Going off the grid in chuffing Ribblesdale

RibblesdaleYou’ll not find the name Beacon Scar on a modern OS map of Ribblesdale despite the place being higher and more significant than many of the surrounding named hills. Go back to the 1800s when they were fond of lighting beacons and you’ll find the hill on maps, 1,426ft above sea level beside Warrendale Knotts on the edge of Stockdale near Settle. Presumably the good folk at Ordnance Survey thought there were too many ‘Beacons’ around the north so they decided to cull a few.

RibblesdaleThey did however note that it was in such a strategic position that they placed a trig point where the ancient beacon would have been. If you stand there, looking west, you’ll note you are lined up almost in a straight line across Ribblesdale with Smearsett Scar and Ingleborough (see pic above) which also have trig points and were once beacon sites – and ideal places for warning locals of invading Scots in days gone by. The 360-degree view from Beacon Hill is superb. There’s a short video of it here if you’re interested. https://youtu.be/kQQwk7PebPM It wasn’t the clearest of days when I went up there on Monday and you’ll note the furthest fells are melting away a little.

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Looking south from Beacon Scar across Stockdale toward Rye Loaf Hill.
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Zoomed-in views of Penyghent and Ingleborough across Ribblesdale.

 

I’ve bumped into a lot of chuffing train enthusiasts on my saunters around Ribblesdale this week, as there’s been a lot of steam action on the Settle-Carlisle line. Here are a few of the shots I’ve taken:

Ribblesdale
Above, Flying Scotsman on a wet day near Helwith Bridge; below, yesterday passing through Settle and Giggleswick.

I see Tan Hill pub is for sale at £900k. When it was up for grabs in 2008 it was on the market for £1.1m although I don’t know what it eventually sold for. Pictures show the place some 50 years apart.

If you haven’t yet tried Ribblesdale’s newest Coffee House at The Folly in Settle then I can highly recommend it (they also do tea for tea freaks like me). https://www.facebook.com/follycoffeehouse/?rc=p Mind you, all the cafes and pubs in Settle are worth a visit – but don’t attempt to do them all in a day, you’ll put on two stone such is the quality of available cakes. Some of the creations for this year’s Flowerpot Festival are also impressive – another reason to visit the town. I hope to bring photos of the festival next week.

Away from the madding crowd in Ribblesdale

Yesterday I managed to squeeze in a stroll around one of my favourite spots, Thorns Gill and the derelict settlement of Thorns at the head of Ribblesdale. Ribblehead, looking more like Blackpool prom on a Bank Holiday Monday, is nobbut half a mile away yet there I was completely alone for an hour in this beautiful glen with its waterfalls and fascinating rock formations.

Sheep don’t often pose for me but I think this one’s a bit of a diva …

And finally…

A neighbouring cat gives me the eye for disturbing the peace. I wonder if cats dream in black and white?

During the week I also post shots and opinions on Twitter. Visit @paulinribb

 

 

Dales waterfalls provide memorable moments

Photography took a back seat last week. But I did get chance to scan through the photos I’d taken over the previous 12 months. I’d not realised how many waterfalls I’d snapped while tottering gently around the Dales … or how poor I was at capturing their magic. I don’t usually take a tripod with me so I often struggle to hold the camera steadily enough get pin-sharp images, and my time-lapse stuff is sometimes shaky or over-exposed. I’ll make a late resolution to improve this year. Anyhow, I’m not after any photographic awards – I just want to capture the moment and a memory of all the special places around the Dales.  The top photo shows Catrigg Falls, above Stainforth in Ribblesdale.

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Clapham Falls
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Scaleber Force, above Settle
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Stainforth Force close-up
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Scaleber from below on a dry day
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The mighty Hardraw Force in Wensleydale
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A small fall at Ribblehead quarry nature reserve
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Top fall at Thorns Gill, near Ribblehead
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Thornton Falls at Ingleton
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Three shots of Aysgarth in autumn

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Wain Wath Fall, Swaledale
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A lively Stainforth Force and packhorse bridge
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Peaceful Cotter Force, Cotterdale
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Janet’s Foss, near Gordale Scar

It’s a special time on the Settle-Carlisle line this week as steam-hauled trains take on part of the scheduled passenger timetable for the first time in 50 years. Tornado will be pulling packed carriages between Appleby and Skipton via Settle from 14-16th February – for more details visit http://www.settle-carlisle.co.uk/tag/tornado/

 

Ribble reflections and crown of Thorns

Ribble 2Two enjoyable shortish walks by the Ribble to report on this week. The river looked fabulous as it reflected the sun while I sauntered along to Stainforth.

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The Ribble and Stackhouse from Stainforth Scar

Then it was a trudge up Stainforth Scar to take in views up and down Ribblesdale. I’ll let the photos do the talking here as I’m out of breath…

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Lovely clouds over Ingleborough, Smearsett Scar and Knight Stainforth
Ribble pyggap
Penyghent seen through a gap in an ancient wall on Stainforth Scar
Ribble path
One of my favourite paths near Langcliffe
Ribble rocket
Looks like a rocket taking off from Skipton – the first manned exploration probe into Lancashire?
Ribble stile
Another view towards Smearsett Scar and Ingleborough
Ribble hayfield
One day, son, all this hard work will be yours…

Making hay while the sun shone was the order of the day as I approached Langcliffe. So satisfying to see people working while I idle my time away.

Ribble langhay

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Ribble head

Later in the week in cloudier weather I snatched a short walk at the head of the Ribble. Thorns Gill looked and sounded fabulous. The crown of Thorns has to be the hidden waterfall at the Gearstones end. But the old bridge which has defied gravity for hundreds of years was also a splendid sight.

Ribble thornsfall

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Ribble thornsrock
A miniature world on a rock – a bit like planet Earth, really

The Three Peaks of Ingleborough, Whernside and Penyghent took on different moods as the clouds (and trains) passed by.

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Clouds gather over Park Fell and Ingleborough
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Zoomed in from Thorns Gill – a goods train over Ribblehead Viaduct, helping to remove more lorries from our congested roads.

www.settlecarlisle.co.uk

 

 

Ribblesdale rocks come rain or shine

Ribblesdale inglethornsOn 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?

Ribblesdale trainpygMiserable 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).

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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.

Ribblesdale oyster

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…

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Ribblesdale warrendale

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.

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Ribblesdale trumphair

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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 AndyRibblesdale pots 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

Ribblesdale stainfoss

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.

Ribblesdale hoffmann

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

Ribblesdale rainbow

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.)

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Tributes, towers and tales from the Pennines

cotter

Bill Mitchell’s funeral service at Skipton Parish Church on Monday proved to be a fitting send-off for a Dales icon. His children David and Janet spoke eloquently as they recalled life with their famous dad. He would have been very proud of them. After the service I thought I’d pay a private little tribute to Bill by visiting one of his favourite spots. I once asked him to tell me of his best-loved places in the Dales – a terrible question to ask, and one to which I usually give a very wishy-washy answer.thornsbridge He preferred peaceful out-of-the-way locations where he could contemplate life rather than those featuring great long hikes over mountains. He liked Cotter Force (pictured above) and other waterfalls, and also Thorns Gill, near Ribblehead, where I took a little wander on Monday afternoon. The beck was low and the trees were changing colour and losing leaves, which meant I could see more of the quaint old bridge.

When I joined Dalesman Publishing Company in 1993 Bill had retired from being editor of Dalesman and Cumbria magazines some five years earlier but he still contributed to them and for a while continued to edit from home another magazine which the company owned called Pennine Magazine, later to become Peak & Pennine. Alongside Bill I subedited and laid out the pages, the old fashioned way to begin with – cutting and pasting bits of paper for an outside typesetter to prepare for press.  Bill was very fond of the magazine. It gave him chance to write about areas and subjects not necessarily associated with the more rural dales region. His interesting and popular Milltown Memories articles stemmed from this. On Tuesday I had the chance of a whistle-stop tour of some of the areas featured in the magazine which sadly is no longer published.
dovestone

The gritstone towns and villages clinging to the steep hillsides here are full of character. They sit in dramatic country where for centuries Man has tried, usually unsuccessfully, to tame  inhospitable land and conditions. The higher boggy moors of the South Pennines are really fit for nothing bar rearing game birds and a few hardy sheep. But it is the perfect place for collecting water, as witnessed by countless reservoirs which supply major industrial towns and cities of the north. They break up desolate landscape and provide some fine photography.
At Dovestone (pictured above), close to where the four counties of Yorks, Lancs, Derbyshire and Cheshire shake hands, the autumn colours brightened up for me what can sometimes feel to be a dark, claustrophobic – but exciting – landscape.
holmeframe

The sky and weather changes rapidly here on the high hills and this has proved inspirational for many leading artists, writers and poets. Holmfirth-based artist Ashley Jackson loves these moors and he has helped people visualise their beauty with the installation of metal frames around the district – see www.framingthelandscape.co.uk.  I called to see one at Wessenden, a bleak spot on the edge of Saddleworth Moor, and after a brief stroll around the picturesque Digley Reservoir, it was up the winding route to Holme Moss, 1719ft  above sea level. Here another of Ashley’s frames (pictured above) highlights a wide-reaching and varied panorama of moorland, industry and history.
castlehill

As if the hills aren’t already high enough in these parts, Man has decided to extend his reach even further. Holme Moss transmitter station stretches another 750ft high above the frame, while in the distance the giant TV mast of Emley Moor stands a whopping 1084 ft high with its tip almost touching 2,000ft above sea level. Tall wind turbines grab the considerable breezes to the south-east, while in the centre of the scene the grand Victoria Tower of Castle Hill is clearly visible. While I’m in full-flowing anorak mode, I can tell you that the tower is 106ft  high, which means that by standing at the top you are 1,000 feet, plus however tall you are, above sea level.
I drove down to the monument (pictured above) before dusk and although it wasn’t the clearest of evenings the 360 degree views were still a joy to behold. I then watched Huddersfield Town win 2-0 … also a joy to behold (but not as frequently available).
highway

Being very busy for the rest of the week I’ve had little chance to do much more photography or walking, but strolling into Settle along the Highway on Friday I was rewarded with a view of some fine autumn colours.
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Pleasing news this week is that the government have at last (it’s taken more than two years) decided on enlarging the Lakes and Dales national parks to bridge the gap between the two. Important places like Orton Fell, Mallerstang (pictured below) and the northern end of the Howgills will from next summer fall under the Dales authority. The government now has to find a way to pay for this extension at a time when they are slashing all park and local authority budgets. Will they eventually decide to sell off the Dales National Park to the highest bidder? Will my forecast in an earlier blog of there being a McDonalds or a Starbucks at the top of Penyghent one day become reality? Let’s hope they remember that the national parks were created to protect our countryside for future generations, not to solve financial cock-ups, or make someone a fat profit, or place in private hands.

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Not everything is so black and white in the Yorkshire dales

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I’ve decided that sheep get a bad press. I like to think they can be proud, strong leaders. And this character, encountered on a short walk on Monday, definitely agrees. The start of the week was grey so I continued on the black-and-white theme with a shot of the lane leading to Stainforth Scar from Langcliffe, and another of a farm in Swaledale – a different kind of Dales landscape.
laneb&w

swalefarm

Wednesday was Budget Day and those Tories really do see everything in black-and-white don’t they? The chancellor has a misguided impression that his friends in business will solve all our economic and social problems. Yes, of course George, all businesses will now start paying their workers decent wages and abolish zero-hours contracts. Business owners and shareholders will immediately stop hiking off as much profit as they can for themselves, they’ll cough up all the tax they owe, won’t go live abroad and will stop hiring cheap immigrant labour. Not all businesses are so greedy, I know – there are shades of grey in everything. Smearsett Scar, below, is a good example.
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Thank goodness Thursday brought some colour into my life. I rose early for some fabulous shots up Ribblesdale which looked stunning.ribbview

Then it was on to one of my favourite spots of all: Thorns Gill, at the very head of the dale. Two hours I spent at the gill and the abandoned grange of Thorns – and I never saw another soul. From the top of a small rise just beyond the ancient settlement, on the path to Nether Lodge, the 360-degree views are outstanding. I took far too many pictures to show here: ruined buildings, strange rock formations, lichen encrusted signposts, moss covered walls and overgrown ancient tracks and, of course, Ribblehead viaduct and the Three Peaks (I may in future publish a blog on Thorns only). The waterfalls were tranquil compared with how I’d seen them in the past, but nevertheless hypnotising. Gayle Beck, looking like well-brewed Yorkshire tea, cackled excitedly over the rocks. The dark, still pools were inviting on this hot day – dare I strip off for a bit of wild swimming? Not with all those sheep watching.
thornsgill
Friday reminded me that folk actually work in the dales and don’t just aimlessly flit around the place as I do. Near Austwick, half a dozen farm workers, in a kind of synchronised, motorised dance movement expertly cleared the meadows. hayaustwick

Exhausted by the thought of all that work I took a stripey photo of Moughton Scar (which might look better in b&w) before heading home for a brew of Yorkshire tea. By the way, has anyone ever seen the vast Yorkshire tea plantations?

moughton(Wot, no trains this week?)

A taste of spring to come in the Dales?

penyghent

I forgot all my cares and worries today as blue skies tempted me into another drive up Ribblesdale. This is a wonderful Dales scene: smoke from Dry Beck farm chimney; the ewe with its new-born lamb, a grand steaming pile of fresh dung and two dozen crows dancing noisily overhead… all against a backdrop of that famous Ribblesdale icon, Penyghent.  I carried on past Horton-in-Ribblesdale and parked near Ribblehead Viaduct before taking a short walk to the picturesque Thorns Gill bridge and falls.  I hope this is a taste of things to come for spring.

Peace found in upper Ribblesdale

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Thorns Gill was picture perfect this morning. Even though the grey mist hadn’t burnt off to reveal blue skies, it was warm and the scene was tranquil. I’ve been here when Cam Beck has been swollen by rainfall from the fells around Ribblehead and it has been dramatic to say the least. But today the sound of water trickling down the limestone gill was soothing and apart from a brief noisy squabble amongst the birds caused by a grey heron I could enjoy the peace. I don’t know exactly the age of the old packhorse bridge across this ravine but it’s probably been there since drovers brought stock up from Settle to the former market at Gearstones three hundred years ago. It seems to sit precariously – just held aloft by the science of arches – but it blends in perfectly. My earliest memories of Thorns Gill, with its erratics, caves and deep pools is from school visits in the 1960s when a certain PE teacher insisted we tried to jump across a section of the stream. If you failed you got wet. Excuse my bragging but I was the only one of my group who remained dry. If I tried it now I wouldn’t even make halfway and the ensuing tidal wave could flood Settle.

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