One of the commonest types of walking guide is a few pages, stapled together with a little colour on the cover. Dr Bill Mitchell has just read – and listened to – a guide that is radically different and outstanding. Part of a series entitled Discovering Britain, and relating to a six-mile circular walk in the Settle area, it is published under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) who in 2012 mounted a nationwide competition in conjunction with the University of the Third Age to contribute to a proposal for a themed walk telling the story of their local area. You can read the guide – and listen to it – on an audio version.

The Settle guide, devised by Tony Stephens, of Giggleswick, in collaboration with Mike Jackson, is not one of the dreary “turn left, then right” types of directions for walkers.

There are 44 colourful pages with facts, figures and stories relating to the history and ages of objects to be seen.

The walk begins and ends at the market cross at the centre of Settle, with the Shambles as a backdrop.

It was here that Settle butchers once plied their trade. On a map devised by a man called John Lettsom it is called Rotten Row. That must have been a time when it was regarded as less than hygienic.

You can read about how sections of drystone walls, which form a distinctive pattern on the North Craven landscape, can be dated.

Walls made without a dab of mortar existed at the beginning of the 14th century and eventually became a network of boundaries for meadows and pastures. Most of the stone walls we see today were built in the middle of the 18th century but there are a few much older ones.

The author reported how, climbing high above the town to the Craven Faults, one might find a coral reef and a cave holding prehistoric clues. Victoria Cave, discovered in 1837, held clues as to the appearance of the area tens of thousands of years ago. Castleberg, an outstanding limestone crag that dominates old Settle, is stated to be the most westerly exposure of the line of reef knolls that stretch across Craven from Wharfe to Ribble.

Colourful maps ensure that the guide reader keeps to the prescribed route. Text and photographs, many in colour, adorn most of the pages. A novelty connected with this “self-guided walk around Settle” fascinated me. It is a 50-minute audio version of the text of this fascinating guide. The sound element, available on the discoveringbritain website, was recorded by Tony and Mike Jackson, who is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a walk co-ordinator for the Discovering Britain project.

The first part of the walk has a rural background. The second part is an exploration of the oldest buildings in Settle. Historically, yeoman farmers became wealthy. Quakers gained commercial control of a town. Many visitors must wonder why premises overlooking the market place should be called Naked Man.

In 1579 it was owned by James Cookson, who held an oxgang of land, a close in Newfield and paid a rental of 27 shillings. It was James’s grandson, another James, whose insignia (IC 1663) can be seen on the wall. The last Cookson to be born at the Naked Man was Dr James Cookson, who became a physician in Wakefield in 1700.

Tony’s view is that James Cookson, an old-time owner, used the name Naked Man to poke fun at the Quakers at a time when there was discord in the community between Quakers and Anglicans. The Folly, built by Richard Preston, is now a notable museum. A church seating plan suggests that Preston was living here by the year 1677.

Under the heading of “Meeting Places” are notes and colour photographs of the Quaker Meeting House, the licence to build it following the Act of Toleration of 1689, and the Victoria Hall, opened in 1853. Above the stage is the fire screen which pictures Settle Market Place as it was in 1822.

Both the written and audio commentary may be downloaded from the Discoveringbritain website (discoveringbritain.org). The walk is now available in an attractive 44-page colour booklet at £3.95. Copies of the guide book are available from the Settle TIC, Friends of the Settle & Carlisle Line Shop, Settle station, The Museum of North Craven Life at the Folly, Settle, and Skipton Castle bookshop.