuart Greig’s book that you can get HERE and he also has a free print out of the map day by day. Of course, you can easily find it on a OS app, and to be honest, the signal isn’t bad, but I like to do it old style and use a map. I think it’s quite important to be able to know where you are going and look for landmarks. You can never be sure if your phone might run out of battery or get so cold it runs down too fast or even that you can’t get a signal. Stuart literally hands the route to you, it’s excellent.

What I took:

I chose to carry all my kit again in a 55 litre rucksack. There are sherpa services on this route if you want to walk with a day pack. They will literally pick up your kit from one hostel or hotel and deliver to your next. In my pack as I was walking alone I knew I needed to carry everything I needed, I didn’t have anyone to share the load with this time, so I needed to pack light. My kit included:

• Two pairs of 3/4 length walking trousers – these are really lightweight and despite getting soaked on day three, dried within the hour
• Two t-shirts
• One mid-layer
• One outer layer
• Four pairs of socks and four silks
• waterproof trousers
• All weather waterproof coat
• 2 thin pairs of lightweight trousers and 2 t-shirts for the evening so I didn’t stink
• microfibre towel (not all the hostels provided)
• sleeping bag liner
• pen knife
• first aid kit
• Boot laces
• Sit mat
• Loo roll and dog bags – I am not a ‘she-wee’ convert but equally, ladies…pick up your loo roll – there was a lot around!
• 2 metal water bottles – these were my heaviest items and I am in a really quandry about this. The metal keeps the water so cool and fresh and I do have a camel pac but it tastes plasticky and the water gets so warm against my back. I am not sure what the solution is really.
• Reading book – should have actually packed my kindle
• Crackers, wine gums (an absolute essential), Go Ahead bars
• Power pack and cables
• Cap
• Walking sandals – for the evening, but also just in case I ended up with a horrific blister and these were the only way to walk.
• Hiking Poles
• Really pared down wash bag – soap, wild deodorant (forgot a comb or shampoo!), lip salve and I ditched the suncream as the UV wasn’t going to be much above 2 and it was heavy.
• Oh and underwear – two bras…important cos last year I only took one and it was the worst thing putting on a sweaty wet one after having had a nice warm shower at the end of the day!

Where I stayed:

• Aysgarth Falls Hotel – at the start and end and I left my car there. £25 charge to do this, but they keep an eye.
• Hawes YHA
• Keld Bunkbarn
• Grinton Lodge YHA

Do make sure you book in advance and don’t take a chance. I can’t speak for the campsites, which didn’t appear busy, but the places I stayed were all full. Also be aware that taxis are few and far between and likely come from Richmond, so expensive. The Herriot way does take you into four well equipped towns, so it is advisable to book there and book early. Muker (near Keld) is also offered as an alternative pit stop for the end of Day 2.

Walking alone as a woman:

Finally, I want to respond to a few comments I had before I left and since I’ve come back. A lot of people seem to think that doing something like this alone, as a woman, is inherently ‘brave’. I don’t want to dismiss that feeling for anyone who genuinely does find it frightening, those emotions are real and valid. But I also want to reassure anyone who feels that fear is holding them back: I didn’t feel scared once.

Well, that’s not entirely true. On one day my coat, which was hanging off the back of my rucksack, got snagged on some undergrowth and made me jump. I suppose that tiny jolt revealed something deeper, that somewhere in me, a long‑learned story still expects a bogeyman in the bushes. And I think that’s part of the wider picture. As women, we often move through the world with a kind of background vigilance, even when nothing around us is actually unsafe. It’s not that we’re naturally more fearful; it’s that we’ve grown up in a culture that teaches us, subtly and constantly, to keep half an eye open.

There were many times when I was the only person around, and there were plenty of men who spoke to me at other times. But of the men who spoke to me, this included hikers, delivery drivers, villagers, everyone was really helpful, supportive and kind. If I was asking for directions or if they were asking me about what I was doing, everyone was so lovely. Of course, I can read a map and I did have my phone which incredibly had signal all the while. Each place I was checking into knew roughly what time I was arriving and had my number. It is not a physically challenging walk other than it being 52 miles and some climb, there’s no scrambling, no river crossings, no bears 😉 !!

The hardest part of walking alone is just that, you are often alone for a looooooong part of the day and you need to be comfortable with that. I am an introvert and am perfectly happy in my own company and birds and animals to chat to, but some people aren’t and that is okay, take a friend along or join one of the many organised group tours that do this very route. Mark Reid at TeamWalking, who I have walked with before, organises this very walk alongside many others around the UK. If you’re thinking but hesitant, this type of group walk might be the best way to see if you like it. The other way to build confidence is to join a map reading weekend, I did a Silver Navigation course back in 2024 and whilst I love reading maps (geek alert), it was fantastic to be up on the top of Kinder Scout and see if I could actually properly navigate my way in poor visability. I even ended up on a bin advertising for the organisation I did the course with, but that’s another story!

So if you are on the fence about a long distance path or walking solo or even which long distance path to do, I highly recommend this one.