Do not hesitate to contact us. We are an expert team and we are always happy to talk to you.
01694 723600
You matter to us & we promise to provide you with a superb walking & social holiday, tailored specifically to your needs. We provide walking holidays for walkers & as walkers ourselves, we appreciate & understand the requirements of a walking holiday.
The Yorkshire Dales never fail to impress the walker – fabulous upland scenery, well maintained paths. Our solos guided walking holiday is based in Clapham renowned for its beauty, rural charm and great walking from the village and surrounding valley.
We specialise in guided walking holidays for solos and singles in some of the world’s most magnificent landscapes – Europe and the UK. We have an extra speciality in that we also design bespoke holidays for special groups.
We stay in the lovely village of Clapham at the New Inn Hotel. We stay for four nights.
The New Inn was once an eighteenth century coaching inn but welcomes travellers coming in by both car, train and bike. The village has a several interesting shops selling everything from knitting yarn to locally-made crafts. The village shop and post office is now a community shop.
Rooms are spacious, en suite and the hotel is lively in the evening with its roaring fires. Excellent bar and lounges.
Dinner is taken in the hotel’s dining room.
Lunch will either be at one of the local pubs or cafes, or packed.
There is plenty of parking available at the hotel.
There are other walking holiday companies that cover the countryside but we believe we offer the best value for many reasons….
Clapham does have a rail station on the Leeds to Morecambe line. Also Settle is 5 miles away – more taxi provision there.
By road – Clapham is between Settle and Ingleton – Sat Nav – LA2 8HH
Grades and difficulty
The Yorkshire Dales walking holiday is graded as Moderate with strenuous sections. These strenuous sections can be taken steadily. Descending is on good paths, but can be difficult in wet weather. .
We walk at a steady pace, we don’t rush. We want you to enjoy the lovely scenery. What’s the point of huffing and puffing, being exhausted then not being able to enjoy this fabulous land?
The Yorkshire Dales have lovely rolling countryside that will enchant you – and is a land of ever-changing vistas – on any walk we get four or five different landscapes to enjoy.
The walks on this trip are rated as Moderate but each day involves a fair amount of ascent and descent. The trip requires a reasonable amount of fitness, ideally with previous hill walking experience
Walking boots or shoes are obligatory, and many walkers find a walking pole useful, especially on the downhills. You will also need wet weather gear.
There are several steep sections where your fitness needs to be good, and sections where the walking is on good paths and is moderate in nature. Some ground may be boggy and wet, particularly if the area has had wet weather.
Paths on this Yorkshire Dales holiday are mostly well marked and walked but can have rough and uneven with stony parts to them.
These we take carefully, bearing in mind your safety at all times.
You should be used to walking distances frequently- 8 – 10 miles perhaps with a group, eg Ramblers.
You need wet weather gear and a rucksack that can hold this gear plus at least 1.5 litres of water
We walk for three full days and two half days on this holiday. The exact choice of walks for the three full days will be at the discretion of the leader according to the weather and conditions underfoot. Although limestone is fast draining and therefore not ‘boggy’, it can be slippery on wet days.
There are many walks we can choose from – samples are shown here.
Arrival Day
We will begin our walks on the first afternoon with a short walk, 2 to 3 miles, through the village along Clapham Beck. This is a good track through woodland with an impressive waterfall. Further along the track is the famous Ingleborough show cave and nature trail.
We choose from the following walks
Ingleborough ascent
Crummack Dale circular
Ingleton Waterfalls and surrounding area
The Ingleborough Estate and surrounding countryside.
Norber Erratics circular
Austwick village circular
Its all about meeting new friends. Each holiday is designed to be a friendly, relaxed and stress free occasion. Talking is as important as walking on Secrethills Walking Holidays. We don’t go in for discos, we may use an event that is taking place in the area we are in to boost the weekends activities – but its good, old fashioned chat that makes our short breaks successful.
“Make new friends that turn into old friends” – that’s our motto.
You might be surprised by what fun you’ll have with people who are older or younger than you during a holiday with us, and that’s exactly the sort of atmosphere we encourage; people find it very rewarding. It doesn’t matter what your reasons for traveling with us are, we’ve had people who are single, divorced or widowed, people who have partners that are unable to travel, and people who can’t holiday with their friends anymore as they’ve all got married themselves. There are people who want to make friends, see sights, and experience something completely new. Whatever your reason, we’ll welcome you with open arms and our friendly hosts will help you to get the most out of your holiday.
Don’t worry if this is the first time you have ventured to join a group holiday – its always a bit daunting – but we will look after you and ensure that you get used to being amongst friends again. Trust us to to get you back into the swing of things.
Oh – by the way – its not a dating agency – over the years we have had people meet and fall in love – but that’s just chance. Our aim is that you make like minded friends – just relax and enjoy.
Just arrive and enjoy.
To reserve a place on any of our holidays, please follow these simple instructions.
Reserve online – once you have chosen your holiday, click on Proceed Booking and complete the online form. If you have difficulty reserving online, please contact us (tel: 01694 723600, email: info@secrethillswalking.co.uk) and we will assist you to complete your booking.
Payment
Please note we cannot take credit/debit card details over the phone. You may pay by the following methods when you book online…
Please note than an initial deposit is required with each booking regardless of which payment method you choose. Your booking will be accepted when your payment (deposit or full balance) is received. Note – if you are reserving a holiday within a month of the start date then the full amount is due immediately and no deposit should be paid.
It is important that you read the terms and conditions before you sign the booking form.
Note – if you are reserving a holiday within a month of the start date then the full amount is due immediately and no deposit should be paid.
The Yorkshire Dales was designated a National Park back in the 1950s, largely due to its fascinating geological history. The Dales as they are today were primarily formed by glaciation and the natural weathering of the carboniferous limestone that characterises much of the area.
Carboniferous limestone is a soft rock and if you scratch it with a sharp object it will mark quite easily and produce powdered rock. It’s also soluble to rainwater over a very long period of time and eventually, the many joints and fissures in the rock get eroded away. So this means we have many caves and rock features that add to the interest on our walks in this area.
Gaping Gill would be an example, as well as the limestone pavements that abound. The action of rainwater on limestone, as well as the numerous waterfalls and streams, has shaped this magnificent walking area. The area drains well through limestone so there are few boggy and wet areas.
There are many lovely villages, each with their own special “feel” about them, such as Settle, Ingleton and Austwick.
Hotel and organisation of walking was excellent. Admin in the office by phone fine.
I was generally very happy and I think the ‘formula’ works well.
Offers of assistance with travel are very welcome on public transport.
Many thanks
Jane
Had a great time! Bridget an excellent leader. Flexed to needs of group and weather conditions. Highlighted points of interest along the way, without overdoing it. Felt confident and safe with her leading.
Another lovely walking holiday with Secret Hills. As ever it was very well organised. It was a lovely group of people and we all got on well together both whilst walking and in the evening. Keith and Catherine were very good hosts and the food at the hotel was excellent.
A very enjoyable week & am always grateful to Alan et al who are kind enough to collect me from various stations…a nice Secret Hills personal touch.
Dear Alan, A super introduction to UK guided walking – thank you so much and I will be booking through you again. The rest of the group were lovely and I had a very relaxed time. I personally enjoyed chatting to the other guests, finding out about their holidays and joining in the quizzes in the evening. You are doing a wonderful job, please continue.