Start in Sutton in Craven at the bus stop (next to the phone box) on Main Street near to its junction with High Street (opposite the Black Bull pub).
Walk towards the pub along Ash Grove, immediately to the left of it until the road ends. Turn right onto Bent Lane and bear left as the road surface begins to deteriorate.
Continue along a rough track which bears sharp left before gaining a concrete surface now as it twists towards Bents Farm.
Continue on the main broader track resisting the temptation to veer off it. Head past Bents Farm Cottages on the right and into the farmyard. Go through a large gate ahead. Walk past the barn, with Lund’s Tower on the skyline ahead.
Keep ahead, through two gates. Continue towards another farm on left, keeping ahead on the track. Go over the stile and continue upwards climbing steadily on a broad grassy track bounded by trees on both flanks. Cross another stile ahead. Continue on increasingly hilly path adjacent to a wall on our right. Emerge to see a small gate at High Jackfield Farmhouse.
Go through the gate briefly before bearing right on to some stone cobbles. Continue as the cobbles soon give way to a concrete track. Head up the broad track and over a cattle grid.
Why not stop now for a brief moment to catch your breath while admiring a fine view of the Aire Valley below as we look towards Cross Hills, Kildwick, Silsden and beyond.
Eventually the track levels out. Pass an abandoned farm on right where the main track bears left, twisting as it heads inexorably to meet the road (Dick Lane) at the top. A glimpse of Pendle Hill can be seen in the far distance on the skyline as we look half right.
Go through the gate ahead and turn left onto the road. Take care on this minor but sometimes moderately busy road at weekends. There is no footpath here. Stay on the road for approximately five minutes climbing steadily. You are soon falmost adjacent to the tower.
Take the well-worn path that quickly climbs up some concrete steps. A wooden bench is noticed. A few moments later you’ve made it to the Earl Crag summit plateau. An obvious level hard standing path leads to the impressive Lund’s Tower (1,112 ft). This Grade II listed tower or folly was built in 1887 for the wealthy James Lund (1829-1903). The Lund family owned a large textile business. It is thought the tower was built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887 or indeed to celebrate the birth of Lund’s daughter Ethel.
Upon leaving the tower the next objective is Wainman’s Pinnacle. The Pinnacle sits proudly just under half a mile away also on the summit of Earl Crag.
Initially retrace your steps, but this time ignore the descending steps and instead go through a gate ahead. Continue along the grassy apath along the summit top. Take care not to veer too far near the edge of the rocky outcrop along this section.
Pass a stone seat slightly set back to our left. Continue on the exposed path. Soon an easy to walk on grassy path leads to a gate. Go through it before joining up with a wall for the final short section. Head through a further gate continuing to soon reach the Pinnacle (10-12 minutes after leaving Lund’s Tower).
Wainman’s Pinnacle was built in 1898 and is also Grade II listed. The reason for construction was to celebrate the Napoleonic Wars.
Returning to Sutton in Craven, the first task is to safely descend from the crag summit and reach Dick Lane which is visible below.
Turn right on the well used and relatively level earth track, for a very short distance. Keep a careful look out on right through the rocks; a narrow initially steep route is visible next to a large boulder. Please do stay observant here as this thin path is easy to miss.
Carefully negotiate this descending, briefly rocky path before linking up with a distinct, good-looking grassy path below. If you miss the thin descending path there are other similar adjacent paths that will take you to Dick Lane. Continue to lose height to a junction of paths. Take the downhill path. Join the road to the right of the sharp bend.
Turn right heading up the road, for a minute or so, taking care as there is no footpath. Keep a look out for a minor tarmac track heading to a cluster of buildings on the left. Cross the road and take this track towards Craiglands Farm. At the barn, keep ahead on to a narrow grass path leading to a wall stile. A waymarker arrow is visible, to the right of the stile, encouraging us to continue ahead. Cross the stile and continue on the same directional line across the field. Head towards some gate posts where a yellow waymarker points half left. The route now leads us diagonally down a field to the right of the buildings at Crag End. Rejoin the vehicle track and turn right along the track (away from buildings). Continue along this easy track for only a very short distance until we reach a gate opening ahead of us.
At the wall in front look right to see a line of trees just beyond the wall. Although not initially obvious a small wall stile can be seen in the corner ahead of the trees. This is the next part of our route. Cross the stile noting a holly tree next to it. Continue into the next field which is level to begin with. Keep close to the hedge and descend into the field corner. A distinct and yellow marker beckons us forward over the wall. Move away from the hedge, diagonally and always gradually descending. On the wall in front two large yellow waymarkers are spotted. Follow the arrows that lead towards the field corner and go towards the middle of the three gates. Go over a small stile into the next field.and descend diagonally towards the opposite corner. Walk near to the wall now on our left. A yellow waymarker confirms our route. Pass another gate to reach a rather unusual corrugated gate in the field corner. Go through the gate and onto a broader trackwhich track swings left then right, before it turns into a short enclosed route as it descends to join a spring. Continue as we negotiate a stile next to a gate at High Malsis Farm Cottages.
Proceed on the obvious level track ahead on the right hand side of the cottages towards a wooden stile to the left of a gate. Cross the stile into a level field before going over another stile also next to a gate. Walk parallel to the wall then over a third stile in succession positioned next to a gate. Continue close to the wall to reach a wooden gate with a very narrow stone stile to the left.
The route now back to Sutton in Craven is the reverse of the outward leg earlier.
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