Pennine Bridleway National Trail

Cumbria, Derbyshire, Gtr Manchester, Lancashire, N Yorkshire, W Yorkshire

Opening in stages over several years, the Pennine Bridleway is a new National Trail that has been designed specifically for horse riders and mountain bikers and will also form a major new route for walkers. Broadly parallel to the Pennine Way National Trail, the full route from Middleton Top in Derbyshire to The Street in Cumbria travels through some of the finest scenery in England passing through the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks, using old tracks, quiet roads and newly created sections of bridleway, taking a generally lower line in valleys and on hillsides and across moorland.

New sections of bridleway have been created in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and elsewhere along the route. Please see the detailed route maps which are now available from the Pennine Bridleway National Trail website http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/penninebridleway/downloads.asp?PageId=114

The section north of the Mary Towneley Loop was opened in June 2012 with 168 miles of continuous route from Middleton Top in Derbyshire to The Street, just south of Kirkby Stephen. A feeder route from West Yorkshire, the Calder-Aire Link, is open and two more are under construction from the West Pennines at Bolton and the Northern Peak District from Penistone.

The elevation profile shows the bridleway between Middleton Top and The Street and using part the east part of the Mary Townely Loop. (168 miles)

The 205 miles shown here is made up of four parts. 71.4 miles from Middleton Top to the Mary Towneley Loop, 44.5 miles of the Mary Towneley Loop, 78.7 miles from the Mary Towneley Loop to the Street just south of Kirkby Stephen and the Settle Loop. To qualify for inclusion in the LDWA register of long distance paths these four parts will need to be walked. We have not included the link routes Dark Peak Link, Calder Aire Link, West Pennine Link and the Kirkby Stephen Link..

Future plans are to extend the Bridleway to Bryness but in the current economic climate this may take some years.

Update August 2020 - Walkers may wish to consider a more scenic option along the stretch of the Limestone Way through from SK 1305 7528 Peter Dale, Hay Dale and Dame Dale to Peak Forest at SK 1136 7926. This avoids four miles of road walking. The NEC has agreed that if this option is selected, it can still be used as a credit towards completion of the Pennine Bridleway for the purposes of the National Trails Register. This option is not part of the official Pennine Bridleway route and does reduce the overall mileage by a small amount. The official route passing Wheston will still continue to be accepted for the National Trails Register.

The LDWA National Trails Register offers certificates for completers of several British National Trails.

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Details:

Path Type:	National Trails (England & Wales)
Waymark:	National Trail Acorn
Attributes:	National Trail (England and Wales) Challenging Horse Ride (Multi User) Moorland
Start:	SK274551 - Middleton Top, near Carsington Reservoir, Derbyshire
Finish:	NY738015 - The Street, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria
Open Date:	2002
Web Sites:	Derbyshire County Council - Pennine Bridleway British Horse Society RideMaps - Pennine Bridleway National Trails - Pennine Bridleway Welcome to Yorkshire - National Trails Trailplanner - Pennine Bridleway [blog]

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Publications, Badges and Certificates:

Route Description - PDF	Pennine Bridleway MTL to Cumbria  (Pennine Bridleway Team  - 2011 )
Certificate	Certificate for National Trails  (Long Distance Walkers Association )
General Interest Book	Big walks of the north  (Summersdale Publishers  - 2010 )
Badge	Badge for National Trails  (Trails Shop )
Certificate	Certificate for National Trails  (Trails Shop )
Guidebook	Cycling the Pennine Bridleway : the Dales stages  (Cicerone Press  - 2012 )
Guidebook	The National Trails : 19 long-distance routes through England, Scotland and Wales  (Cicerone Press  - 2015 )
Other	National Trail mug  (Trails Shop )

Click to showhide 4 more Publications, Badges and Certificates

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