Stainforth, Stackhouse and Stainforth Force

Stainforth village, with its attractive 17th- and 18th-century stone cottages, is next to Little Stainforth, the twin settlement on the other side of the river. This little hamlet is known for its graceful packhorse bridge built by Samuel Watson (a Quaker) in 1675, replacing the stony ford that gave Stainforth its name (part of a major monastic packhorse route between York and Lancaster). On the fellside above Stainforth are medieval cultivation strips known locally as 'raines'.

Beneath the steep rocky face of Stainforth Scar, sheep graze the fields (principally the Dalesbred, Britain's hardiest breed thought to have been bred by the monks of Fountains Abbey founded in 1132). Remains of numerous 19th-century lime kilns dot the area, and at Langcliffe Quarry is a well-preserved Hoffman lime kiln — an impressive structure used from 1873 to 1939 to produce a constant supply of lime for fertilising moors and improving grazing through a series of sequential chambers in an oval tunnel.

Halfway through the walk, after crossing the River Ribble by the Holmehead footbridge, lies the hamlet of Stackhouse. Mentioned in the Domesday Book as belonging to Roger de Poitevin with no resident population, it remains a tiny place today — a series of houses in a beautiful crescent just off the main road linking Little Stainforth with the market town of Settle.

A stretch of attractive woodland grows beside the River Ribble with fine specimens of beech, lime, and sweet chestnut, accompanied by wildflowers (yellow ragwort, ox-eye daisy, wild strawberry, clover, and bird's-foot trefoil). As well as trout, salmon can be found leaping at Stainforth Force during breeding season, aided by shallow steps built to bypass the weir at Holmehead.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.