It's all Nature's fault

atterscarA major fault led to my best moments this week. I’m talking about the Craven Fault, caused by a prehistoric act of Nature which created some of the country’s most magnificent and intriguing landscapes. A walk following the fault-line from Clapham in the west to Grassington in the east would surely be one of the most spectacular trails in Yorkshire – over to you, trailblazers. I trod two sections this week – the first from near Feizor across to Giggleswick Scar where views down Ribblesdale and the floodplain early evening on Tuesday were exceptional.
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On Friday I walked the Settle Loop – part of the Pennine Bridleway – which includes views of the fault-line over Malham and Malham Moor. For me though, the tiny valley of Stockdale provides one of the greatest panoramas. Heading from the Malham direction, the Settle Loop reaches the top of Stockdale and squeezes between the Rye Loaf Hill and the limestone scars of Attermire and Langcliffe. Here Warrendale Knots stand guard on the border between limestone and gritstone, and here the grand sweeping valleys of Ribblesdale and Airedale open up before you. Being there on a warm summer’s day certainly makes you feel glad to be alive.
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(That’s not me in the picture – hope you don’t mind whoever you are.) Back to Sunday … after I’d written last week’s blog the day brightened up so I drove to Selside and a nice little photo spot near the start of the track to Alum Pot. Here Penyghent is perfectly framed by the trees which somehow grow from the limestone pavement.
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smallsignOn Monday I strolled from the village up to Winskill to find that one of my favourite pointy-signpost-photo-foregrounds had been switched for a short stumpy little effort. I suppose it helps open up the view a bit but I like signs that have place-names on them. Perhaps the authorities have been instructed to remove all signs containing names because there’s an imminent invasion threat?

I got the rare urge to desert the Dales on Wednesday and use my senior railcard on a trip to York. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the holidaying population of the UK and beyond had decided on the same destination. As you’ll gather, I’m not one for crowds but the experience was bearable thanks to the many attractions of this magnificent little city, and I saw many sights and heard sounds I’d never normally come across back home …
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yorkwallsWith the sun still having its hat on yesterday I walked up to Castleberg Rock to take a panoramic view of Settle and Giggleswick. I made a very short video with my normal camera – something I’m not very good at, as you’ll see here …

 

Trees offer a breath of fresh Airedale

No doubt after the latest storms have passed there will be little left of the autumnal colours to enjoy. So I am pleased that a few days ago I journeyed to Leeds by rail – why? Because if you take the train between Skipton and Leeds and stare at the Aire Valley instead of at your iPhone or some other already-out-of-date device, you’ll see that despite its industrial history Airedale is in fact blessed with a great deal of woodland. All along the route up to within a mile or two of the city trees cover the valley sides. And I hear that just a couple of weeks ago Yorkshire Water, along with the Forestry Commission and Natural England, began a £1m project to restore more ancient woodland near Esholt – nice one. Not only are trees vital to the environment they provide a great deal of pleasure, and I’ve enjoyed many a grand walk along the Leeds-Liverpool canal which snakes through the Aire Valley woodland. I took these pictures by the canal near Kildwick in summer – it’ll be a while before we see such greenery again.

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Putting Yorkshire in the Frame – 2

#puttingyorkshireintheframe

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There’s beauty all around Yorkshire – much of it off the main tourist routes. Here I’m stood on the ridge above Cowling near Airedale where there are magnificent views all round. This would be a perfect spot for one of Ashley Jackson’s ‘frames’ @AJacksonArtist

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