Eight Stiles Walk Around Long Preston

• Long distance views
• Lovely beckside walk
• Finish in the Maypole Inn or the Boars Head

Start on the Maypole Green in Long Preston and walk up the lane past the village school, following the road around to the church. Walk through the attractive churchyard and out of the gate at the back onto the lane.  Immediately after the bridge over Long Preston Beck cross the stile on the left to follow the beck as it meanders along to the little wooden footbridge. Don’t cross this, but carry on along the beck side past the stone walls of the reservoir up on the right which supplies the water for the village.  There are two small recently built wooden bridges to cross before heading up the track on the left.  Glance back at the charming view before crossing the stile by the gate onto New Pasture Lane.   The route across the fields from stile to stile can be easily seen, with the village nestling at the bottom.  The eighth stile leads onto Moor Lane and back down on to Maypole Green.

Long Preston is very familiar to me so a few hopefully interesting facts would not go amiss. Long means linear (for obvious reasons) whilst Preston has a meaning of priests’ farmstead. The village still retains a Maypole which is used by the school children once a year on Mayday and the village green does provide a focus for village life. Within minutes any walk will take you into the Dales proper and away from the A65 with the National Park boundary 100 yards to the west on the lines of the railway track. St Mary’s Church is a particularly fine example of an old English church dating back to the 14th century where it is first mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Recommend: A pint in the Maypole Inn overlooking the green

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© Crown copyright 2010 Ordnance Survey. Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. Image reproduced with kind permission of Ordnance Survey and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland.

OS Map:	O/S 1/25,000. OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western Section
Start Point:	834582 Start on Maypole Green in the village of Long Preston.
Terrain:	Initially on country lanes then mostly tracks and footpaths, some across fields.
Eating & Drinking:	The Maypole Inn and the Boars Head both serve good food and have a fine selection of beers.
Similar Walks Nearby:	Long Preston Deeps Historic Villages of Settle Lanes of Long Preston
Places to Stay:	Long Preston Tea Rooms B & B Eldon Country Hotel, Long Preston