Dufton Ghyll and Flakebridge Wood

Dufton Ghyll

Eden Valley

Route: Dufton Ghyll and Flakebridge Wood

Area: Eden Valley

Date of walk: 25th May 2016

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 7.3 miles

Ascent: 800 feet

Weather: Cloudy but quite bright

We parked in the free car park in the unspoilt village of Dufton. The path out of the village into Dufton Ghyll Wood was easy to find, being adjacent to the car park. We walked down into the wood and followed the path through it, before emerging into open countryside with good views across to the North Pennines as we went along

After an enjoyable section through the fields we arrived at Flakebridge Wood. We were following a route in Vivienne Crow’s guide ‘Walking in Cumbria’s Eden Valley’ and were aware from the book that we could expect a good display of bluebells, though wondered if we were a little late in the season. We needn’t have worried – huge swathes of bluebells greeted us as we entered the woodland and the next mile was a short walk in heaven with the sight and smell of countless bluebells as we went along. It was one of the best displays we’ve ever seen

Eventually we left the woods behind us and followed the track known as Frith Lane towards Brampton. We deviated from the route described in the book at this point as we were running short of time and followed a lovely path along Wood Lane back into Dufton Ghyll Wood. Yet more bluebells accompanied us on this final section back into the village

It had been a fantastic walk – and we only saw 2 other people in 3 hours of walking. We look forward with great anticipation to our next visit to this beautiful area

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