How Stean Gorge
How Stean Gorge is one of the wonderful, almost forgotten tourist attractions of
the Victorian Age. It's hard now to visualise how the masses from the cities of
the West Riding would stream out en-masse to places like Shipley Glen, Bolton Abbey
and How Stean. There's not much left of the attractions at Shipley Glen, but How
Stean being a natural feature it's pretty much unchanged since it opened in 1869.
Nowadays the attraction has been themed around the tale of Tom Taylor the highwayman
whose hideout was a cave in the Gorge. How true this is I don't know, but the whopping
five pound admision fee for adults (2008) suggests his spirit lives on.
To be fair, they have done a good job with information boards so at least some of
the money has been ploughed back in.
So what do you get for your fiver - or more likely for your nearly twenty quid for
a family of four. Well, you get to enter a fabulous limestone gorge with pathways
cut along the side and some interesting bridges across. In the middle of the Gorge
it's dramatic and can only be viewed from above, but at either end it's more typical
limestone river scenery where you can get down and quite safely paddle and splash
about in the water. Kids absolutely love it, particularly at the Northern end where
there's exciting paddling through "the tunnel", and at the Sothern end there's tons
of room to sit down and picnic while the kids paddle.
The highlight
though is Tom Taylor's cave, which is really a long underground passage
leading to a cave, from where you can climb out and emerge in the middle of the
car park. The underground passage is absolutely pitch black, so you really do need
a torch. It's also wet and drippy so be prepared to get a bit damp. As I hadn't
brought a torch with me I did it without one, but I really, really would not recommend
that. If you don't have a torch, use the flashgun on your mobile or wait for someone who has brought a torch and then
follow them.
The gorge can get quite busy in Summer as there's a largeish campsite a few hundred
yards downstream, and a lot of people from there visit. While I was there,
kids were sneaking in through the cave entrance in the car park, and I saw one bunch
get in through the door marked with the big red no entry sign half-way between
the campsite and the gorge. So is that why prices are so high, or is that because prices are so high? Who knows.
At the entrance to the Gorge is a nice little cafe serving typical Brit holiday
food - pie 'n chips, cornish pastie 'n chips and
the usual culprits. But it's reasonably priced, the food looked good and the staff were very friendly. If you like
that kind of cuisine it's worth stopping off at as there's not over many tea shops
in Upper Nidderdale.
You can also camp here, in which
case you get free acess to the Gorge. It's pretty basic with use of the loos in
the cafe forecourt, and a sink with hot and cold running water, but it is a beautiful
location and you can have a camp fire. It's also cheaper than
Studfold Farm just down the road, so if you're backpacking or on a tight
budget it's worth considering.
So overall, quite unmissable really, but if you're taking kids it's best to take
a picnic and make a good long stay of it.