Returning From Not So Afar...
Sep. 25th, 2010 04:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesWell, that's me back again, after a whirlwind five-day break exploring Nidderdale and its environs.
We took the bikes. We did not use the bikes. As I suspected, it's the kind of landscape that requires bottom-bracket-mounted crampons. J had selected Pately Bridge as a destination because someone had once advertised a bike-friendly B & B there - it was probably the only bike-friendly thing in the locale. The fact that we arrived slap-bang in the middle of the Pately Bridge Walking Festival was a dead-giveaway, really...
So, what did we see there? I shall fill you in in due course. In the meantime, here's a brief summary:
1100+ year-old traditions in a decaying and sadly under-appreciated city, medieval cathedrals, medieval woodwork, monasticism on an industrial scale, medieval drains (on an industrial scale!), lime-kilns, flax mills, lead-mines, railways, sipping tea in swanky teashops, eating cake in the aforementioned-teashops, sniffing (but not tasting!) The Water, stalactites, stalagmites and The Oldest Sweet Shop in England (yes, it's as good as it sounds). Lovely scenery,whacky geology, reasonable weather...
And...
A performing grouse! Let's not forget the performing grouse!! He was the star of the holiday!!!!!
In the meantime, here's a taster:-
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty?? That's open to debate, if you ask me. It's certainly outstandingly beautiful, but... The landscape had been turned over countless times over the centuries. Up on the moors, the land was pitted with old mineworkings and heaped up with spoil.
It's an area I haven't really spent much time in before, and it's well worth a visit! I shall give you my guided tour over the next few days....
Hope you're all well! I shall catch up with you soon - and congrats to those of you who've been celebrating birthdays in my absence!
We took the bikes. We did not use the bikes. As I suspected, it's the kind of landscape that requires bottom-bracket-mounted crampons. J had selected Pately Bridge as a destination because someone had once advertised a bike-friendly B & B there - it was probably the only bike-friendly thing in the locale. The fact that we arrived slap-bang in the middle of the Pately Bridge Walking Festival was a dead-giveaway, really...
So, what did we see there? I shall fill you in in due course. In the meantime, here's a brief summary:
1100+ year-old traditions in a decaying and sadly under-appreciated city, medieval cathedrals, medieval woodwork, monasticism on an industrial scale, medieval drains (on an industrial scale!), lime-kilns, flax mills, lead-mines, railways, sipping tea in swanky teashops, eating cake in the aforementioned-teashops, sniffing (but not tasting!) The Water, stalactites, stalagmites and The Oldest Sweet Shop in England (yes, it's as good as it sounds). Lovely scenery,whacky geology, reasonable weather...
And...
A performing grouse! Let's not forget the performing grouse!! He was the star of the holiday!!!!!
In the meantime, here's a taster:-
A view of Pately Bridge, seen from the cemetery.
And the rugged country to the east, as seen from the car park of the Stump Cross Caves :-
And the rugged country to the east, as seen from the car park of the Stump Cross Caves :-
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty?? That's open to debate, if you ask me. It's certainly outstandingly beautiful, but... The landscape had been turned over countless times over the centuries. Up on the moors, the land was pitted with old mineworkings and heaped up with spoil.
It's an area I haven't really spent much time in before, and it's well worth a visit! I shall give you my guided tour over the next few days....
Hope you're all well! I shall catch up with you soon - and congrats to those of you who've been celebrating birthdays in my absence!
