Lakes and Dales Horseback Rambler

  Askham Fell Intro Ride – Nearly 7 miles Parking – If your not able to ride into the area you can park in the Lowther Estate Car park by the river or you can park in the free village car park at Askham Hall, which is a lovely big car park. Things to note – route takes in open fell which has sheep, a herd of longhorn cattle and fell ponies. There are gates and also a bridge to cross, which some may like to lead across. Since March 2025 the bridge at Whale now has mounting blocks and horse friendly gates, which is massive improvement to how it use to be. You may like to take a long lead rope so it is easier to manoeuvre your horse across the bridge. Some of Askham Fell is open access land for horses so you don’t have to stick to the path and can follow the many other routes across the fell (These extra open access rights for horses are under Section 15 of the CROW Act, which are explained more here http://www.rombalds-riding.org.uk/rights-of-way/current-issues/ ). From Askham Hall c...

           The 19 30’s saw the start of the campaign for the ‘Right to Roam’ on foot, but to have the freedom to do the same on horseback or by bike is a very rare thing indeed. You could almost say in England and Wales if you have a place like this it is unique and to those that use such an area it becomes very special. I am fortunate enough to live near one of these rare areas and it’s safe to say that Farleton Knott has over the years become a cherished place to all who have visited. Most people drive past this unknown fell as they speed along the M6 and turn off at J36 for the Lake District.   A week ago now I was walking up on Farleton and came across this new sign put up by one of the landowners - ‘ Farleton Knott is open access land. Everyone is entitled to explore it on foot. There are no bridlepaths on Farleton Knott. It is a civil offence to ride horses or bikes on this site.’ For some history to this, the area is mostly common land an...