My Yorkshire Dales photo diary. Sadly, many of the swallows living around the house have disappeared – a bit early for departure but perhaps they know something we humans don’t. There is still one pair lodging in a former outside loo – perhaps they had second chicks and are awaiting their development. I hope it doesn’t mean summer’s over before it’s really begun.
Thankfully there have been a couple of rain-breaks this week when I’ve been able to get in a little exercise and some photography. There was some mellow evening light around the local dales on Friday, as in the top photo of sheep grazing beneath Penyghent at Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The next two show Kingsdale and Ingleborough from Chapel-le-Dale.
Another shot of Penyghent, this time from Horton churchyard
Settle is certainly looking colourful with all the flowerpot creations dotted around town for the annual festival. I took a few photos one night this week before rain interrupted my tour. You can see a selection by clicking here – by no means a complete set. Great work by everyone involved.
Living in such a lovely part of the country means every day is cause for celebration here in the Dales but Monday was a bit more special as it was Yorkshire Day. I pinched a white rose from a neighbour’s tree and popped it into a glass of water – it’s still blooming nicely as I write this six days later.
Clapham is always worth a visit – I was there for an evening stroll earlier in the week…
Love this old-style road furniture.
Steam train excursions up and down the Settle-Carlisle line are still attracting a great deal of attention, especially when Flying Scotsman is hauling (first pic shows Flying Scotsman passing through Settle). Other two show other engines pulling trains earlier in the week at Ribblehead and another in Settle (Saturday).
I don’t just take landscape photos around the Dales, although they are my favourite kind of shots. Sometimes I like to capture people working in the countryside, such as this farmer at the hamlet of Wharfe in Crummackdale (below).
Also, I like to photograph hidden places and old or unusual subjects. This old gate up a narrow overgrown path near Wharfe intrigued me – it made me want to enter and find out what mysteries lay behind (I resisted).
In my own village of Langcliffe there are many views slightly off the beaten track, such as these atmospheric places.
The late evening sun is a good time for a wander with the camera round Langcliffe…
A walk taking in Ilkley Moor and the Cow & Calf rocks on Wednesday was spoiled for me by racist in the car park. Had I been more quick-witted I would have responded more cuttingly to the elderly man’s disrespectful remark about a group of fellow visitors. Maybe he thought he was being amusing, saying something that might have been acceptable in a 1970s’ sitcom – or perhaps I was just being oversensitive. The people were out of earshot – I doubt the coward would have said anything otherwise – but he obviously thought I was of a similar mind to him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The visitors looked very smart and happy, obviously enjoying their important Eid festival day out. I much prefer to share the Yorkshire countryside with them than with small-minded halfwits. Intolerance of other people’s ways of life certainly seems to be on the increase. A general feeling of injustice, unfairness and inequality in society, created by greed and corruption and a quest for power by the few, seems to be manifesting in racism all around the world.
Anyway, mustn’t spiral into despondency and depression over the actions of others, there’s still a lot to enjoy in life and much beauty to be experienced on the planet, especially here in the Dales. Ilkley Moor – with or without a hat – was moody but enjoyable, despite the fact that I fell down a rabbit hole… well, not all of me, that would have had to be some giant Roger Rabbit hole, but one leg up to my knee disappeared. Going in at any angle other than straight down I could have been another Fell Rescue Association statistic. It did, however, create some merriment for my walking companions (friends, eh?).
On track in the Dales
Dodging showers has been the story of the week really. I managed to grab a couple of local photos as the darker clouds sped by. The flowers on this elder have recently blossomed (not sure if this is a little later than normal – perhaps some expert will let me know) and make a handy foreground on this typical Dales track near my home. The mackerel sky stood out strongly against the hillside trees above Langcliffe to create a nice backdrop.
A short spell of sunshine on Friday evening tempted me out for a quick drive around the local dales. Moughton Scar looked fine from the bridge over the beck in Austwick (below), and Penyghent briefly caught the sun – seen from above the fishery at Helwith Bridge in the first photo in blog.
I’m hoping for a good day during the coming week so I can amble around Settle to see all the creations in the Flowerpot Festival. There’s a good selection of photos here… https://www.facebook.com/settleflowerpotfestival/
Earlier this week I saw, and added my name in support of, a post on tinterweb concerning trains – or rather a lack of them between Skipton and Settle. Like many other people I find it really frustrating that there is no train after 8pm from Skipton back up Ribblesdale. This isn’t just because it prevents me from having a drink with friends in Skipton, but also because of the problems of linking trains for longer journeys. Having a last train to this part of Yorkshire from Leeds at 19.19 is ridiculous. I look at the obscene money being spent on – and the disruption being caused by – the silly HS2 scheme and wonder how can such a folly be justified when the current rail infrastructure is so inadequate? https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=train%20skipton%20to%20settle
On reading a local history book I learned that the top end of Ribblesdale was once the most northern part of England, as raiding Scots plundered the north west. If we ask them nicely do you think they’ll take over the north of England again so we can be separated from those clowns running (or should that be ruining) the country from London?
Miserable weather has cut short my photo opportunities this week so I looked back on this time last year to see what I was up to. The steam trains were running through Ribblesdale and I captured this one near Selside, with Penyghent in the background. I also saw the old ‘windy hill’ from Thorns (pic below) at the top of the dale. Park Fell and Ingleborough, on that old Scottish border, also featured in my diary for this week in 2015 (top pic in blog).
Ribblesdale this week
I did manage a few local shots during a couple of bright moments over the last seven days. Driving back from Gisburn I grabbed this blurry photo of an oyster catcher perched on the impressive bridge ay Paythorne.
The Ribble looks large and powerful here, swollen by heavy rain further up the dale. The clouds cleared to reveal a splendid view of north Ribblesdale and Settle from above Wigglesworth. Penyghent, Warrendale, Castleberg and various scars can all be seen from here…
In Settle the weir was lively, looking like foaming beer – or as I posted on Twitter, this long exposure close-up reminding me of Donald Trump’s hair.
The Settle flower pot festival started on July 1 and already there are many designs around the town worth seeking out. This one by the river bridge reminded me of the first TV set my parents rented from Wigfall’s. Watching Andy Pandy and the Flowerpot Men in black and white was a memorable experience in those days for a youngster. How times have changed.
Yesterday I watched as a large group of walkers set off around Ribblesdale on the Three Peaks trail in appalling weather. There’s nothing we can do about the rain and wind but we can do something to maintain the route which becomes even more churned up on such days. The Yorkshire Dales National Park reckons it costs around £28 per metre to maintain the route. People can help by donating to the Three Peaks Project – visit http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/looking-after/achievingourvision/the-experience/three-peaks-project
With some family members here for the weekend, visiting Ribblesdale for the first time, I took them on a walk from Langcliffe Park where they were staying in a motorhome. We walked along the Ribble to Stainforth Foss and back along the eastern side of the dale via the Hoffmann kiln.
The poor weather didn’t put them off Ribblesdale and they’ve promised to return to discover more – we were even treated to a fine rainbow later yesterday evening. Their verdict on Langcliffe Park: immaculate. www.langcliffe.com
The 100th anniversary of the Somme reminded me of a trip a couple of years ago when I drove up to Colsterdale, near Masham, to see the Leeds Pals memorial. I thought this lonely moorland spot was a strange place for a monument commemorating the brave chaps from Leeds who gave their lives. But I discovered that during the First World War Colsterdale was the site of a training camp for the Leeds Pals. Later there was a prisoner of war camp for German officers here. We should forever remembered the perils of a divided Europe. (Since my photo was taken a wheelchair ramp has been installed leading up to the memorial.)
Every now and then I’ll do something very unYorkshire-like by stepping outside the county boundary. There’s some method in this madness … you see, I have a Senior Railcard and it is my duty as a Yorkshireman to make sure I get my moneysworth out of it. The nice man at Settle station worked out the cheapest way to get me to Scotland’s north-east coast town of Stonehaven and back – just £64 which is cheaper than it would have cost to buy petrol for the car journey. Despite being only 15 miles from the bustling city of Aberdeen Stonehaven is peaceful and picturesque and within walking distance of the impressive Dunnottar Castle. If you’re interested in my snapshots of the area click here.
From whichever way you reenter Yorkshire there’s always some landmark that confirms you’re back on home soil. From the north west by train it’s the highest point of the Settle-Carlisle line at Ais Gill for me. The Scottish coastline has some terrific scenery but I still adore traveling down Mallerstangdale, crossing into Dentdale and then emerging from Blea Moor tunnel into the land of the Three Peaks. The picture above is looking across to the Yorkshire side of Mallerstangdale beneath Great Shunner Fell.
I was back in time to celebrate Yorkshire Day in Ribblesdale where in Langcliffe we had a Jacob’s Join and sang the full version of Ilkla Mooar Baht ‘at. As I’m completely tone deaf I just drank beer.
The start of the week was dismal with little chance of photography due to the weather. I managed to spot a short-lived spell of light among the grey of Stainforth Scar (above), and noted that the weir on the Ribble (below) was a bit livelier than of late.
Yesterday afternoon the mill pond looked grand as it caught the sun. Shortly after taking the photo I was spotted by about 30 ducks that all started paddling frantically towards me. I made a hasty retreat as the hungry birds seemed determined to find something to nibble.
The brilliant flowerpot festival in Settle has attracted much interest this week but I wonder how many visitors lift their eyes to see this little chap (below). He has a cartoon pal nearby too, and they’re both on permanent display. I’m not telling you where they are, you’ll just have to come and find them.
My Yorkshire Dales photo diary. Sadly, many of the swallows living around the house have disappeared – a bit early for departure but perhaps they know something we humans don’t. There is still one pair lodging in a former outside loo – perhaps they had second chicks and are awaiting their development. I hope it doesn’t mean summer’s over before it’s really begun.
