Yorkshire Dales - Day 6

We came home today. First thing we packed up and tidied up the house, and all managed to leave by checkout time at 10am.

We went for a coffee in Hawes at Caffè Curva, then went our separate ways. 

Our journey was uneventful, and we were home by 2pm.

Yorkshire Dales - Day 5

On our last full day we drove to the village of Muker, and set off on the Pennine Way to Keld. The weather was extremely variable today, from hot sunshine to snow and hail showers.

The path was quite high and had views across Swaledale.

At Keld we went down to the waterfall, East Gill Force. We sat here in the sunshine to have our lunch.

Just as we were about to set off again, it started snowing. Fortunately it was short-lived, and the sun came out again.

Our route back was at a lower level, and took us through some old mineworkings, with various bits of industrial equipment still lying about.

We took a group photo on the bridge.

When we got back to Muker we decided we'd had enough walking for the day, as the only extension possible would have made it twice as long and the weather looked to be worsening.

We went into the local community pub, the Farmer's Arms.

We drove to Hardrow. We were again too late to go and see the waterfall, but we had a drink in the Dragon Inn which was very good.

Over 4 days we've been into 7 different pubs, never the same one twice, which is quite a good score!

Later for dinner we had an Indian takeaway from the Prachin Spice, which was pretty good and quite hot.

Yorkshire Dales - Day 4

The weather was a bit gloomy today, but we set off anyway on our walk straight from the house. We were on the road to start with, then off on a right of way across fields and uphill.

At times we had decent views back to Hawes.

We reached the top of the plateau on Wether Fell, and walked round it. There was a final push to the top of Drumaldrace at 614 metres.

We headed down a different way, via the hamlet of Burtersett. As usual we passed lots of new born lambs.

The route back took us into Hawes, where we went for a drink in the last of its four pubs that we hadn't been in, the Board Inn.

Later back at the house Pete made us dinner, buckwheat bake with roast potatoes and vegetables, which was very good.

Yorkshire Dales - Day 3

The weather wasn't great today. We drove to Keld where we'd planned a walk, but none of us fancied going out in the rain. So we drove up over the moors to the Tan Hill Inn, as many of us hadn't been there before.

We managed to get a seat in front of the fire and had a nice chat and a drink.

After a while we made our way back to the house, and got ready to go for a walk from there since the weather had improved a bit.

We went down into Hawes first, passing the old railway station.

Our plan was to visit Hardrow Force waterfall, but when we got there we'd missed last entry at the barrier.

No matter, we carried on on a circular walk via Sedbusk. This entailed walking through many fields, with stiles connecting each one of them.

Back in Hawes we went for a drink in the Crown Inn.

Later Tamsin and Barry made us dinner, Brazilian bean stew with vegetables, followed by fruit crumble. It was very good.

Yorkshire Dales - Day 2

The electricians came first thing this morning and implemented a temporary fix to the problem, which is good enough for our stay.

After breakfast we had a short walk in the village, which has a bridge over Gayle Beck right in the middle.

For our walk today we drove in 2 cars to Bainbridge, just a few miles along the valley. We parked next to the village green.

We walked out of the village via a bridge over the River Bain, then along through fields to Semer Water.

We stopped there for a short break, then headed uphill past an old chapel and cemetery, and through the hamlet of Stalling Busk.

We saw many new born lambs, and lots of curlews and lapwings.

We walked up to about 550 metres on tracks through open moorland, and stopped for lunch at a crossroads at the highest point.

On the way down went past a spectacular flat topped hill called Addlebrough, one of many around this part of the country.

Going back into Bainbridge we noticed that there was an Archimedes screw in the river which we found out was part of a community hydroelectric system.

The pub in Bainbridge was closed, so we drove to Hawes and went for a drink in the Fountain Inn.

Later, after showering etc. at the house, we went out for dinner at the White Hart. Everybody enjoyed what they had, the vegan options were good.

Scott had a burger with cheese and bacon, which Shirley had a beef and potato pie which was excellent.

We all went back to the house for more drinks and some Guardian quizzing!

Yorkshire Dales - Day 1

We're on a walking holiday ion the Yorkshire Dales with friends from the Bristol walking group (Shakey Strollers). We've taken the car, and are staying in a 4 bedroom Airbnb in the village of Gayle, which is just outside Hawes.

We left the house about 11am and headed south, stopping at Morrisons in Penrith for some shopping and petrol. We were first to arrive at the house about 3.30pm. There's a tiny parking space at the side of the house, but plenty more space in a car park at the end of the lane.

It has a well equipped kitchen, two living rooms and bedrooms to accommodate all seven of us. The only downside is that the dining table is a bit cramped for seven adults, but we'll live with it.

As soon as we got in we realised there was a problem with the power sockets in the kitchen. The fridge/freezer was off and defrosting, and the kettle, toaster and microwave weren't working. We messaged the owner who replied quickly. To cut a long story short we got an extension lead borrowed from a neighbour to get the fridge/freezer going, and the promise of an electrician the next morning.

Over the course of the next few hours the rest of the group arrived and settled in. We took Oscar for a short walk round the village, which is about 10 minutes walk away from Hawes.

We were cooking dinner for everyone today, vegan pasta bake for the main course and a vegan chocolate tart that Shirley had prepared at home and brought with us.

Later we chatted and played some music, and planned the walk for tomorrow.