Yet another superb walk, this time in the Yorkshire Dales with Peter.
After setting off later than I’d hoped (lazy-itus) and getting caught up in the joys of rush hour traffic in Hull I re-routed Sally SatNav to go “up then across” rather than “across then up” the country. A much nicer drive which (had I gone this way straight from home) only added another 15 minutes onto the drive and uses less petrol – bonus. It’s the route I shall take from now on
After meeting up with Peter it was on with the boots and straight off up the hillside for a…. ahem… “sustained climb”. From being sat driving for nigh on 3 hours to this, my already tired from yesterday legs doth protest just a tad
The path up from Settle:
And there’s still a bit to go:
Once we got to the top I found a convenient limestone seat to sit on and have a cuppa and a sausage roll, a cig.. and another cuppa. Then I started to feel human
As we wandered along there seemed to be a lot of moo-ing going on round the hills. Personally, I think the cows were warning each other of “some more pesky walkers coming your way”
This odd looking beast seemed to be spearheading the campaign from the top of the hill
:
It wasn’t long before we spotted our first cave. A nice tidy little cave and surprisingly clean and dry:
I liked the wall art
:
We continued around underneath Warrendale Knotts and moo-ing got louder and more echo-ey. As I looked up …. Wow
:
And wow
:
A ridge walk along the top of there would not have been as impressive. I kept wanting to stand and stare at it. Stunning geology.
Our route took us through pastures with cows/calves in, though one particular pasture had a bull in there too. First time I’ve walked through a field with a bull and wasn’t quite sure if I was scared or not. Respectfully apprehensive I think best describes it. Anyway, he seemed to be chatting up a cow on the other side of a wall and Peter asked if I was okay with cows/bulls…. Brave face and all that I said yes. Plus, there were folks coming in the other direction, not only wearing red but they had a dog too. Anyway, the bull did mosey on over to have a look at us and Peter encouraged him to stay the other side of the sink hole I skirted round (cheers Peter
) and we headed off up the hill. I had to stand and have a study of bull/cow behaviour from a safe distance before we left the pasture though. Interesting learning curve for me.
So we curved around under Attermire Scar which seemed to just blend into the countryside in comparison to the knobbly, bobbly amphitheatre of Warrendale Knotts. Somewhere along this route, Peter asked me if I wanted to see a cave. As we got to the “turn off” for Victoria Cave I hesitated somewhat. HOW HIGH up the hillside
Anyway, up we went:
I really wish I’d had a better torch than the pathetic “freebie” I had with me but the wonderful coolness inside the cave was a welcome relief to the clammy, humid day outside. Just standing and listening to the eerie drip dripping of baby stalactites and stalagmites being created and wondering ....what was in that dark hole over there
and, if only I had a better torch
Peter decided now was the time to tell me stories of cave dwelling monsters and beasties that lurk in the darkness but all we found was a prehistoric Thinsulate glove amongst the rocks
I had a little nosey in the cave next door too but it was, again, dark and slippery and, without a torch, I think I can just see two eyes at the back…..:
So we carried on and, again, Peter asked me if I wanted to see Jubilee Cave – yeah, why not. Easier to access for starters. Again, the wonderful coolness inside was a welcome relief although Peter sat outside and waited for me to finish exploring:
I WISH I HAD A TORCH. Anyway, I think I startled the beastie with my camera flash in this one
:
We sat and had break here before carrying on to (unknown to me) Catrigg Force.
Looking back towards the lumpy, bumpy Warrendale Knotts. Don’t you think the profile looks like a woman lying down?:
A hazy Ingleborough in the distance:
Me and my OCD with signposts pic – we headed off towards Stainforth by the way:
I like this tree pic
:
A cute and furry looking Pen-y-Ghent:
So, with the view of all 3 of the “three peaks” in sight, I pondered on whether the Y3P-ers were enjoying their walk as much as I was. I wonder if they saw the aeroplane flying low / over / through the valleys? Sadly, I didn’t manage to get a pic of that (well, I got a pic of a black dot - there in the middle) – I hope Peter did. Nice pic of the limestone pavement though:
Somewhere around here we went a little off-piste (intentionally – so I’m told) to get to Catrigg Force. The gate says Force, the post says Foss:
And we ambled our way down to have a look. At first all you see is this:
A bit of a let-down perhaps considering it’s marked on the map? Ohhhh no. Just under the trees it drops steeply about a hundred or so feet into a pool. The pics don’t do it justice:
After having a bit of a clamber around to try and get a decent pic we headed to the other gate and into the woods:
Oooooh, lovely. Cool, earthy, damp, leafy smells with the roar of the waterfall in the background. It was really primordial and I could quite well imagine a diplodocus grazing in there somewhere.
A pic from half way down the falls. It drops even lower to the left of the first pic:
I would love to see the falls in full spate.
Back onto the path again to cross the stepping stones of Stainforth Beck (I think). Peter heading for the bench:
And I’m eying up a likely place for a paddle. That stepping stone over there will do:
Ahhhhh, mmmmmmm, brrrrrrrrr
:
Views up and down the beck. Again, I bet this looks a lot different in Springtime:
We did a bit of road walking at this point until we ended up at the Craven Lime Works. It was a bit spooky walking through the “tunnel” though. A few pics:
Back onto the road and over to follow the Ribble River to the weir (we headed the other way to the view in this pic):
Oh, oh, oh…. We passed the most peculiar looking grunty, snuffling pig-sheeps
Again, I hope Peter has a pic of these.
Back onto the road for the walk back into Settle. A final pic of the killer-hill at the start of the walk – which we still had to walk part way up to get to my car:
And back to the car. Boots off. Flop Flips on. Ahhh, bliss. It really didn’t help me feel any fitter seeing the two ladies JOGGING up the hill and holding a conversation.
We got chatting to “Bette Davis Eyes” who ended up reminiscing about her childhood growing up in Langcliffe (just down the road) and wishing she was still able to do the walk we’d just done. All I wanted was to find a cup of tea and all Peter wanted to do was to find some painkillers.
So we parted company – Peter with not very far at all to go home and me with a couple of miles (give or take a zero or two) further.
Cheers Peter for organising a brilliant and varied day’s walking
and, if I’ve mapped the route correctly, it was a dot shy of 8 miles.
Thanks for reading
