Follow in the footsteps of this indomitable woman, whose life and work still influence the Yorkshire Dales and the Eden Valley, 400 years after her birth.

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Walk Information

This walk commences at Skipton Castle at the southern end of the Yorkshire Dales, passing many fine old houses and historic castles in its northerly progress towards its completion at Brougham Castle, just south of Penrith in Cumbria, a walk distance of 100 miles, which can be comfortably undertaken in six days. However, it is probably worth considering extending this time, in order to do justice to the many interesting buildings to be encountered en-route!

The walk retraces the journeys regularly undertaken by Lady Anne Clifford during the mid-1600s, when, in her sixty’s she set about rebuilding her castles at Skipton, Pendragon, Appleby, Brough and Brougham, as well as several churches, alms-houses, and other important buildings in the area, and passes through some of the finest scenery in England!

Lady Anne Clifford was the last in the line of that great family, the Cliffords who owned vast estates extending from Skipton in Craven, to Brougham in Westmorland. Much of the land included wild and rugged country at the head of Wharfedale and Wensleydale, and also including the Mallerstang valley in the Vale of Eden.

The route has a mixture of fell and riverside walking, but although the daily walks can be up to 19 miles in length, the going is generally easy to moderate, and very enjoyable.

For this walk, we can arrange your accommodation on a Bed and Breakfast basis (evening meals are usually available locally) at local inns, hotels or guest houses, and your daily baggage transfers will be included, so that you do not have to worry about carrying a heavy pack, or getting your clothing wet. The intention is to ensure that you have an interesting, enjoyable walk, with some degree of home comfort at the end of each day.

The booklet we would recommend for you to take with you on this walk is: "Lady Anne’s Way" by Sheila Gordon, published by Hillside, and available through Tourist Information Centres. ISBN 1-870141-35-0

The walk can be undertaken with 6, 7, or 8 overnight stays, the following programme involving 7 overnight stays, requiring either:

• An overnight stay in Skipton before commencing the walk, and returning home directly from Penrith on the last day of the walk, or
• Commencing the walk immediately on arrival in Skipton, and having an overnight stay in Penrith at the end of the walk, before returning home the next day.

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