See Ribblesdale in autumn

Ribblesdale langcliffe_seatA short 12-photo blog this week as I was only able to grab a couple of strolls down Ribblesdale. My aim was to snatch some of the changing colours in the dale and around the village (Langcliffe pictured above). Fortunately there were some vivid moments when the sun shone briefly but strongly to add more interest to the scene.

Ribblesdale colours

Ribblesdale pen-y-ghent

Over the years of living in Ribblesdale I’ve learned the ideal times to visit certain locations for the best conditions. I love the light on the western flanks of Penyghent in the hour before the sun goes down. The colours differ depending on the time of year and the strength of the sunshine. The clouds also play their part in painting the scene. Sitting in a lay-by on the Little Stainforth road above Helwith Bridge you can watch the evening light over Penyghent and also see the sunset over Proctor’s Scar to the west.

Ribblesdale langcliffe_weir

ribble_scar

langcliffe_mill

ribble_wood

In the early afternoon, a walk by the Ribble can be a delight as the light catches the leaves in the ancient riverside woods and on the trees clinging to Stainforth Scar.

Ribblesdale stainforth_scar


langpath

scarpath

Ribblesdale langtrees

I did venture briefly outside Ribblesdale. While I was in Kirkby Stephen I took a detour to visit the charming village of Barbon. The current church of St Batholomew hasn’t a long history but is lovely and in a beautiful setting. I was lucky to catch it in some glorious light.

barbon

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take the train between Skipton and Leeds and stare at the Aire Valley instead of at your iPhone or some other already-out-of-date device, you’ll see that despite its industrial history Airedale is in fact blessed with a great deal of woodland.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.

canal2 canal1

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