For our April Coach Trip we will revisit a popular RFNS destination, Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire. The coach will drop walkers off at Brimham Rocks where for an hour you will have the opportunity for a wander around the fascinating rock formations, use the public conveniences, get a coffee (if you bring your own mug and get a discount), visit the bookshop and visitor centre. Our walk will then start at the visitor centre, pass the rocks, skirts moorland and then follows the River Nidd through mature oak and birch
woodland, then grazed farmland typical of the Yorkshire Dales as far as Pateley bridge to meet the coach, where there are pubs and tea rooms. Non-walkers can stay on the coach and spend a leisurely day pottering around the village of Pateley bridge which is on the River Nidd, where there is a park, toilets, some shops and eating places.
Although the walk is 5 miles, after the initial wander around the rocks it is almost entirely downhill. On the recce in March, the footpath leaving Brimham rocks was hard to find
so we recommend joining Gill and Joan for that part, after that the route will be easy to follow and you can go at your own pace. The route was muddy in places in March and some of the paths have exposed tree roots. There are a few stiles but none of them are tricky. On the recce there was dipper and kingfisher along the river, and on previous trips in April there were many woodland species of flowers recorded such as wood stitchwort and wood anemone as well as many ferns and woodrushes.
The trip is open to members as well as friends and family. The coach will leave Manchester Road cul-de-sac, Rochdale OL11 4HY at 9.00am prompt and will set off on its return journey at 5.00pm. The cost is £20. Contact rfnspublicity@gmail.com with any queries. Please pay your £20 beforehand by bank transfer: Sort code 05-07-67 Account number 60931963 and use your name
as reference. Then email rfnspublicity@gmail.com to book your place on the coach. Please note that your place is not reserved until you receive a reply to that email. Cheques should be made
payable to “Rochdale Field Naturalists’ Society”.
Brimham Rocks is a National Trust property however there is no entry charge for visitors
Image: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Attribution: Penny Mayes