Settle Archives - Page 2 of 8 - Scribble by the Ribble

Dales vampires and brass monkeys (14 pics)

Just as I find satisfaction in kicking my way through autumn leaves, I get the same childish thrill crunching along on a frosty Dales track. Cracking the small iced up puddles (after admiring their wondrous patterns) and feeling the crispness of the frozen grass under my boots, while being well togged up of course, is still a delight. I know, I know, I should really leave those lovely ice patterns for others to enjoy, but I’m just a big kid. Such conditions were plentiful in the Dales this week …

As you drive out of Settle over the top of Buckhaw Brow, just after the old road veers off towards Feizor, there’s a pull-in on the right. I remember many years ago tramping through the small wood here with friends who said there was good climbing to be found. I’m not the climbing sort and didn’t partake other than a bit of line holding. I can’t remember if climbing was allowed there at the time – perhaps I was also the lookout for approaching landowners. Anyway, despite passing this place hundreds of times over the years, this week I took a little saunter through that wood for the first time since those carefree days. It’s a tricky place to walk but there are surprises along the way. The caves are well documented (do a search for ‘caves Buckhaw Brow’) for those who like that kind of thing. I also saw many signs that climbing still takes place here. If you look closely on this photo you can make out hooks on the overhang.

Banks are closing down at a rapid rate throughout the Dales- yet another blow for rural communities around the country. Still, it’s not a new thing … this one in Dent, which I photographed on Monday, closed in 1972!

Dales churches

St Andrew’s, Dent, dates back to the 12th century, was rebuilt in 1417, restored in 1590, and again in 1787. A further restoration was carried out in 1889–90.

There’s a gravestone by the church porch which is said to be the final resting place George Hodgson who died in 1715, aged 94. Local legend has that if you saw George’s ghost around the churchyard in the moonlight then you would quickly die. Dent’s God-fearing folk decided he was probably a vampire and that his body should be exhumed from its original grave and placed by the church door. It is said that on exhuming his body, George’s hair and nails had grown and his skin was a glowing pink. Just to make sure he was dead a stake was thrust through his heart. His ‘new’ gravestone appears to have a hole in it, in case an extra stake is ever needed. Those misery guts who like to pour cold water over such fanciful tales say the gravestone is a gatepost that has been reused, and the hole is simply part of the mechanism. I say let’s dig up the old beggar and ask him.

I couldn’t go to Dent and not take a photo of the Adam Sedgwick memorial – especially when there are no cars or people around.

I was reminded of brass monkeys yesterday when I saw Langcliffe’s festive tree during the freezing temperatures.

There’s not a hotter otter in the Dales

Rain, floods, freezing temperatures, snow, cloudy skies and clear skies – yes, a typical weather week in the Dales. But what perked me up was the sight of an otter on Langcliffe mill pond early Thursday morning. It wasn’t long before the sighting became hot news – more than 5,000 viewed my (poor) photo posted on Twitter, and many folk headed to Langcliffe Locks to get a view of the otter. I wondered if the otter had found its way to the pond as respite from the flooding river. Neighbours tell me they later saw it back by the riverbank. Although otters are quite a common site for some folk, in all my years observing the Ribble I’ve never come across one on this stretch. It will be welcomed by many wildlife groups but I dare say some anglers – and fish – won’t be too impressed by its presence. Three shots of it swimming in the mill pond:

Around Ribblesdale

Dales appeal

There were quite a few Three Peakers heading out yesterday morning, taking on the 24-mile challenge in snowy conditions. It shows that whatever the weather there will always be folk tramping the footpaths between Penyghent, Ingleborough and Whernside. This week, ‘Pitch in for Whernside’ was launched by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority as part of the British Mountaineering Council’s ‘Mend Our Mountains: Make One Million’ fundraising campaign. The aim is to raise £46,000 to help strengthen the Bruntscar path on Whernside where the steepest section is becoming increasingly eroded, undermining the local ecology and creating an ever-widening scar on the side of authority’s highest hill. Last year £17,042 was raised to pay for flagstones on the Swine Tail path on Ingleborough. Further details here:
http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/living-and-working/other-services/press-office/news/recent/new-campaign-pitch-in-for-whernside

Dales churches

This week’s church is St Mary’s at Kirkby Lonsdale which although in Westmorland is now part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, so there. A lovely church dating back to Norman times, it has lots of quirky and interesting architectural features – both inside and around the churchyard – and is well worth a visit.

A colourful Dales Highway

Why Ribblesdale is the place for colour and giants

There’s still plenty of colour to enjoy here in Ribblesdale – especially on those infrequent bright autumn days. Without a car for much of the week I stayed local, which is no great hardship in this part of the Yorkshire Dales. Photos show the trees and landscape around Langcliffe and Stackhouse.

Ribblesdale giant

It’s not often that Ribblesdale’s skyline changes its appearance. But during the week this oversized Meccano-type construction (below) took shape next to the cricket ground in Settle. No, it’s not Headingley’s new ground being constructed in the wrong place, it’s for more housing. Visible from all around the surrounding landscape it looks more suitable for high-rise office block construction in Leeds than for anything in this little rural town. Hopefully the resulting building will not be as conspicuous.

I did manage a quick walk around part of the Ingleborough nature reserve at Ribblehead one day – Whernside (below) looked splendid but I bet it was very cold on the tops.

Coffee causes chaos

I’ve never been a big fan of coffee – don’t care for the taste or the fact it stops me from dozing off. The trend for walking around the streets clinging to a cup of coffee leaves me baffled – especially when I see the carrier struggling to use a mobile phone at the same time. I’ve never understood why someone would want a cup of coffee while out shopping either – I just want to get as far away from the supermarket as soon as possible and back home for a nice cup of tea – in a proper mug. And I think some of the people I’ve seen and heard complaining about the coffee machine being broken in Settle Booths would be better off having less of a caffeine stimulant, not more. Anyway, the real reason for this elongated gripe is the amount of discarded cups – and other food or drink containers – littering our streets, especially those items which can’t be recycled. Apparently 2.5bn throwaway coffee cups are dumped in the UK every year – and less than 1 per cent of these are recyclable. Some environmentalists are suggesting a surcharge for using takeaway cups, along with a host of other measures. Why not just stop making cups that can’t be recycled? The same with plastic bottles, bags and other stuff which clog up rivers and oceans – we lived perfectly well before all this ‘convenience’ rubbish came along.

This week’s Dales church is just outside Ribblesdale near the source of the Aire at Kirkby Malham. The original St Michael’s was thought to have been built as early as the 7th century. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century and restored in 1881. Also pictured below is the church’s famous Watery Grave. The story is that Colonel John Harrison and his wife Helen were so often separated by water during his career in the forces that Helen said they should be separated by water in death. When she died the grave was built over a small stream that ran through the graveyard, and she was buried on one side. However, when the colonel died, impenetrable rock was discovered so he was buried with his wife after all. It seems that wives don’t always get their own way.

Finally, can anyone tell me how Eggshell Lane in Clapham got its name?

Golden dales, treasured memories

Sunset at the end of a bright autumnal Dales day … is there anything to match it (other than a Dales sunset during spring, summer and winter, that is)? The skies were clear and blue over Ribblesdale on Friday but I waited until the sun started to dip behind the western slopes before heading out for a walk. Golden light created glowing red and mellow yellow as it shone on recently discarded leaves and those still clinging to ancient trees along this track out of Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

I’ve spent a lot of time this week flicking through the pages of a brilliant new website set up by the Yorkshire Dales Society, or Friends of the Dales as they are now known. It records the history and heritage of North Craven area and is a portal to an array of catalogues, collections and archives. From its home page: “The website has been developed through the Capturing the Past project, which is part of Stories in Stone, a scheme of conservation and community projects concentrated on the Ingleborough area. The scheme was developed by the Ingleborough Dales Landscape Partnership, led by Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.” Well worth a visit … but be warned, you’ll be on there for hours: http://www.dalescommunityarchives.org.uk

Some more shots from around home in Ribblesdale: cottages on Langcliffe Green, High Way between Langcliffe and Settle, Penyghent wearing a new hat …

Many of you will have already seen the following old photo of Settle but I thought it was worth a reminder – if just to see all the washing hung across the Shambles. At the risk of breaking copyright laws, it is a photo I took of a Francis Frith picture which appears in the book, Rural Britain, Then & Now by Roger Hunt (published by Cassell in 2004). I’m hoping that as I don’t make any money from my site and the fact I’m publicising the book for free this might save me from being charged for its use. Not all sites or publications show such courtesy (comment aimed at those who without permission have recently raided the blog and used my stuff!).

In my nostalgia column in November’s Countryman magazine (now on sale) I write about memories of Mischief Night – for any youngsters who have accidentally stumbled across this blog, Mischief Night was in the days before Trick or Treat was washed up on our shores from across the Atlantic. Ask your granddad what he got up to.

More Dales churches

This week’s Dales churches are both in Giggleswick, the ancient St Alkelda and the Gothic style Victorian chapel of Giggleswick School.

Now please excuse me as I go try to tell my central heating system that twice a year in Britain we try to convince the rest of a bewildered world we are in charge of time and we’ll do what we want with it.

Dales Angels and why walking is stressful (16 pics)

Does anyone know of a decent etiquette guide for Dales walkers? I’ve tramped the county’s hills and valleys, villages and tracks for umpteen years and still I’m never sure when and how to greet fellow walkers. My guess is that you’re allowed to acknowledge people as long as there aren’t too many folk around. For example, if I’m walking from my village of Langcliffe to Settle along the back road known as the High Way, it seems acceptable to say ‘Morning’ – provided it’s the morning of course – but by the time you get to Constitution Hill at the top of Settle you must not pass the time of day with anyone (unless you know them).
Last week on a lonely green lane, after not seeing a single person for almost an hour, I crossed paths with a jogger who completely blanked me. Perhaps runners and cyclists have their own code of conduct? What do you do when you’re out in the countryside, where paths can be quite busy – like at Gordale Scar or Malham Cove – and where you can spend too much time saying hello when you ought to be admiring the scenery or avoiding animal droppings? Or when you pass a waggle (that’s my collective noun for a group of walkers) who have stopped mid route for refreshments, or you meet at a gate or stile – ‘morning all’ has to suffice in such cases, surely? When a waggle is a straggly waggle, it just becomes tiresome to say hello to everyone.
Then there’s what to say. I’ve tried all sorts … hello, how do, hiya, the aforesaid morning (but at what time should this change to aft’noon?). Just to amuse myself I have been known to drift into Yorkshire with ey up and na’then. Often I’ll come out with something that’s a mixture of many greetings and I’ll wander on, somewhat embarrassed, thinking ‘why on earth did I say that?’.
Sometimes I get the feeling that strangers from distant lands, like Bradford and Leeds, are humouring my quaint rural ways. Other times I receive a wary, suspicious response as strangers mentally question my sanity. And just who am I allowed to involve in this briefest of communication? You can get those strange teenage-type gawpy expressions from some younger folk; others avoid eye contact. Couples can be deep in conversation or mid argument and I don’t like to intrude – do I march on and ignore them? Occasionally there are those who deliberately bring you to halt and want to know your life story – or at least demand to know where you have been/going. There are walkers who insist on mentioning the weather – nice day; bit colder today; that wind’s a bit naughty intit? Not being one for eloquent or snappy responses, I normally respond with ‘Aye’ and quickly move on. And when is just a brief nervous smile, a raising of the eyebrows or a Yorkshire nod of the head deemed acceptable as a greeting? Walking can be stressful. Is it any wonder I try to find the loneliest places in the Dales?

Anyway, on with this week’s photos. The top pic and this one were taken on a morning walk by the Ribble from Horton.

As mentioned on my Yorkshire Surnames page, I write a short piece each month about names for Down Your Way magazine. I’m pleased to see that the publication won Best Community Publication at this week’s O2 Media Awards. Visit http://downyourway.co.uk

Dales Angels

I see there’s festive food for sale in supermarkets. First person to ask me if I’ve made any plans for Christmas gets a withering look.

Men of the Dales beware

Special equipment is being shipped into the Dales to prise pound coins out of Yorkshiremen’s palms. The old rounded £1 coins cease to be legal tender in mid October so I’m busily sticking my hands down the back of the settee and rifling through old jackets. Mind you, some old farmers up the dales are still holding on to ten bob notes. I was reminded this week of the round un’s demise in a Settle car park where a notice on a machine states they wouldn’t be accepted. I looked in my pocket and noticed all three pound coins I had were old versions. No way was I paying over the odds by using a £2 coin.

Parking fees not required for a morning walk up Horton Scar Lane to Hull Pot below Penyghent on Tuesday. The mist had lifted from the valley but in the distance I could see it clinging to the Ribble Valley. In the background the silhouette of Pendle Hill looked like a giant sleeping animal.

Hull Pot was almost dry, just a trickle of water from the lower fall echoing around the great chasm. No matter how many times I visit this place I’m always taken aback with its sudden and dramatic appearance. I certainly wouldn’t walk this way in the dark.

I followed the Three Peaks route to where it joins the Pennine Way. The views across Newhouses Tarn towards Whernside and Ingleborough (first pic in blog) were well worth the trek along the shale path. As I headed back towards Horton I tried to recall the number of old Dales buildings I’d seen along the route – it must have been ten or more. Such a shame.

Although all probably redundant nowadays it is sad to see so many in decay. They are part of the Dales furniture, as much as the walls, farms and tiny settlements. Grants for restoring traditional farm buildings in the area are available, via The Yorkshire Millennium Trust and Stories in Stone initiative, closing date 26th September. Visit http://ow.ly/aI4R30f5LH0

Farewell to greener Dales

I thought I’d capture a few trees before they lose their greenery. These were taken on the High Way between Langcliffe and Settle this week.

Sheep, trains and flowerpots – it’s all go in the Dales

My Yorkshire Dales photo diary. Sadly, many of the swallows living around the house have disappeared – a bit early for departure but perhaps they know something we humans don’t. There is still one pair lodging in a former outside loo – perhaps they had second chicks and are awaiting their development. I hope it doesn’t mean summer’s over before it’s really begun.

Thankfully there have been a couple of rain-breaks this week when I’ve been able to get in a little exercise and some photography. There was some mellow evening light around the local dales on Friday, as in the top photo of sheep grazing beneath Penyghent at Horton-in-Ribblesdale. The next two show Kingsdale and Ingleborough from Chapel-le-Dale.

Settle is certainly looking colourful with all the flowerpot creations dotted around town for the annual festival. I took a few photos one night this week before rain interrupted my tour. You can see a selection by clicking here – by no means a complete set. Great work by everyone involved.

Living in such a lovely part of the country means every day is cause for celebration here in the Dales but Monday was a bit more special as it was Yorkshire Day. I pinched a white rose from a neighbour’s tree and popped it into a glass of water – it’s still blooming nicely as I write this six days later.

Clapham is always worth a visit – I was there for an evening stroll earlier in the week…

Steam train excursions up and down the Settle-Carlisle line are still attracting a great deal of attention, especially when Flying Scotsman is hauling (first pic shows Flying Scotsman passing through Settle). Other two show other engines pulling trains earlier in the week at Ribblehead and another in Settle (Saturday).

Going off the grid in chuffing Ribblesdale

You’ll not find the name Beacon Scar on a modern OS map of Ribblesdale despite the place being higher and more significant than many of the surrounding named hills. Go back to the 1800s when they were fond of lighting beacons and you’ll find the hill on maps, 1,426ft above sea level beside Warrendale Knotts on the edge of Stockdale near Settle. Presumably the good folk at Ordnance Survey thought there were too many ‘Beacons’ around the north so they decided to cull a few.

They did however note that it was in such a strategic position that they placed a trig point where the ancient beacon would have been. If you stand there, looking west, you’ll note you are lined up almost in a straight line across Ribblesdale with Smearsett Scar and Ingleborough (see pic above) which also have trig points and were once beacon sites – and ideal places for warning locals of invading Scots in days gone by. The 360-degree view from Beacon Hill is superb. There’s a short video of it here if you’re interested. https://youtu.be/kQQwk7PebPM It wasn’t the clearest of days when I went up there on Monday and you’ll note the furthest fells are melting away a little.

I’ve bumped into a lot of chuffing train enthusiasts on my saunters around Ribblesdale this week, as there’s been a lot of steam action on the Settle-Carlisle line. Here are a few of the shots I’ve taken:

I see Tan Hill pub is for sale at £900k. When it was up for grabs in 2008 it was on the market for £1.1m although I don’t know what it eventually sold for. Pictures show the place some 50 years apart.

If you haven’t yet tried Ribblesdale’s newest Coffee House at The Folly in Settle then I can highly recommend it (they also do tea for tea freaks like me). https://www.facebook.com/follycoffeehouse/?rc=p Mind you, all the cafes and pubs in Settle are worth a visit – but don’t attempt to do them all in a day, you’ll put on two stone such is the quality of available cakes. Some of the creations for this year’s Flowerpot Festival are also impressive – another reason to visit the town. I hope to bring photos of the festival next week.

Away from the madding crowd in Ribblesdale

Yesterday I managed to squeeze in a stroll around one of my favourite spots, Thorns Gill and the derelict settlement of Thorns at the head of Ribblesdale. Ribblehead, looking more like Blackpool prom on a Bank Holiday Monday, is nobbut half a mile away yet there I was completely alone for an hour in this beautiful glen with its waterfalls and fascinating rock formations.

Sheep don’t often pose for me but I think this one’s a bit of a diva …

And finally…

A neighbouring cat gives me the eye for disturbing the peace. I wonder if cats dream in black and white?

During the week I also post shots and opinions on Twitter. Visit @paulinribb

Reasons to love Ribblesdale

I’ve seen Ribblesdale in a different light over the last few days – 12 photos in this week’s blog. I have also been taken back to the 1940s in Ingleton but those snaps will have to wait until tomorrow.

Driving down the narrow road from Helwith Bridge to Giggleswick one evening while the sun was setting, I saw some fantastic light down Ribblesdale – on Penyghent, the fields and hillsides, barns, trees and limestone.

One afternoon between rain showers I walked around the Winskill area above Langcliffe. Although the clouds were dark and low the views down Ribblesdale were cracking in the changing light.

Samson’s Toe and Lower Winskill in Ribblesdale; below, Smearsett Scar from Winskill.

On another showery day I (very slowly) walked up the steep track from Stainforth to a moody Catrigg Force. The views from the track back down over the village and across to Smearsett Scar were well worth the effort.

At the top of Ribblesdale I’d hoped for a sunset shot at Ribblehead Viaduct but was thwarted by the clouds. However, the layers of clouds made an interesting shot, the lower ones clinging to the top of Whernside.

After a few hours yesterday at Ingleton, snapping at the 1940s Weekend, I was back in Settle where the cricket ground caught my attention. What a lovely setting – one day there’ll be a match on when a steam train is crossing that bridge and I’ll get my ideal shot.

Flowerpot creations are starting to pop up all around the town now. To coincide with Settle’s Flowerpot Festival I’ve written a walk for this month’s Dalesman magazine. It starts and finishes in the town centre so that people can include a tour of the amazing constructions.

You can also see my writing in July’s Countryman magazine in which I reminisce about knitted swimming trunks. And in this month’s Down Your Way magazine I write about the surname Horsfall.

Horsing around outside the Dales

A stunning journey up the Dales on the Settle-Carlisle line took me for the first time to the Appleby Horse Fair. Friday had the best weather forecast, and the views down Ribblesdale, Dentdale, Mallerstang and the Eden Valley along the railway route were brilliant. Appleby was full of colour and character; travellers and gypsies greeted each other in a great range of accents, and at times I felt like I was intruding on a private party – not that it wasn’t a welcoming atmosphere. I’m sure that when all us tourists departed the real party began. I’ll go again next year and be more adventurous with my photography.

To help with loading today’s post, I’ve put the Appleby photos on a separate page here remember to come back for the rest of this week’s blog!

On Monday The Dalesman train chugged through the Dales in heavy rain. At a soggy Selside where Penyghent and much of the dale was hidden behind cloud, I managed one shot which looks better in black and white.

The following day I thought the rain would have strengthened Stainforth Force and I wasn’t disappointed. I timed the visit so that another steam excursion (above) was passing by.

I couldn’t get to Stainforth on Saturday evening when the river was even higher. I did manage to see the Ribble in Settle however …

I had a little bumble around Rathmell too this week (top pic in blog is one of the views). There are many underused paths here, small woods, streams … and llamas.

Has anyone else noticed that Settle is being overrun by rabbits? While walking by the river near Bridge End the other evening I was amazed at the number of rabbits in the school grounds, around the swimming pool and football pitch. In great numbers they can do a lot of damage here in the Dales to farmland and stock, and they also spread diseases; before I’m inundated by comments from animal rights activists, I’m not advocating their total elimination but don’t they need to be humanely controlled so that a proper balance is maintained?

New book review here

New surname here

Tag: Settle

Dales vampires and brass monkeys (14 pics)

Dales churches

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There’s not a hotter otter in the Dales

Around Ribblesdale

Dales appeal

Dales churches

A colourful Dales Highway

Like this:

Why Ribblesdale is the place for colour and giants

Ribblesdale giant

Coffee causes chaos

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Golden dales, treasured memories

More Dales churches

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Dales Angels and why walking is stressful (16 pics)

Dales Angels

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Men of the Dales beware

Farewell to greener Dales

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Sheep, trains and flowerpots – it’s all go in the Dales

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Going off the grid in chuffing Ribblesdale

Away from the madding crowd in Ribblesdale

And finally…

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Reasons to love Ribblesdale

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Horsing around outside the Dales

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Dales churches

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Around Ribblesdale

Dales appeal

Dales churches

A colourful Dales Highway

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Ribblesdale giant

Coffee causes chaos

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More Dales churches

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Dales Angels

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Farewell to greener Dales

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Away from the madding crowd in Ribblesdale

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