Trow Gill Gorge

Trow Gill is a spectacular, wooded limestone ravine at the head of Clapdale near Clapham.


 

 Trow Gill can be reached from Clapham by following the Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail and then the footpath to Ingleborough Cave and beyond.

Distance from Clapham to Trow Gill is 1.84 miles (3km) and takes about 40 minutes.

The footpath is wide and well surfaced as far as Ingleborough Cave and is suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs.

Beyond Ingleborough cave the footpath can be narrow, uneven and rocky and, in places, it may be necessary to scramble.
 

Now a dry gorge, Trow Gill was possibly once an underground cavern formed by waters which now take an alternative route through the Ingleborough Cave / Gaping Gill system. At some point in time the roof of this cavern is believed to have collapsed - Trow Gill being the suggested result (though other theories have the ravine as simply a glacial meltwater channel).

 
Distances from the start of Ingleborough Estate Nature Trail to Trow Gill and beyond
 
The start of the footpath from Ingleborough Cave to Trow Gill
 
 
The footpath becomes progressively uneven
 
The gorge begins to narrow and the sides get steeper
 
Can you see the climbers on the right-hand rock face? 
 
Bit of a scramble ahead!
 
Looking back down the gorge towards Thwaite Scars
 
Looking back from whence we've come
 
Passed the scramble and heading towards the moor below Ingleborough
 
Sheep.  There are always sheep!
 
Tree stump and bracket fungus
 
More sheep -  grazing the rocky hillside
 
A beautiful blue butterfly
 
Storm brewing over Little Ingleborough - and yes, that's a funnel cloud in the sky (which would become a tornado if the tail touched the ground)