It’s hard to believe it’s only a week since I had the awe-inspiring experience at Coldstones Cut followed by (after some tea at Pately Bridge) the wonderfully majestic Fountains Abbey before returning back to Pately Bridge for a late lunch.

We had a lovely drive around some of the Dales after lunch, Liz eager to show off the natural beauty of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The route we took last Tuesday, the 25th of September, was :

• Pately Bridge to Greenhowe and then on to Bolton Abbey, passing by Parceval Hall. A quick trip past Embsay followed before dashing on to Skipton. Then, it was up the A65 towards Settle and then onwards to Langcliffe. From here we headed to Malham Tarn Nature Reserve follwed by Arncliffe and passing Kilnsey Crag before going through Threshfield back to Cracoe.

The changes in the landscape as we travelled from one Dale to another was quite remarkable. I absolutely fell in love with the more rugged landscapes where limestone seems to erupt out of the ground like the worn molar teeth of giants discarded by a very big tooth fairy.

I also loved the drystone walling, and how it seemed to rise vertically with the sides of valleys, rising relentlessly upwards to meet the sky. Perfectly straight too; so straight a Roman soldier would be proud of it!

There were sheep just about everywhere, of so many different breeds. And cattle too.

The steepness of some of the ghyls and valleys was quite astounding and breathtaking when you don’t expect to see the land fall away from you as you top a hill.

The photos show how quickly the weather can change over the Dales, from bright sunshine to quite overcast. I’m not a photographer; I use my Huaweii P10+ phone, in most of these from a quickly moving Freelander. There are very few places to pull over and let me get out to do a better job of photography, but I think you will get the idea of the vistas that were on display that day.

Of course, photos that I take can’t convey the amazement, wonder, awe, pleasure, fascination, intrigue that I experienced even when dashing past them. That’s what my words are for, though I still don’t have the words fully yet.