Monday 16 July 2018

Cali has been to the Yorkshire Dales

We've just returned from two weeks in the Yorkshire Dales, staying on four different sites so we could walk to the various places we wanted to see.  The weather has been amazingly hot, although the flip side is that the waterfalls weren't as impressive as we had hoped.

Our first site was Thornbrook Barn, a private site at Ingleton.  We loved this site, there were only 29 pitches in a field on a sheep farm.  The site was well laid out, a lovely toilet block and everywhere was spotlessly clean.

Pitch 2 Thornbrook Barn

On the first day of our holiday we did am 18 mile circular walk taking in the summit of Ingleborough (one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks), a lovely walk with stunning views from the summit.

From Ingleborough to Ribblehead Viaduct

The following day we decided to have an easier walk to allow our feet to recover so we walked into Ingleton to complete the Ingleton Waterfall Trail.  It was beautiful although many of the waterfalls weren't at their best, Bazenghyll Gorce was one of our favourites.

Bazenghyll Gorge, Ingleton Waterfall Trail

After three nights we moved to the Hawes Caravan Club Site.  This is a large site and it was almost full, although we did find a good pitch on the edge of the site.  The site was very well maintained and was close to Hawes village.

Pitch 12 Hawes Caravan Club Site

One of our walks was to visit Hardraw Force, the highest single drop waterfall in England, although the dry weather meant we didn't see it at its best, and also had a lovely walk across High Abbotside.

Hardraw Force

We stayed at Hawes for three nights before moving to the Wharfedale Caravan Club Site at Threshfield.  This site was another large site and when we arrived there were so many free pitches we were spoilt for choice.  We started talking to a couple with a California who were packing up to leave and ended up having their pitch.  We both liked this site and although it was large, it was well laid out and the facilities were excellent.

Pitch 18 Wharfedale Caravan Club Site

The first day we walked to Gordale Scar and Malham Cove.  It was one of the hottest days to walk the longest of our walks - almost 20 miles.  Unfortunately both the waterfall and beck at Gordale Scar were dry, but the scenery was spectacular.

Gordale Scar

We walked via Janets Foss and Malham to Malham Cove - an amazing landscape and a fabulous view after climbing the 432 steps to the top of the cove.

 Malham Cove

View from top of Malham Cove

The following day after our long trek we had a short walk to Grassington and visited the Wensleydale Creamery - eating far too many cheese samples!

After five nights at Wharfedale we visited our final site, the Bolton Abbey Estate Caravan Club Site.  This was a lovely site on the Bolton Abbey Estate, smaller than the last two and set amongst trees. The facilities were a little dated, but spotlessly clean.

Pitch 25 Bolton Abbey Caravan Club Site

Barden Moor was closed due to fire risk, so we were unable to do some of the walks we had planned and spent most of our time walking through the Bolton Abbey Estate.

 Bolton Priory

The weather was still so hot it was lovely to walk through Strid Wood and along the river.  There were also some spectacular view points including Barden Tower, as painted by Turner.

Barden Tower from Strid Wood

It's been a lovely holiday and definitely an area we will return to in a few year's time as there is so much more we want to see.

30 June - 16 July 2018