In the Yorkshire Dales

Again, the summer-like temperatures made us contribute a bit more to global warming - and to drive with our Chelsea Tractor (well, the small Suzuki Vitara actually is not really in that behemoth category...) up to the Yorkshire Dales. We decided to go to Grassington, where every 4 weeks on Sunday there is one of those Farmer's Markets, with local food and produce.

Grassington is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, north of Skipton (here are my pictures of it). From Bolton Abbey, a very narrow road leads to it, often only one lane wide. But I do not mind those narrow back roads, as they provide very nice sights, and they adapt very well to the hilly landscape. If one would prefer a more convenient wider road, one would access Grassington from Skipton.

We drove to the small village of Thorpe and hiked from there up into the Embsay Moor. As on top of the incline there did not seem to be anything very interesting, we walked down again and continued towards the village of Burnsall. Lots of sheep on the way, with young lambs. The walkway crosses many walls, with steps and gates that need to be closed to keep the animals in their areas. A set of pictures from that hike is here in this Flickr set.

In the Yorkshire Dales.

Hiking in Ilkley Moor

Ilkley is a small town north of Leeds, in the Wharfedale. This valley is the first of the dales, with the river Wharfe flowing from West to East. Coming from Leeds, one has to travel down a hillside to come into this valley. It takes about 35 minutes to drive from our home to Ilkley, and it is the first "recreational" place out of the city borders. Well, even closer is the Chevin Forest right on the edge of where the Leeds plain falls down into the Wharfedale, but it is still quite close to Leeds, and the airport is very close, so it is not as tranquil as when one would drive a bit further away.

Ilkley is a very nice town, with lots of small oldfashioned stores, butchers, and one of the Betty's Cafes. South of Ilkley rises the Ilkley Moor, a very picturesque area for hiking. This Saturday, we used the nice weather to hike up the steep slope from Ilkley, then move on the relatively flat tops to the highest peak of the moor at 402 m. As usual, I took a lot of pictures - collected them on my Flickr site.

View from the moor slope towards the Wells Bath House over Ilkley and the Wharfedale

Steam train goes through the North York Moor.

Sutton Bank, the steep incline on the west side of the North York Moors area. On the plateau on the left, there is an aiport located. 

Landscape in the North York Moors National Park. 

The thin peninsula "Spurn Head" which separates the Humber Bay (left) from the North Sea (right). The viewing direction is towards North.