Rylstone and Cracoe Fell (6.5 Miles)

A lovely walk around Cracoe Fell, starting and ending in Rylstone. Easy to follow with good paths and a short climb up onto the Fell itself. With spectacular views, historical monuments and stunning crags this is a very enjoyable walk.

THE WALK

The walk starts from a lay-by off the B6265 (here), from here you can pretty much see the whole of your route including the two prominent monuments high on Cracoe Fell. With boots, cameras and tech all sorted we set off in the unusually warm October weather towards the footpath to Rylstone Church.

Follow the path towards the church and continue until you pick up the track to Cracoe (Chapel Lane). At the end of Chapel Lane and just before the track rejoins the B6265 there is a stile to your right that takes you through the back of Cracoe and onto Fell Lane. As the name suggests this lane takes you on a gentle climb and onto Cracoe Fell.

Once on the fell the lane gives way to a well trodden footpath and the terrain becomes a little steeper as you start your ascent heading for the first of two monuments - a 7 metre Obelisk. The Obelisk was built to commemorate the 13 people from the area who died in WW1 and was unveiled in 1922. A further 3 names were added for those who died in WW2. On your climb do take time to stop and enjoy the view behind you with both Pendle Hill and Ingleborough very clear on the wide horizon.

Continue on the path past a few false summits and you soon arrive at the Obelisk - a great opportunity to capture some of the spectacular 360 views. From here you can see Simon's Seat towards the east, the villages of Linton and Grassington to the north and Pendle Hill in the south west. Importantly you can also see your next milestone, the Rylstone Cross to the south.

Again the path is very clear and once over the high stile you follow the dry stone wall towards the cross. The views here are particularly enjoyable especially on a clear day. After, what feels like a short mile you arrive at the cross and have to climb another high stile to access it. Whilst the current cross was erected in 1995 there has been a cross/memorial here dating back to the 1850's. There are several stories relating to the origin of the cross including celebrating a victory over Napoleon and marking one of Queen Victoria's jubilees.

After leaving the cross and rejoining the path (back over the stile) you start you descent back to Rylstone. After just 1/4 mile the path takes a sharp right and you drop back down on a wide path towards Rylstone. Once at the bottom of the path and off the fell follow the path to the right. After a further 1/4 of a mile follow the wide road to your right that cuts across the fields back towards Rylstone Church. You are soon back past the church and back to the lay-by where you started.

A very pleasant walk with spectacular views. The majority of the paths were very good but there were some marsh areas on the fell itself and caution should be taken in wetter conditions.