Directions to Fishpond Wood and Ice House

1. Beginning from the Car Park opposite the play park, turn left along the main road (Street Lane), passing the garage on your right. At the Royal Oak pub, take the road bearing left towards Bewerley. As you reach the beginning of the village, you will reach a crossroads. At this, you need to turn sharply right, taking the road heading uphill to your right. You will almost feel like you are doubling back on yourself.

2. After 200 yards, you will reach a footpath sign to your left, pointing in the direction of Toft Gate. Take this footpath across the fields. It crosses some duckboards, and then heads upwards and slightly rightwards, until you reach a narrow gate in the wall. Head through this and keep the wall to your left (there are signs for cattle grazing in this field. We didn’t encounter any when we were there, but be aware if you’re not keen!)

3. The path descends some stone steps (The Monks Steps), until you reach another little gate at the bottom, which heads through the wall and into the woodland. Here you have two choices.

   Teeth in the Bridge route.

4. If you’d like to visit the teeth in the bridge, you can turn right and head uphill, passing a yellow waymarker to the gap in the stone wall ahead. Head diagonally left through the next field, which leads upwards towards a farmhouse at the far corner of the field ahead. Head to the waymarked gateway which leads you onto the access track to the farmhouse.

5. Turn left and head down the track heading away from the farmhouse. This winds downwards towards the main entrance to Fishpond Woods, where you will see a large piece of carved stone artwork. At the stone, turn right on a small path that continues to follow the perimeter wall of the woods (this will be on your left). The path runs parallel to the road. As the path exits onto the narrow country lane, you will head down some steps and through a cast iron gate.

6. Here, turn right and after a short distance you will find the road bridge with the teeth!

7. Once you have explored, double back on yourself and head back into the woods the way you left. Head back to the carved stone and this time head straight on, passing the Fishpond Wood information board on your left and through a wooden gate into the woodland.

8. Stick to the main wide track that bends round to the left and you will soon reach the pond. Here you can turn either left or right to walk around the pond, ending up at the stone jetty (walk instructions continue from there at point 11!)

   Short Version of the Walk

9. From the gate, you need to head on the path which takes you straight on, towards the pond up ahead. It crosses a little wooden bridge, and continues around the right hand side of the water.

10. Explore as much or as little of the woodland as you like (just keep to the paths!)

11. Continue around the pond, until you reach the stone jetty. Here, the path begins to fork right. Take this path (not the one that continues around the pond). This again splits into two. You need to take the upper path to get to the Ice House.

12. The Ice House is renowned for its spiders, so bravery is required to go in! But it has been fully restored and is great to go and check out so if you can handle the spiders, head in for a peek!

13. Once you have explored the ice house, head back towards the pond. At the point where the path split, now take the lower path, and this will take you back out the woods and back into Bewerley.

14. Once back in the village, head back out he village the way you came in, and make sure to explore Pateley Bridge (it’s home to the oldest Sweet Shop in England!)

Last walked July 2025.