Ingleborough from Horton-in-Ribbledale

12/3/14
Walking with; Nobody 

Ingleborough will always hold a special place in my heart, for it was after I had coerced/cajoled (depending on who you listen to) Ruth up to the summit on a brutally wet day that turned to snow as we reached Little Ingleborough, that I decided she was the girl for me! I proposed a few hours later sitting by the fire in the highly recommended "Game Cock Inn", Austwick, where the excitable French proprietor, Eric, bought us a bottle of champagne to celebrate with! In spite of this tale of romance and adventure I'd not been back since and was looking forward to enjoying the early Spring.
On our previous visit we'd taken the route from Clapham but I had decided to start on the other side and ascend from Horton-in-Ribblesdale, more commonly used to ascend Pen-Y-Ghent. The bright sunshine and warm temperatures were slightly disconcerting and most un-Yorkshire like as I passed by the picturesque station and picked my way along Sulber Nick flanked by impressive limestone pavements. The views back to Pen-Y-Ghent and ahead to Ingleborough and Simon Fell were expansive and whilst there were a fair number of other walkers we were well spaced out. I would imagine on a weekend during the "3 Peaks season" this path would see an awful lot of traffic. I passed a ruined shooting hut and the area of marsh and shake holes known as "The Allotment" and eventually cut off the path and climbed up on to Simon Fell where I had a solitary lunch with hazy views of Whernside. It was another 15 minutes or so and after a short, sharp last pull I was on the vast plateau that is the Ingleborough summit. The summit has been the subject of much conjecture. For years it was considered to have been an Iron Age hill fort but recently archaeologists have come to consider that the ruins might in fact be Bronze Age and related to ritualistic use, either way it is easy to see why people were (and are) drawn here, the 360 degree views are wonderful. There is plenty of furniture up here; A trig point, a well established windshelter, a cairn or two and the ruins of a tower built in 1830 that was partially destroyed by drunken revellers on the occasion of the celebration of it's completion!
   The summit was busy so I didn't stay long. I headed off South to Little Ingleborough (scene of much false summit heartache on excursion one) before making my way down to the magnificent Gaping Gill. This 98m deep pothole swallows Fell Beck and is the tallest unbroken waterfall in England and one of the largest known underground caverns in England. It's terrifying and magnificent in equal measure. Twice a year members of the public can pay to be winched down into the cave itself, definitely something on my bucket list! Leaving Gaping Gill I made the path at Long Scar and then back across the bleakly named and atmospheric Thieves Moss, a lonely spot where you could just imagine a highwayman or brigand lurking! The path eventually led me back to Sulber Nick and from there it was a gentle dander back down to the village.
Whilst my first visit to Ingleborough will always remain the most memorable for obvious reasons, this was a cracking day out in beautiful weather and it's only a matter of time before I head back to this scenic part of the world.

To view the full album please click on the link below; https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.845707325445223.1073741854.597048676977757&type=1

Two down, one to go

22.6.12
Walking with; Ruthy

A couple of years ago Ruthy and I visited the Yorkshire Dales staying at the fantastic "Game Cock Inn" in Austwick (http://www.gamecockinn.co.uk/), fuelled by French food and Yorkshire bitter we ascended Ingleborough in the snow and sleet and I decided that she was the girl for me. Later on, with another pint in front of the fire I asked her to marry me! Last weekend was our first Wedding anniversary and we stayed once again in this fantastic pub and decided to try and conquer another of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Pen-Y-Ghent this time. Whilst Pen-Y-Ghent is the lowest of the three, it is an impressive looking lump of rock when viewed from the tables outside the legendary cafe in Horton in Ribblesdale. The Celtic sounding name appears to be a bit of mystery with some people ascribing it to ancient Cumbric whilst others back a Welsh interpretation meaning "Hill of the Winds", given the conditions on the top I am prepared to favour the latter!
We decided to take the anti-clockwise route gradually climbing from Brackenbottom Farm until we reached Brackenbottom Scar where the full imposing splendour of the hill really became evident.We continued to ascend with spectacular clear views to Ingleborough and Whernside and of lonely windswept farms perched on the moorland below. The scramble to the summit was made a little trickier by the buffeting wind but it seemed to be those coming down who were finding the route more difficult and we were soon walking over the brow to the Trig Point on the summit which was pretty busy with people enjoying the rare day of sunshine.
The descent follows The Pennine Way and drops down quite steeply through moorland with views of Hull Pot (a gaping hole in the earth), flocks of Jackdaws and the rare Purple Saxifrage that is found in abundance on the slopes of this hill. As the path levelled out, we admired the views back to Pen-Y-Ghent and watched a waterfall crashing down in another limestone scar. It wasn't long before we were making our way back into Horton with two Yorkshire Peaks under our belt and making the decision to schedule in another trip to Austwick and give us a crack at the third and final one of the challenge!

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Malham Tarn

7.5.12
Walking with; Ruthy

Malham is a tiny hamlet at the Southern end of the Yorkshire Dales, but it has a big reputation and attracts a lot of visitors. There  has been a settlement on the site for over one thousand years and it is named in the Domesday Book as Malgun. It's main claim to fame are the limestone formations in the area, the notable limestone pavements and the magnificent curving amphitheatre of Malham Cove. The village also found cinematic fame when it was used as one of the filming locations for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One. We were heading towards a well known but slightly less popular sight, about three miles from the village down ever narrowing lanes, Malham Tarn, the highest lake in England at 377 metres above sea level and a site of Special Scientific Interest. The limestone has made the lake very akaline and this has led to an unusual habitat. It is said that the Tarn was the inspiration for Charles Kingsley when he wrote "The Water Babies" and it certainly has a certain mystical quality to it.
   After parking up near the Tarn we headed across to Malham Moor and across the rough, tussocky access land to the Smelt Mill Chimney, a restored reminder of the industrial past of the area and a notable local landmark that made for an easy target. The chimney was used to remove poisonous fumes from the smelting of lead, copper and zinc carbonate, but the bitter wind blowing off the moor was a lot purer today! We carried on along the ridge with views of the Tarn before dropping down across Dean Moor and crossing the road at Water Sinks onto The Pennine Way. The Way loops round the lake and we had good views of a Curlew sheltering in the lee of more impressive limestone cliffs. The path led through some woodland (helping to provide a little protection from the rain) to the Tarn House which is now used as a centre for Field Studies. The house was originally a hunting lodge for the Lister family. In 1852 it was bought by James Morrison, a prominent MP,  and then five years later inherited by his son, Walter. Walter loved the house and spent a lot of time there and extended the building considerably to something approaching the current form (http://www.kirkbymalham.info/KMI/malhammoor/tarnhouse.html). We headed down from the house and after a brief, but fruitless, stop at the bird hide we pressed on to the newly constructed boardwalk winding for nearly a mile over the top of a boggy moorland liberally sprinkled with Marsh Marigolds, the occasional Early Purple Orchid and home to a couple of beautiful Pheasant. By this time the rain was coming down pretty hard and we were glad to make the sanctuary of our car. We drove back through the throngs in Malham and away damp but content and en route to "The White Bull" in Gisburn for an excellent fish and chips.
To view the full album for this walk, please click on the link below;
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