Gunnerside Gill and the Blakethwaite Lead Mines

Gunnerside Pasture and Ivelet

Four and a half miles and around two and a half hours on the high pasture road west out of the village to Ivelet, dropping to the seventeenth-century packhorse bridge and coming back along the Swale and up Gunnerside Beck; the pasture road is a firm stony track, the return through the meadows is soft. Start in Gunnerside village by the bridge, where roadside parking is limited to a handful of considerate spaces and the 30 bus from Richmond and Reeth calls a few times a day. Gunnerside Beck and the Swale both give a drink and there is a shallow shingle bay above Ivelet Bridge for a swim, though the pool below the arch is deep, and sheep are on the pasture year round with the meadows cut for hay, so the lead stays on and dogs must keep to the path; expect a handful of narrow stone stiles in the valley-bottom walls that a broad dog will need help through.