Yesterday and today we’ve spent the afternoons driving around different dales in the Yorkshire Dales. Liz will know and remember much better than I where we’ve been on our journeys.
What I do remember is how the landscape changes from one dale to the next, all determined by the underlying geology.
I particularly loved the parts of the Dales we visited yesterday where the limestone protrudes in blocks, making the landscape incredibly craggy.
I also love the gentler landscape with smooth hills that are terraced.
There’s the steep-sided, V-shaped river carved valleys, as well as the wide bottomed U-shaped valleys that are glacier carved.
So much variation literally over the hill to the next Dale.
I was fascinated by the dry stone walls; so different to ones I’m familiar with in Wales. I love the chunkier blocks that are used, especially when there’s a matt whiteish lichen and dark green, lush moss on the grey limestone stone.
Of course there’s sheep everywhere, lots of different breeds with the Swaledale with its curly horns being most prevalent.
We’ve seen an number of birds – red kites, grouse, pheasants, kestral, maybe a sparrowhawk and a shrike, though we have to check up on those two. Oh, and a cormorant taking flight from a stream.
A visit was payed to a nice tea room near some waterfalls – Liz will remind me of the name of the place.
We also wandered around and into a church or two, including a church that had the most darling little mice carved on some of the pews.
Forbidden Corner was also visited, but more about that in a separate blog.
Curious Stops and Tea Shops 