Generally this Loop is reasonably demanding because of the way it dips into and out of the steep sided South Pennine valleys.
There are a variety of tracks - grass gravel, grass, aggregate, stone causeway, stone setts as well as some short sections of tarmac. The going is not fast for horses because of the amount of stone track but there are some grassy sections too!
Particular care should be taken on the approaches to the A6033 crossing near Bottomley where the track either side of the road is very steep. To the north of the crossing the stone setts can be slippery when wet. Between the road crossing and Summit care is required as the route passes along Reddyshore Scout where there is a sheer drop (now fenced) on the east side.
Associated Downloads
- Facilities in this section of the Trail[Size: 54.9Kb] {#DownloadURL} Provides a summary table of all the facilities in this section of the Pennine Bridleway
- Distance chart[Size: 22.09Kb] {#DownloadURL} Distance Chart for this section of the Trail
- Mary Towneley Loop Map & Facilities Guide 2011[Size: 6.08Mb] {#DownloadURL} Map & B&B information
- Mary Towneley Loop GPS[Size: 266.08Kb] {#DownloadURL} You will need to right click and save the file in order to then import it to your GPS
- 10th Anniversary sponsored ride - update[Size: 249.5Kb] {#DownloadURL} Read the account of the successful 10th anniversary ride & all that can happen in 10 years on the Loop