Yorks' walk

In what has been a fairly awful summer, Sue & I were blessed with the perfect day this week. On a whim, we decided to go up to Yorkshire and tackle one of the three peaks, Ingleborough. We set off and tried to type ‘Clapham’ into the sat’ nav’, but it didn’t recognise the small Yorkshire village. It wanted us to go to London, but we declined! We parked up and got booted up. It was a beautiful morning, and as we set off, we saw this lovely display on one of the cottage windowsills.

The imposing church of Clapham. 

 Just below the church are Clapham falls. There was a flat area with seating that would make a nice picnic spot. I always LOVE the sound of tumbling water.

 This is what I call the 65p path. To walk through this short section, you had to purchase a ticket (65 pence each). It was a pleasant walk, but I couldn’t see why you should have to pay to pass through?

Now – if THIS had been the 65p walk, I would have paid GLADLY! As you can now see, we had the the perfect sky. There was also a whisper of a breeze to keep us cool.

We next passed through Trow Gill, a limestone ‘cut’ in the rocks.

Looking back from Trow Gill.

At the top, it narrows off considerably to this ‘pass’ to leave the Gill.

It opened up to this perfect day. We just stood and took this in in silence. WHAT a fabulous view and sky!

Little Ingleborough, the ‘nursery slopes’ to Ingleborough proper. We crossed the stile, and the path steepened. Ingleborough is around 2,500 feet high.

Sue steps forward to begin the climb. We’d both not done any hard walking for a while, so wondered how we’d cope with today. We needn’t have worried, we both felt fit and strong.

On the path up, Sue suddenly remembered that the pothole known as Gaping Gill (or Ghyll, depending on where you look for the spelling) should be nearby. There were no signs to it off the path, which was surprising, but we soon found it. This is the entrance to it. Twice a year, caving clubs erect a ‘chair’, and members of the public can opt to be lowered into the bowels of the cave. It’s something we’d LOVE to do, and probably will one day, but as it occurs on bank holidays, it will be another item for the retirement diary. You can read up on Gaping Gill here; http://www.bpc-cave.org.uk/gaping_gill.htm and here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaping_Gill

Yes, that’s me on the edge – trying to get a good shot into the cave (it didn’t turn out, as expected – too dark).

A short rest by the stream which tumbles into Gaping Gill.

We were being watched!

Looking back across the vast panorama of the dales, which, today, were crystal clear.

The unmistakeable shape of Pen-y-Ghent, another of the three peaks. One part of the three peaks challenge (which Sue and I have done several times). You can read about it here; http://www.thethreepeakschallenge.co.uk/

WOW.......just WOW! The view from Little Ingleborough.

A short walk away is the summit of Ingleborough. This is one of the best summit shelters I’ve ever seen.

Happy on the top.

When we get to a summit, we rarely want to leave (apart from maybe this time; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZXpMHz4NLA - but even then, it was GREAT fun). Sue just sat and drank in the ‘perfectness’ of the day.

We could see the flats of Morecombe bay quite clearly. (Click on the picture for a larger version).

And the exciting peaks on the edge of Lakeland.

Could an artist PAINT better clouds, or even ones as good, as these?

 Now, I’ve heard of basking SHARKS, but basking SHEEP???

Looking over to the third peak, Whernside.

The path became very indistinct, and we got a bit....erm....misplaced (yes, yes, alright, LOST). Anyway, Sue was convinced these cairns were a guidance.

We soon realised that they weren’t, and rather than be naughty and climb walls, we resorted to using the ‘sheep creep’ in the wall.

Tell you what though, I can think of a LOT worse places to get lost in!

This was a bit worrying though, just WHAT ‘hidden dangers’ lurked behind this sign for the poor, unwary walker – the tension was tangible as we made our way along the path back towards Clapham.

Safe from the ‘hidden dangers’, we arrived back in Clapham – I’d like to say ‘in time for tea’, but we were JUST too late. They closed at six, and it was quarter past. Oh well, at least we had a laugh at this old sign.