After a week in Taunton we are back on the road. Much of our stuff is still in the Unicorn so it did not take too long to prepare for the off. It is a slightly odd feeling after a couple of weeks out of the caravan to be setting off again, but it was always our intention to tour into October and we would have done so had it not been for our enforced early return from North Wales.
Followers of the blog will know that we have a particular affection for the Yorkshire Dales and this is where we are once again heading. The added incentive is that Lolly plans to join us for a few days and it is many years since she was last in the Dales.
It is a long drive north from the caravan store in Wellington to our pitch at Brigholme Farm in Giggleswick. We set off on a warm but overcast morning. I am wearing shorts, a decision that I immediately regret on our late afternoon arrival in a decidedly chilly Yorkshire.
We are soon pitched up and settled in. Amazingly within an hour or so we feel like we have never left the Unicorn, both dogs have quickly taken up their favourite spots. It has been pleasant to have the luxury of floor space for a few weeks, but I have missed being in the van even if it at times it feels slightly cramped with two large dogs.
As soon as we are sorted it is off to buy provisions from Booths, the local supermarket. For those of you in the South, Booths is a bit like Waitrose but smaller. We have used several of their stores whilst travelling and have always found the staff to be exceptionally friendly and helpful. An added attraction is that they always seem to have a special offer on bottled beer, this week it is Moorhouse’s: Pendle Witches Brew and Blond Witch Golden Ale. Moorhouse’s is a Burnley brewery founded in 1865 that I have not previously come across. However, after tasting these two bottled beers I pledge to keep an eye out for it on tap.
After spending so many hours in the car on Saturday we decide to leave it parked up on Sunday. I take the boys for an early morning walk around Giggleswick, they both appear happy to be back on familiar ground. It is just over three months since we were last here and things have not changed much.
After breakfast the boots are soon back on and we head off for a walk around Settle. Leaving the site at Brigholme Farm we turn right and cross the Penny Bridge over the River Ribble, the water is low after weeks of dry weather. At the junction we turn right and follow the road round to cross the main B6480 onto Ingfield Lane. We follow this past the new housing development and eventually leave Upper Settle on Brockholme Lane, which we follow for the best part of a mile until we reach Lodge Road. Here we turn left and follow the farm track up to Lodge Farm.
After passing through the farmyard we turn left onto a way-marked track, from here there are cracking views back across Settle and in the distance to Ingleborough. We come to a fork in the path and take the right option uphill along the edge of Hudsa Plantation at the junction of Mitchell Lane and Lambert Lane we go right along Mitchell Lane, an old walled track with stunning views of the limestone hills in front of us.
On meeting High Hill Lane we turn left and follow the road back towards Settle. At the steep section we meet a couple of cyclists, one can barely speak, the other has taken the wise precaution of getting off and pushing! From the centre of Settle we wander back to Brigholme Farm.
In the evening I go off in search of wi-fi and end up at the Talbot Inn. This is my favourite pub in Settle, there is always a friendly welcome and a good choice of local real ales. I sit quietly in the corner uploading blogs and towards the end of the evening engage in conversation with a group that has been sat at an adjoining table. One of the chaps tells me that he has a local brewery, The Three Peaks Brewery, he invites me to pay him a visit next Saturday to take a look around. Now that is an offer that I am unlikely to refuse!
(5th October 2014)
[To follow our walk you will need Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure Map OL41 – Forest of Bowland & Ribblesdale]
© Two Dogs and an Awning (2014)