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Showing posts from March, 2014

Gunnerside, Swinner Gill, Crackpot Hall & Kisdon Force (Yorkshire Dales)

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Before I begin with the account of our second day in Swaledale (see previous entry for details of Day One), I must pause to make mention of our base for the weekend, the Kings Arms Hotel, Reeth .  As regular readers will know, whenever possible we prefer to stay in pubs.  This is because they're usually unpretentious, you can get an evening meal and, most of all, we like sampling different beers.  The bar doesn't have to be fancy as long as the room is clean and comfortable, the food is reasonable and the beer is good.  The Kings Arms ticked all those boxes and at a very reasonable price too.  Our room overlooked Reeth's village green and it was especially nice to wake up to see the sun rise over Fremington Edge.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I couldn't wait to get out there. The Kings Arms, Reeth One epic Dales breakfast later and I was out in the sunshine, enjoying a quick turn of the village green before heading off into the heart of Swaledale.  I

Arkengarthdale (Yorkshire Dales)

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Just a few days after returning from our weekend in the Yorkshire Dales I began to think about a return visit.  Like many, I suspect, the Yorkshire Dales has that kind of effect on me.  A quick check through my diary soon had me frowning though.  Weekend after weekend had some kind of work or family commitment inked in.  Except, that is, the very next weekend which was tantalisingly free.  Those two blank pages taunted me.  But not for long.  A quick search on good old Trip Advisor and one phone call later we had booked accommodation  in the lovely little Swaledale village of Reeth.  The weather forecast didn't look too bad and I was keen to explore some of the area's distinctive industrial history. The village of Reeth is situated 11 miles to the west of Richmond and is considered to be the main settlement in Upper Swaledale.  It's also located on the highly popular Coast to Coast Walk, which is perhaps why a such a small place has need of no fewer than three pubs and on

Every picture tells a story - Trethevy Quoit, Cornwall

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I’m rather enjoying going back through my archive of images, picking out my personal favourites or ones that I think have an element of interest attached to them.  This one is Trethevy Quoit, a very well preserved megalithic stone tomb which sits on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, close to the village of St Cleer. Trethevy Quoit Built from granite, the Quoit is what’s known as a portal dolmen, the simplest form of chambered tomb, constructed from stone uprights (portals) with a smaller stone to the rear supporting a large capstone.  Standing at approximately nine feet high, originally the whole structure would have been covered with earth.  This particular type of tomb dates from the Neolithic period, between 3700 and 3500 BC, and archaeological investigation has shown that it was used as a community burial site for a very long period of time. Trethevy is one of the finest examples of a portal dolmen in the country and, apart from no longer being covered in earth, it stan

Every picture tells a story - Troller's Gill, Wharfedale

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I always intended to write about more than just walking in my blog, but for the past few months the walks seem to have taken over.  I suppose this is because, having decided to write a description and a journal for each walk, I had a bit of catching up to do.  Well, now I'm almost up to date, so it's time to include some extra stuff.  Of course, I'll still be writing about my walks, and hopefully improving the maps and route directions so others can enjoy following  in my footsteps.  But I'm also going to occasionally punctuate the walks with other items. Over the years I've taken thousands of photographs.  Many of them have been for commercial purposes (for sale via a stock agency or as prints and canvases), but a large number have also been just for the record.  These are photos simply to remind me of where I've been, taken just for the pleasure of remembering the moment.   And recently I've also been snapping away purely with the blog in mind.  Now I

Kettlewell, Starbotton and Arncliffe (Yorkshire Dales)

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What a joy it is to wake up and know you're in the Yorkshire Dales and, not only that, but the aroma of bacon and sausages wafting into your room means that breakfast awaits.   And someone else has cooked it for you. Our hotel for the night had been the Racehorses Hotel in the centre of Kettlewell.  We had a room with a view of the Blue Bell, Kettlewell's other pub (which we hadn't visited).  All in all it had been a very pleasant short stay with good food, good beer and a very comfortable room.  The only minor downside had been the car park which was very cramped with cars packed in at all angles.  We decided to leave our car in the large village car park, although this had incurred a fee.   The evening meal had been outstanding (the hotel's speciality - beef suet pudding with handcut chips) and the beer (Timothy Taylor's) was very good too. Contentedly stuffed with a Full English (also excellent - possibly the best sausages ever), we undertook a brief explora