SKIPTON CASTLE ON THE CHEAP

April 2026. Skipton.

I seem to have upset my many esteemed Yorkshire readers, something to do with gravy, so to redeem myself here’s a post on saving yourself £12.80 on your visit to Skipton Castle.

OK, you won’t actually get inside the castle by walking round the woods, but there’s no pub inside the walls anyway, making it a unique building in Skipton.

The woods path is really great, the views of the embattlements are unencumbered, and you can make a Japanese tourist’s day by confirming that yes, this is really Aysgarth Falls.

Make sure they pronounce it properly.

Lots of art,

running streams that make you grateful your next loo stop is 10 minutes away

and the glories of the English Spring laid out for free.

That’s £12.80 to spend on the next three pints.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

22 thoughts on “SKIPTON CASTLE ON THE CHEAP”

      1. It is indeed, and exactly like you said, one is glad that the next loo stop is around 10 minutes away.

        However, on my last visit, I had to pop through the ferns and nettles into the undergrowth, to let nature take its course.

        Will we ever recover from the Gravy pie gate drama ??

        Im off to Ilkley today, I wonder if there will be a similar situation with which caviar goes best with the blinis, or is smoked salmon and cream cheese the topping of choice ??

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Not practical for me on a narrow boat but last year I used Skipton as what is nowadays known as “a transport hub” – Kettlewell, Malham and Ingleton buses for a night in each of those three settlements. And plenty of time in the Woolly Sheep for the good range of Timothy Taylors beers.

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      4. The Victoria on the Malham is a new Beer Guide entry I’d Iike to get to soon. I guess a bus from Malham is the best bet, but 40 minutes on a bus !

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      5. I passed through Kirkby Malham on the 211 service ( only a sixteen seater minibus with a chatty driver, not a proper bus ) towards the Beck Hall, Buck and Lister Arms in greater Malham.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. I used to love walking in those woods. It was my lunchtime walk for many years when I worked at Skipton Building Society.

    The old branch of the canal that continues behind the castle has fallen into disrepair. It once carried limestone from the Dales into Leeds.

    Robin

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    2. Prof,
      Having a Building Society is an indication of a proper town – Bath, Cambridge, Dudley, Leek, Market Harborough, Nottingham, Skipton, Stafford, etc.

      Liked by 4 people

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      3. Agree with that.

        I remember when Skipton had to bail out Scarborough Building Society. A lot has changed since the financial servies crash. The societies that survived were typically those that avoided exposure to sub-prime lending. Although Skipton has its own sub-prime brand called Amber Homeloans.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. My parents’ first mortgage was with the Leeds & Holbeck Building Society. Goodness knows how I remember this.
        Had to resort to Google to find out where Holbeck is (Spoiler alert: it’s part of Leeds) Sounds grim per Wikipedia.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. Holbeck is best known as the home of the Grove, and a few other top Leeds boozers, just below the station. I used to park in Jack Lane when I drove up to Leeds for work and stayed overnight. Oddly my car was never stolen.

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      9. My first savings account was pounds, shillings and proper pence with the Leeds Permanent Building Society, permanent only until 1995. Goodness knows how I remember this.
        My first mortgage in 1979 was with the Staffordshire Building Society which was based near Banks’s Brewery.
        My meagre savings are now with the Stafford Railway Building Society.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. …and sadly no longer has a building society, that having been absorbed by a bank. I was one of the 0.3% of members who voted against demutualisation, incidentally.

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