View Route Info Route of Month

Featured Routes from previous Months

Arundel and Angmering
(June 2013)

The Seven Sisters
(May 2013)

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
(April 2013)

Scar House Reservoir Circuit
(March 2013)

Hambleton Peninsular
(February 2013)

Brunel's Three Bridges
(January 2013)

East London Canals
(December 2012)

The Long Snake Run
(November 2012)

Simonside Summit
(October 2012)

Stepper Point
(September 2012)

Featured Route of the Month - March 2013

Scar House Reservoir Circuit (4.30 miles - Multi-Terrain)

View of Scar House Reservoir from atop Angram Dam

“A smile will always do more than a frown, either in Scar Village or Harrogate Town” so said the Scar Village Notes Newspaper back in 1926. While not exactly Keats or Wordsworth I guess the sentiment is as true today as it was amongst the dam construction workers village. Remains of the village are visible today at the start of the run where there is also a very interesting information board and testimonial to the 1250 workers and their families.

To get to the start you take a private road signed from Lofthouse which is a picturesque 4 mile drive along the Nidd Valley. The imposing Dams of Scar House and Angram interrupted the flow of the River Nidd to create the reservoirs. When the Yorkshire Dales National Park was created in 1954 Nidderdale was left out possibly because the reservoirs were considered a blight on the landscape. Finally in 1994 the area was in my opinion rightly designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The actual run is a classic circuit of Scar House Reservoir in Nidderdale. The first half undulates on somewhat uneven unsurfaced lane and footpaths with great views across the reservoir and the remainder a fantastic swoop on a well surfaced traffic free lane.