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Pressed cheese and icy toppings

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Clear blue skies tempted me into clambering up the rocky western side of Kingsdale this morning. The views were fantastic. I went as far as the Turbary Road, an ancient track which locals once used to collect peat from the slopes of Gragareth. To the west I could pick out Morecambe Bay across the Lune Valley, and the snow-topped southern fells of the Lake District. Just off the main track are these erratics known as the Cheese Press Stones where I ate my pressed cheese sandwich while staring towards Ingleborough and Whernside.

Ewe better believe it

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While many humans falsely believe they can gain satisfaction through money, power, fame and possessions, this young lamb and his mum show us that contentment in life can actually be achieved much more easily.

All's well that ends well…

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It’s been persisting it down almost all day here in Ribblesdale but wow, what an ending! This is the scene outside my kitchen window at 6.20pm tonight – no Photoshop work required. I’m sure there will have been similar experiences all over Yorkshire… well, it is officially spring after all.

New life experiences in the dale

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I flagged down a local farmer this morning to tell him that four lambs were in the middle of the road about half a mile away. He cursed and charged off so quickly on his quad bike that his shocked sheepdog passenger struggled to stay aboard. On this sunny but breezy spring day in Ribblesdale I had great fun photographing some of the other adorable lambs that hadn’t escaped from the confines of the fields. I’m not sure the chap in the third photo should be exploring such life experiences at his age… especially when his mum’s in the same field.

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A natural ending

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The end of another lovely day here in Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales. I particularly enjoyed watching the sun go down this evening. A pregnant ewe slowly settled down in the field in front of me, and half a dozen carrion crows squawked noisily before perching in the tree tops. With the last rays of sun reflected on remaining flood water and on the river, a more peaceful finale to the day I couldn’t have wished for. The moon is shining brightly now and through my binoculars I have a clear view of its craters. Don’t you just love Nature?

Nothing buddha best in the Dales

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The western edge of Yorkshire missed out on yesterday’s sunshine and bright blue skies but today more than made up for it. Penyghent and Plover Hill proved picture perfect as I drove along the Silverdale road from Stainforth in Ribblesdale to Halton Gill. There were great views down Littondale and even that boggy lump of Fountains Fell looked inviting. To top it all the setting sun is glorious as I type – and is being lapped up by the buddha statue in my kitchen…

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Sunset – all in the best possible taste

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A lovely sunset tonight helps me celebrate my 100th blog on this site. I’m standing by the Ribble near Long Preston, the river flowing heavily yet quietly under the bridge, a couple of horses grazing unconcerned in the next field. Before writing this I scanned through the previous 99 blogs to see what subject had pulled in the most visitors. It was the one I wrote at the beginning of February; I didn’t think it was anything special until I noticed I’d written ‘it gave me the willies’. Really, do I have to mention a rude word to get noticed on t’ internet? Goodness knows how many hits I’ll get when I mention the blue tits in my garden.

A taste of spring to come in the Dales?

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I forgot all my cares and worries today as blue skies tempted me into another drive up Ribblesdale. This is a wonderful Dales scene: smoke from Dry Beck farm chimney; the ewe with its new-born lamb, a grand steaming pile of fresh dung and two dozen crows dancing noisily overhead… all against a backdrop of that famous Ribblesdale icon, Penyghent.  I carried on past Horton-in-Ribblesdale and parked near Ribblehead Viaduct before taking a short walk to the picturesque Thorns Gill bridge and falls.  I hope this is a taste of things to come for spring.

Going quackers in Malham

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The ducks and geese were having a whale of a time on the swollen Malham Beck in the Yorkshire Dales this morning. But there’s always one that goes too far isn’t there? The clouds were low and boring over Malham Cove but there’s no denying the drama of this vast curtain of limestone.

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Enjoy the views but pay the dues

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Driving up out of High Bentham towards Slaidburn today I had to stop to admire this view back over Wenningdale towards Whernside and Ingleborough. It was such a change to see an all-too-brief glimpse of blue sky. Looking the other way (below) was also a pretty scene (even though I briefly dipped my toes in Lancashire). I called at Stocks Reservoir after Slaidburn and wondered why there were cars parked outside rather than inside the small car park. They’ve started charging, that’s why. For years United Utilities who ‘own’ the land boasted about what lovely people they were in allowing the public to enjoy ‘their’ facilities for free. But now it seems that the profit of £607m the company made last year, much of it through rates we pay for letting them utilise what was once public land given away by government, is not enough. What’s the betting that the next time I visit Stocks there’ll be ugly yellow lines down the country lane along with ‘no parking’ signs.

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