It’s been a funny old start to 2017 here in Ribblesdale and beyond. The weather has been neither one thing nor t’ other; I’ve not had much time for getting out and about, and in the world in general, us humans don’t seem to know how to cope with the messes we’ve got ourselves into. Still, plenty to look forward to this new year. Hopefully steam trains will soon be back on the Settle-Carlisle railway, my Huddersfield Town footie team will be promoted to the Premier League, and our unelected Prime Minister will have sorted out all the injustice in our country as promised. Well, anyway, there’s a fair chance we might get one of those three.
The more observant of you will have noticed I’ve switched ‘publication day’ for my blog from Sunday mornings to Monday. Two reasons for this: one, I seem to get more traffic to the site on a Monday, (probably because too many people spend time on t’ internet at their work computers than they do at home); and two, I’m able to make better use of my Sundays. Not that I really set myself deadlines in my retirement but it’s still a buzz to have a challenge. This week’s photos highlight the changeable conditions encountered in Ribblesdale since the start of the year. The top shot of Penyghent from Winskill is in black and white, but in real life it wasn’t much different.
This time clear blue skies over Ribblesdale’s iconic mountain, seen from Selside.On a walk into Settle via Castleberg Rock there was frost and mist. Giggleswick School chapel caught some brief sunshine.I never tire of the view from beneath the flagpole on Castleberg.Another black and white, looking east from Castleberg. A couple of planes or alien invaders visible above the mist.Still some colour in the woods beneath Castleberg.On another stroll through Ribblesdale, strange light at Winskill. It was chucking it down in the dale but I was stood in a strong sunbeam.I’ve taken lots of photos of this family of trees by the Ribble near Langcliffe Locks. The frosty ground and moody lighting made me think of removing the colour.Finally, three more taken during a wander around Langcliffe.
20 Dales sky photos in this week’s blog. In the Yorkshire Dales, where Man and Nature have produced a glorious painting for me to wander through, I gaze at the sky and realise I’m actually in a play. Not in a still-life masterpiece but a never-ending action drama where all the characters interact to create the unexpected. Mood and lighting constantly change. Acoustics stretch from eerie silences to frightening howls. All my senses are touched by the sky – yet, to it I am irrelevant.
Sheep was last week’s Dales theme for my blog and if you haven’t already sussed it, the sky is what I’m focussing on today. What follows is a selection of my sky shots all taken during 2016. Ribblesdale and the Three Peaks of Penyghent, Ingleborough and Whernside are featured along with my home village of Langcliffe.
Yes, It’s enjoyable to bask under a clear blue sky during a sunny week in some exotic country but any longer and I’m itching to get back to an unpredictable Dales sky.
The western Dales are particularly good for sky watching. Here the south-west wind from the Irish Sea and Morecambe Bay meets the first real obstacles in its path as well as any warmer inland air. Clouds bubble up rapidly – and often also clear quite quickly so the scene constantly changes.
I was playing a form of Scrabble against the iPad the other evening when to my disgust it wouldn’t accept the word ‘thoil’. How could it possibly not recognise such an important Yorkshire word I demanded to know. Thoil was an oft-used word by my parents and therefore it should be in the iPad’s dictionary. I turned it off in a huff (yes, I was losing heavily at the time and I couldn’t thoil it).
Have a great time over Christmas and New Year and make sure you get plenty of fresh Dales air.
Usually at this time in my Dales photo blog I’ll offer a ‘best of’ selection from throughout the year. Instead, for the next three weeks I’ll be presenting a different theme using photos taken during 2016. No prizes for guessing this week’s Dales theme…
Waste of space
This week I received a letter from our MP, Julian Smith, in response to a letter I’d sent regarding the proposed closure of Horton-in-Ribblesdale school. Of course, he didn’t give any personal opinions or his own thoughts on the closure but he did include a response he had received from North Yorkshire County Council. There was nothing more in the tangled reply than I hadn’t already read elsewhere, but I was interested in the paragraph reproduced above. The lack of spaces between some of the words has me wondering if this is part of the cutbacks now facing local government. I imagined the following memo being distributed: ‘Management is concerned about the number of spaces being used in correspondence and therefore from today all letters, memos, emails, blogs, Tweets and Facebook posts must contain at least 10 per cent fewer spaces. Thiswillnotonly savetimeand wearandtear oncomputerkeyboards butwillalsosave paper. However, the saving of man hours means that we will have to let one of you go, so wearelooking forsomeone totake voluntaryredundancy.’ The management.
Train of thought
I’m a great fan of the Woodland Trust and once again this year I’ll not be sending out Christmas cards (bah humbug) but will make a small donation to the trust to help with saving trees. I was dismayed to discover a while back that the trust agreed in principal to the building of the HS2 railway – in my opinion it is an expensive vanity project which will churn up the countryside, destroy farms, homes and ancient woodland, increase pollution, drain rescources and cost you and me billions of pounds just so those who can afford it will get to London half an hour quicker. Far less money would be needed to improve the existing network.
However, at least the Woodland Trust is putting up a fight against some of the HS2 proposals – you can read more about on the link below. Their main concerns are: 1. HS2 Ltd has failed to identify ancient woodland before selecting route options for Phase 1; 2. The compensation proposed for loss of ancient woodland is woefully inadequate; 3 Phase 1 could set a precedent for future infrastructure project, including subsequent phases of HS2.
Ancient woodlands and the ecosystems created around them are irreplaceable – think of it as Brimham Rocks … would you agree to destroying this ancient landscape to run a railway line through it? http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blogs/woodland-trust/2016/11/hs2-bill-lords/?utm_campaign=1629669_9315_dec_campaigning_enews_20161207&utm_medium=email&utm_source=woodlandtrust&utm_content=B16EMA008_S4&dm_i=2D76,YXGL,4VVIR1,2QT4O,1
Friends asked if I’d send them some photos of Langcliffe as a reminder of a recent visit to the dales. Instead, I put together a little calendar for them and had a couple printed by one of those quick-print internet companies. One of the calendars is on show in St John’s church so villagers can take a look should they ever need reminding about where they live!
We all love looking at the Dales. But this week I raised my eyes a little higher to take in the natural wonders up above. Incredibly, the first two photos in this week’s blog were taken just 8 minutes apart. The stormy ones below of a shower passing over Ingleborough were taken in Chapel-le-Dale. Then I captured the rainbow on another side of Ingleborough when I stopped along the old Ingleton to Clapham road.
Earlier in the week I was loitering around Winskill Stones, as you do, just waiting for the sunset when the sky turned pink – and yellow – and blue – and all sorts of colours in between. It was cold and spectacular, both looking west towards sunset and north to Penyghent where the clouds took on the general hue. Beautiful.
Conditions were such a contrast to this week last year when we witnessed some of the worst flooding in the Dales for many years. I dug out these photos I took looking down Ribblesdale from Giggleswick Scar to remind me of how widespread the floods were – and how Nature had created flood plains for such events.
Lights of a different kind caught my attention in Settle. The town is looking very festive at present and one shop window almost had me feeling quite Christmassy. Snow on the ground and a child wrapped up in winter gear with nose pressed up against the glass might just have swung it, but fortunately I was able to continue on my way in my usual grumpy humbug manner.
MP or NMP (Not My Problem)
Never would I want to be an MP. But if I was, I would always aim to give an honest opinion on any subject that affected or concerned my constituents. Unfortunately, my own MP, Julian Smith, doesn’t seem to be of the same mind. This year I have written to him on a few matters including fracking and more recently concerning the proposed closure of Horton-in-Ribblesdale school. Each time I have received predictable replies stating his party’s policies or completely washing his hands of the issues I raise. I wanted to know HIS opinions. I wanted to know whether I could trust HIM to act on behalf of constituents, no matter what their political persuasion might be or whether his party had a view on the subject or not. He is a party whip and scared stiff of rocking the Tory boat. In my eyes that is not properly serving the people who pay his wages. Regarding the school closure he writes ‘this is a matter for North Yorkshire County Council’. I knew that, Mr Smith … but are YOU in favour of or against the closure? Are YOU concerned about the future of Dales villages and what are YOU doing about it? What are YOU doing to ensure Dales children and families are being best served by the education authority? Will YOU back your constituents who are rallying against the closure and put pressure on the council? Always toeing the party line might enhance an MP’s career prospects within the party but will it gain any respect amongst constituents?
Dales in print
On Thursday it was good to see David and Janet Mitchell at my favourite Settle venue, The Folly. They were promoting the new Dalesman book Bill Mitchell’s Yorkshire, which I can highly recommend – see reviews. I also had two articles published this week – one in Down Your Way concerning the Forget-me-Not Fund’s war time Christmas parcels. The other appears in The Countryman and concerns countryside connections uncovered while researching family history. The Countryman article features my photo of the lovely Dales church of St Mary’s, Long Preston.
Half a dozen dales, a destructive storm, snow and a TV star … it’s been a funny old week. 14 pics to enjoy. My camera captured the last of autumn’s colours down by the Ribble (top pic). My cottage roof captured the worst of the storm, with several tiles being dislodged. Fortunately the storm and the worst (or the best, depending on your point of view) of the snow dispersed later in the week so I was able to keep a date with the ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess’ Amanda Owen on her isolated farm at Ravenseat.
Being short of time today I’ll let the photos and captions tell the story.
PS: A dales date for your diary… meet David and Janet Mitchell at The Folly, Settle on Tuesday Nov 29, 10am-4pm to help celebrate the launch of the new Dalesman book, Bill Mitchell’s Yorkshire.
Snow-capped Penyghent seen in the distance from the mill pond at LangcliffeLate colours on the mill pond. A cold start to the day in the Dales… frost on the higher trees and a lively River Ribble rushing by some late autumn colour.Before the storm – plenty of blue sky above Langcliffe. The snow line was just a couple of hundred feet away on this day.Giggleswick Chapel looking like a Victorian postcard.The sad sight of disappearing snowmen at Winskill. All that work just melting away.A classic dales view. Looking across Ribblesdale from Winskill to a snowy Ingleborough.Two views of Penyghent. Looks inviting but with icy winds blowing, the temperature up at the top was well below freezing – not that I went up to find out.
Further north in the dales – Wainwath Falls near Keld in Swaledale.Looking across a frozen dales landscape from Buttertubs Pass. The sky seems to blend into the icy landscape.View from Buttertubs looking back towards Ingleborough.Ravenseat, the isolated Dales farm of author, shepherdess, supermum and now TV star Amanda Owen and her husband Clive and their nine children. I interviewed Amanda for an article due to appear in February’s Countryman magazine.
Such is life in Ribblesdale. I’ve gone from taking pictures of golden sunsets and striking autumnal colours to those of misty, snowy almost black and white shots all within a fortnight. It was very similar last year – take a look back at my blog posts for late November and early December 2015 and you’ll see.
Less than 2 weeks ago this was the scene between Langcliffe and Stainforth – now almost all the leaves have dropped from those treesLooking across Ribblesdale a few days agoRecent sunset seen from WinskillAbove and below a trip along the Halton Gill road just two weeks ago
Winter appears this week – from Helwith Bridge
Hellifield Flashes
Hot news once again this week regarding the future of Hellifield Flashes. The stretch of Ribblesdale countryside separating Hellifield and Long Preston alongside the A65, known for flooding and a vital home for thousands of wintering birds, has been a prime target for profit-hungry developers for more than 15 years. Plans for a ‘leisure complex’ have once again been submitted along with improbable promises of jobs for up to 500 people. Perhaps there will be hundreds of jobs (not necessarily new ones) while the place is being constructed, but once up and running I wonder how much employment will remain? I can also see a few individuals, like the owners of the local pub, chip shop and village store understandably rubbing their hands at the prospect of attracting more customers, but what of the quality of life for the majority of residents, the wildlife and those viewing the area from the surrounding hills? The plans have been submitted by Halton Homes of Bingley. Look on their website and you’ll see it states the Hellifield development is ‘coming soon’ – do they know something we don’t? Take a look too at their other ‘leisure’ development down the road at Pendle Chase which it describes as a ‘premium investment opportunity’. Years after planning was controversially granted for the Salterforth enterprise the place is still undeveloped. Make your own mind up as to who really benefits from such speculation and land grabbing then send your objections to Craven Council. Also visit https://www.facebook.com/saveourcravencountryside-108150632557939/
Tree vandalism
Thankfully no tree vandalism in Langcliffe this week but Sheffield residents not so lucky
While I’m on one … Like many other people who care about quality of life and Nature I was appalled to see even more of Sheffield Council’s draconian tree removal this week. They say they must remove trees from streets because they can’t afford to pick up the bill for mending damage to pavements caused by tree roots. They claim it costs £50k a year (a figure I don’t believe given the growth rate of most trees). They say nothing about the value of trees, such as how they cut down pollution, how they shield traffic noise for residents and how they provide food and nesting places for wildlife – or how they just look nice, making places more pleasant to live in. I’m so lucky to live in my Ribblesdale village where trees are appreciated. Sheffield council has now killed more than three thousand trees. It’s okay though, the government has come up with £370m to tart up Buckingham Palace… well, that’ll keep Sheffield residents happy. Oh, and there’s millions for fancy new bridges in London and don’t get me started on the unimaginable amount of money being wasted on an unnecessary new train line for businessfolk to get to their London meetings half an hour quicker.
Best not devote the whole blog to misery … it’s good news that steam trains may be back on the Settle-Carlisle line by summer 2017 and that work on fixing the section of collapsed line at Eden Brow is well underway. And more good news … in only five weeks Christmas will be over with.
Just before the snow arrived, typical Dales colours near Langcliffe in RibblesdaleHigh ‘tide’ mark on the field by the Ribble this week
The dales donned winter clothes this week. Autumn hues hung around the route of the River Ribble while higher up, snow clung to the hillsides. The Three Peaks all dressed differently on the day I drove round the trio. Penyghent (above) caught a bit of sun and looked streaky and cold, yet inviting. Whernside looked settled and serene, the peak playing peek-a-boo through the clouds. Ingleborough seemed more angry about the whole affair, wrestling with the clouds. I felt an icy reception as I trampled around its foothills looking for a decent photo. We’re not really in winter yet but days like this remind walkers that the dales demand respect at all times.
Icy landscape looking up Chapel-le-DaleRainbow near Gearstones
Passport and phrase book in hand I left the Dales for the Lake District on Friday. As usual with my trips to the North West I head towards the blue sky over the distant South Lakeland Fells you can see from the A65 in Yorkshire – but which by the time I reach them they are covered in a grey fug. Still, after completing the job I had to do in Coniston I managed to grab a few worthwhile shots.
Sun halo over Coniston WaterLooking towards Coniston
I got to Coniston at 11am on the 11th of the 11th and pulled into the empty car park for two minutes of silence. That done I paid 20p for a toilet visit and had a quick nosey around the information centre. I then noticed that car parking cost £3 for a short stay then further arms and legs after that. The first 15 minutes are free and with the car clock now showing 11.17 I made a hasty exit. No wonder Coniston’s narrow streets are packed with cars and several businesses are for sale. I wait to see whether the number plate recognition system will take into consideration my two-minute stop to pay my respects. This is no place for tight Yorkshiremen.
Back in the Dales I tweeted a photo showing the war memorial at Horton-in-Ribblesdale with the line ‘Yet people still vote for those who promote hatred’, prompted by you-know-who’s election (clue: in Yorkshire slang his name aptly means ‘obnoxious smell emanating from ones posterior’). It truly astounds me that a country with 325m inhabitants could only come up with those two characters for their president.
Earlier in the week I was following the story of the sink hole in Ripon. I know it’s a very serious problem for those involved but I had to laugh at the BBC Look North’s tweet which included this quote from a resident: “I went outside and it was all dusty, my neighbour was out there in a dressing gown and it was a real mess.”
Never mind luv, my old dressing gown’s not that good either.
Regular followers will know I’ve taken many photos of Drybeck Farm here in Ribblesdale. I was pleased to receive this week a calendar produced by Agrii which features one such picture of mine. Proceeds from the calendar go to farming charities.
I think I developed an RSI problem with my camera clicking finger while photographing the Dales this week. Trying to capture what I believed would be the last of the best autumn colours I’ve driven many a mile through many a dale and taken many a picture. I won’t bore you with the full collection but here are some highlights plus a quick rant. The top photo is my favourite of the week. On Monday, reaching the highest point of Buttertubs Pass coming from the Swaledale end, this view opened up. It’s a bit of an unsteady hand-held zoom shot showing a distant Ingleborough, Widdale and hills in between. The light autumn mist in the dales and a mild pink sky created a beautiful sight. Better seen first hand than on a screen.
I drove through Wensleydale to Aysgarth Falls and couldn’t resist a black and white of the dominant Bolton Castle
I took dozens of photos at Aysgarth of the falls and the Ure. These are some I didn’t post on my Twitter account.From wide Wensleydale into narrow Swaledale which looked stunning. Reeth, Gunnerside and Muker were a picture in their autumn garb.
Lovely Littondale on Tuesday.I know, I’ve taken this shot umpteen times but it’s one of my favourites and it’s my blog so I’ll do what I want.Dale Head Farm and Penyghent. If I had the brass I’d help the farmer finish off that barn roof – it would make a lot nicer shot!Grey skies around Langcliffe but still plenty of colour on show
Ribblesdale: my weekly walk into Settle market on a Tuesday along the Highway from Langcliffe.
Dales town disgrace
At first I thought they were a Trick or Treat prank. But no, they were still in place the following day – I’m talking about those ghastly luminous yellow double-lines that now disgrace Settle’s lovely town centre. I’m in favour of preventing stupid parking but this vandalism is well out of proportion. They are garish, ugly, unwelcoming and urban. They can be seen from the surrounding hills and the Dales National Park, and probably from the Moon. I’ve been to other popular country places where a subtle thin line with appropriate notices about parking restrictions have satisfied the law, suited the town’s character and appeased the residents. Had some yobs daubed such graffiti in the town there would have been an almighty Halloween witch hunt. Which bureaucrat sanctioned this unsightly mess and why? Sorry about that Daily Mail reader rant but I really do find this particular excessive painting offensive and unnecessary.
Sometimes I’ll post on social media a Dales photo which I’m particularly pleased with only to find there’s but a trickle of interest in it. Other times I’ll pop up a quick snap which I feel is quite ordinary that causes a torrent of interest and admiration. The reasoning behind these reactions I’ll leave for the social media gurus and psychologists to fathom. I hate to use the phrase, but here goes anyway … ‘whatever floats your boat’. This week I dabbled a bit with Photoshop on a couple of shots (at this point half the audience throw their hands up in horror, their faces showing utter disdain). But I don’t care what people think of my resulting ‘artwork’. For me, Photoshop, and any other picture manipulation method, is just a medium, or a paintbrush. There’s satisfaction about creating something unique – which you personally enjoy. And anyway, the forming of the ‘watercolour’ of the area near Wharfe, Crummackdale, (above) helped pass away an otherwise miserable day in the Dales.
Close to where I took the original for my ‘artwork’ is this small dales waterfall along Wharfe Gill Sike. It looks serene here but after heavy rain it can be dramatic.
You’ll need to view this panorama large on a computer screen to appreciate the detail – clouds are still hanging in the dale to the north of Gearstones, seen from the limestone pavement above the former Ribblehead Quarry.
Similarly, this one showing the outline of Penyghent, taken from near Colt Park, will be nobbut a black blob if you view on a little phone screen. There’s some subtle light in the foreground and I was pleased with the redness of the cloud tops.
I wasn’t lucky enough to see the aurora this week but did manage a couple of stunning sunsets from up on Winskill Stones, above Langcliffe.
On a walk between Wharfe and Austwick the autumn sky cleared briefly to light up this lovely scene.
More dales views
A few more shots from my stroll around the former Ribblehead Quarry… the first three showing the Three Peaks of Whernside, Ingleborough and a distant Penyghent.
The top of the stone bench mirrors the background shapes of Park Fell, Simon Fell and Ingleborough. The stone make-up of the bench also replicates the geological strata of the hills.I bet the waller was a dab hand at jigsaws
I popped into the impressive Village Store at Clapham for an open night this week. Besides sampling some impressive dales produce I bought Dalesman’s latest book, Bill Mitchell’s Yorkshire. Bill’s son David and daughter Janet were both there and it was a delight to see them both again. David compiled the book – you can see my thoughts about it on the Reviews page.
Are there more ruins in the Yorkshire Dales than ever before? Are the traditional stone barns, walls and farm buildings which make the Dales unique gradually disappearing from our precious landscape? Who should be responsible for the upkeep of these iconic Dales features? Will their demise eventually affect tourism and thus local businesses and accommodation providers? Does anyone really care? Those thoughts crossed my mind this week during a short walk on which I came across several run-down buildings. Back home I looked through photos I’d taken over the last 12 months and counted more than 20 shots which included different Dales buildings that had seen better days. I’d not gone out specifically to capture the ruins, nor was my intention to put landowners to shame. I’d merely used the buildings as foregrounds or focal points for the pictures. Some of the buildings were once beautiful structures, architecturally perfect for their settings. They used locally sourced materials and were built by local craftsmen. Agricultural progress and changes have meant that in many cases the original uses for the buildings no longer exist. Many farmers can’t afford to maintain little-used buildings. The National Park’s rigid planning rules allow little by way of development in many cases. And anyway, some are in such out-of-the-way places that changing the use and improvement to modern living standards would be beyond the reach of all but the very richest people. I don’t know what the answer is. But I do know that if nothing is done to stop our heritage from crumbling, the Dales of the future will be far less attractive for residents and visitors. There follows a selection of local Dales buildings captured by me over the last year. I should also say by way of balance that I have seen a few superbly renovated barns on my travels around the dales.
It’s been a funny old start to 2017 here in Ribblesdale and beyond. The weather has been neither one thing nor t’ other; I’ve not had much time for getting out and about, and in the world in general, us humans don’t seem to know how to cope with the messes we’ve got ourselves into. Still, plenty to look forward to this new year. Hopefully steam trains will soon be back on the Settle-Carlisle railway, my Huddersfield Town footie team will be promoted to the Premier League, and our unelected Prime Minister will have sorted out all the injustice in our country as promised. Well, anyway, there’s a fair chance we might get one of those three.
