Settle down now

Ahh, Sunday evening AND sunshine. The trippers are on their way home and Settle is settling back into a more relaxed mood. I strolled up Castle Hill and through Tot Lord Wood which was peaceful and full of birdsong. Shafts of light picked out ramsons, daisies and bluebells all shouting ‘look at me, look at me’. On top of Castleberg rock the low sun warmed the limestone as I took in a very green, very wide Ribblesdale. Settle resembles a toy town from up here. It must be the same feeling for those living in a tall block of flats – but I bet this situation is a lot more rewarding. Here are the views from Castleberg and t’ other way round…

castleberg

settle

Tree-mendous start to the day

sycamore sycamore2

Up with the birds this morning, I decided to stroll round the village taking photos of some of the trees as they enjoyed the early sunshine. (Apologies to the lady just opening her bedroom curtains – I REALLY was taking pics of the trees… I’ll see you again in court.) St Mary’s churchyard in Long Preston looked particularly stunning, especially this sycamore. What a fabulous way to start the day.

Walk this way…

I’ve put together a walk of around six miles, starting and finishing at Helwith Bridge in Ribblesdale. It uses the Ribble Way by the river to Horton then a minor back road to Dub Cote. From here it’s uphill to join Long Lane back down to Helwith Bridge. There are three pubs on the route. Have a look here…

http://www.long-preston.co.uk/site/editorial_files/walkingflip/index.html

I’m hoping to put a few more Ribblesdale walks together so I’d appreciate any comments about the appearance and ease of use of the site. I know the picture files make it slow loading and I’m working on that aspect.

Light fantastic

malham
There was some lovely late sunlight t’ other night which called for a little drive. From Settle I took the Malham road over the moor, stopping off for five minutes at Scaleber Force – not as spectacular as I’ve seen it, but a magical place and always worth a visit. Malhamdale, wearing its green and grey uniform, opens up in front of you as you head along this quiet back road. But this night the tops of the western facing slopes were a warm yellow as the sun began to slip behind Malham Moor. I just managed to get this shot of the cove, now empty of the usual hordes of visitors. Then it was up and over the moor back into Ribblesdale to watch the sun finally go down over Ingleborough from Winskill – pictured below. This is why I love living in the Dales.
sunset

Armless in Ribblesdale

I’ve damaged tendons in my right shoulder doing some DIY (don’t ask!) hence the lack of activity on my blog page. I  can type for a little while as long as my forearm is flat on the desk. Doc’s given me a cocktail of tablets to take which I’m quite enjoying – I might ask if I can have a prescription for recreational use. Funny how the simplest of tasks become virtually impossible when you temporarily lose use of one arm – putting on a shirt, washing your hair, driving, cooking… try it for a day, you’ll be surprised. Fortunately I’m ambidextrous when it comes to drinking. At least I’ve spent some time relaxing in the sun today and if it is the same weather tomorrow I’m off for a walk in Ribblesdale – it’s my shoulder that’s duff not my little old legs.

Ain't nothing but some grey skies…

catclouds

So say the lyrics of some song sung by someone I can’t remember and can’t be bothered to look up. I’ve felt the same melancholy looking out of my windows this week so I tracked back through my photo archive to see what the weather has been like at this time of year over the last decade. This picture is one from 2010 – taken because I thought I saw the face of a cat in the sky. I hadn’t been drinking, honest. I used the photo in a blog I did for Countryman magazine at the time and several readers wrote in to say they spotted it too… can you?

The photo was taken at Bookilber, above Long Preston in Ribblesdale

Sky's the limit in Ribblesdale

ribblesdale_sky

I managed to capture one of those magical Dales skies this evening. There seemed to be so much happening – shadow and light dancing along the ground and layer upon layer of clouds and muted colours above. A razor-edged shaft of light came in from the left just for a few seconds to give the scene even more interest. The distant cloud is just brushing the top of Ingleborough. Many a time I’ve watched the sun go down from here at Winskill, up above Langcliffe in Ribblesdale.

Blowing away the cobwebs in Silverdale

If you get the chance, drive along the road between Stainforth and Halton Gill. This Silverdale which joins Ribblesdale with Littondale around the east side of Penyghent – there are some fabulous views. Went there late afternoon when I spotted some blue sky. By gum it were fair windy but at least the cobwebs were blown away after I’d had four hours of dealing with Countryman emails. Here are some pics from the first half of the journey – the sheep mistook me for the farmer and they got a bit miffed when I didn’t feed them.

pennine_way

penyghent

sheep

At large in Yorkshire

Up to retiring from my job as editor of the Yorkshire Dalesman magazine in November 2012 I wrote a weekly blog about my travels around the great county of Yorkshire. I always took with me my trusty Canon 300D to make a photographic record of my trips and tried to include some shots  – good and poor – in the blog. Readers got in touch from all over the world to thank me for showing them what Yorkshire is like or for reminding them ‘of the old place’. I’m hoping, if we ever get any decent photographic weather, to continue with the ‘service’ from this blog so please keep coming back to see where I’ve been… and get in touch if you’d like to see somewhere specific from God’s Own Country.
(I’m also freelance editor of The Countryman – a national magazine for lovers of the countryside – visit my blog via www.countrymanmagazine.co.uk . The new editor of Dalesman also publishes a fine blog via www.dalesman.co.uk )

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