Saturday Walk: 7 miles hard category. Circular walk from Cold Stone Cut down the valley to two disused mining areas and then back up the valley side.

The walk will start from the free car park at Coldstone Cut at 9:30am. You can just put Coldstone Cut car park into Google maps. It is near the junction of Peat Lane with the B6265, not far from Toft Gate Barn. This is about 2 miles west of Pateley Bridge. The car park is free. There are no toilets.

We leave the car park and walk down a grassy, and no doubt muddy, path which runs parallel to the B6265. We cross the road and start our steady descent to the old mines and Ashfold Side Beck. There is a little wooden bridge across and then a short steep and likely slippery, scrambly climb up the other side. We walk along the hillside on an indistinct route before descending a bit to join a good path. This path will eventually be recognisable to those of you who have done the Ladies Rigg mines walk from Pateley Bridge. We turn off that path to the right and start the ascent out of the valley. This climb goes on for some considerable time, with little bits of relief here and there. It follows the Nidderdale Way at one point. The final section back up to the road will have us all out of breath. It’s nice to stop on the ascent to look back at the views, which are lovely on a clear day.

It’s absolutely certain that we will encounter some muddy stretches on this walk. There aren’t so many stiles but lots of gates. There were sheep in the fields but nothing else on the recce. Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear, which take account of the weather forecast, and bring a drink. During the winter months I am asking everyone to walk with poles, so please bring at least one. They will be very useful on the uphill and downhill sections on this walk and will provide great stability when we encounter mud or ice. I will not have time to recce this walk again beforehand, so we need to be prepared for all conditions.

I do my best to assess the weather and the likely walking conditions but would ask everyone to decide whether a particular walk is right for them on that day. Please note that everyone taking part in the walk does so at their own risk.

Lunch at The Toft Gate Barn cafe at 12:45pm