Regular blog readers will have wondered where we have gone. It has been a while since the last post and that reflects the lack of travel. Having over wintered in Taunton we are now back at home and I am working again, so that has restricted our travel plans. The wanderlust is still there and we are making plans for a couple of lengthy trips in 2015, but for now there will be no extensive touring like 2014.
We debated if we should continue blogging as occasional travellers, but feedback from readers and a look at the website stats provided the incentive to start tapping away on the keyboard again. So here we go.
Anyone who knows us will be well aware that Lynnie and I love the Yorkshire Dales. We have holidayed there for years and had fantastic times there when Ben and Lolly were young. I never tire of the area. It was the last place we visited in 2014, so where better to start out 2015 travels. There is also a very special reason to be in Settle at the end of May, all will become clear.
It is a long journey from Salisbury to Settle and yesterday it felt even longer towing the caravan. But after a full day on the road we arrived at our site in Langcliffe. We usually stay on small Caravan Club CL sites (no more than five vans), so staying on a commercial site is an unusual (but not unpleasant) experience. Soon pitched up, there was just time for a quick trip to Booth’s, a walk of the dogs and something to eat before getting some well earned sleep.
Dexter and Crosby enjoy being in the caravan and they soon found their favourite spots. Unfortunately Crosby decided that 5.30 was a good time to start the day. When Crosby wants to get up, I too have to get up! So boots on, we go for a wander, it is a cracking morning and once up it seems a pity to waste it. We walk one of my favourite short loops along the back lane between Langcliffe and Settle before climbing up the side of Castleburgh Plantation to return to Langcliffe below Blua Craggs, with a couple of diversions to admire the view we are out for just over an hour. A good start to the day.
Following a mornings work it is time to go for another walk. Our itinerary for the day was a walk up Whernside, however the early morning mist has not cleared and looks set in for the afternoon. We decide to take the sensible option and stay off the peaks. We park in Horton in Ribblesdale and walk back toward the Pen-y-ghent Café, soon crossing the road to take the track that leads past Horton Scar, this is a regular walk of ours and we usually enjoy stunning views of the scar. Today we can hear water falling over the limestone cliffs but the visibility is so poor that we cannot see it.
As we climb the mizzle and low cloud reduces visibility even further, Lynnie is grateful for her new bonnet. One thing for sure I will not lose her when she is wearing it!
At the crossroads of footpaths we walk straight on towards Hull Pot, normally from here there are great views of Pen-y-ghent. I have previously written about Hull Pot, it is a huge pothole that suddenly appears on the track. We were hoping that there might be water flowing into the pot, a sight we have yet to witness, unfortunately we can hear a trickle of water but not the full flow of the waterfall, which I have been told is impressive. (A good reason to revisit on another day after prolonged rain.)
We turn around and retrace our steps to the crossroads of paths and turn right to climb over Whitber Hill. It is bleak up here and visibility is now down to around thirty yards. We are grateful that we are following the well defined path (that forms part of the Three Peaks Walk), I would not want be up here in these conditions without knowing exactly where we are going.
Crossing the beautiful Sell Gill Beck, we continue until we reach a junction of paths and turn left on to the Pennine Way signposted to Horton in Ribblesdale.
Soon we meet Sell Gill Beck at the point where last year we stopped to chat to some potholers before they ventured underground. Today the water is steadily flowing into the pot, so no sign of potholers.
As we follow the track down the visibility steadily improves and by the time we reach Horton we get great views of the River Ribble. A cracking walk that has taken us an hour and a half (with plenty of stops for photos).
Back in Settle we pop into Booth’s and who should we meet in the car park but our special friend Maurice. The main purpose of our trip is to help Maurice celebrate his 90th birthday this weekend (and well into next week!). Needless to say that shopping done we are round at his house and the gin bottle is soon out. Happy days!
[To follow our walk you will need Ordnance Survey Outdoor Leisure Map OL2 – Yorkshire Dales – Western Area]
22nd May 2015
© Two Dogs and an Awning (2015)