Walking up that Hill

Hello Lovelies,

I'm aware my "52 weeks" posts have been missing for a couple of weeks now. I just don't seem to be good at capturing the small things with my camera at the moment. But there have been many happy moments.

Yarndale was a major happy for last week , and this week another dale has thrilled me.

Maybe it was a glimpse of the gorgeous hills around Skipton that finally gave me the push to visit a place I've meant to journey to for the last ten years!

Right back when my boys were in playgroup I heard a little boy talk about his visit to the stepping stones at Dovedale.

White Peak is the name now given to the area above Ashbourne in Derbyshire which is at the very bottom of the Peak District national park. Dovedale is within this beautiful area.

The river Dove was flowing quickly thought the trees in the valley bottom when we arrived..........

Once we were across the bridge in the photo above , I let youngest choose which path to follow, along the river or uphill. He likes climbing more than walking along the flat, so I wasn't surprised when he chose the hilly route away from the river ...

This is a rubbish picture of the hill we set out to climb. Thorpe cloud had already wowed us from the approach road . It's steep sides and pointed summit making it a stunning site after travelling through typically flat midlands countryside.

The view of sheep in green fields and low rolling hills as we began to climb upwards looked more like midsummer than October .....

The route was easy enough at this point, but in the warm sun it still made you hot and short of breath......

It was nice to find an excuse to stop and  admire the view. We could see a little Autumn colour , a red Virginia creeper on this building and just a few trees beginning to turn red or orange. We were interested by the stately home just visible behind the creeper covered building. A bit of internet searching and I'm pretty sure it's Ilam Hall....a youth hostel....what an amazing place to stay on a budget !

On such a gorgeous day  this stone barn , shelter for the sheep, was a reminder of how  exposed this site is....

Do take a look at this stunning aerial photo of Dovedale in the snow. Thorpe Cloud is the Pyramid like hill towards the top of the image.

As we got closer to the top the gradient got much steeper and Limestone outcrops were everywhere....

Suddenly we were looking down on the little barn and the sheep........

Time to concentrate on the climb, watching your footing and thinking of the reward of reaching the top....

And what a reward ! "Oh Wow" is all I could say when I turned around at the summit and was greeted by the stunning view........

The barn looks so little down below now and you can see for miles.

 We sat on the rocks for a while and  absorbed the wonderful views. It's pretty windy at the top and I found it a bit scary but exhilarating.......

After a while , when we were all feeling a bit more rested we carefully walked along the ridge....this is looking backwards towards were we sat..........

As you can see there are plenty of other people around, it's not a place to go for solitude.  But it's easy to see why it's so popular. It took us less than half an hour to get to the top so it's well within most peoples ability.

And I just loved the view into the valley on the other side, that was hidden till you reached the top........

It reminded me of the Yorkshire dales and the light was wonderful.

The shadows of the clouds drifting across the hillside.....



At the other end of the ridge I ( very, very carefully ) peered down on the river below. Yikes, are we really that high !

Now it was time to descend Thorpe cloud, I think this photo gives you an idea of how steep this side of the hill is..........

It was not much fun trying to negotiate the  super steep path with it's loose  stones. Half way down I really wished we had gone back down the way we came up..........

Still, the views of the river Dove were gorgeous.........

And thankfully we all got down without any accidents..........

There were so many people near the stepping stones that  I didn't take many photos...........

I think we were all glad to stroll along the side of this pretty river while our jelly legs recovered.......

It's a shame the sun had gone by now........

But the boys minds were already thinking of this place we spotted when we first arrived....

It's not made of stone at all, it's a mobile catering unit...clever huh.

And what did my boys have their hearts set on ?....ice cream of course.........

Toffee ripple , mint choc chip and raspberry ripple .......a well deserved treat which was already being hungrily devoured by the time I snapped this picture  :0)

I loved making the most of another glorious Autumn day and really hope it revisit this lovely area again before too long....there is so much more we didn't get to see on this visit.
Jacquie x

Yarndale 2013 :: the final part

Hello Lovelies,

the weather really was gorgeous on Saturday afternoon and with just under two hours still to enjoy before it was time to leave I happily headed out to explore . I took a different route through the park.........

Enjoying the solitude and dappled shade under the trees......

My Daffodil was wilting a bit by now but it had been a brilliant ice-breaker and I felt so happy to have met up with so many like minded lovelies.

It was wonderfully calm under the huge old  trees........

But I love to climb a hill and take in the view so I headed for the nearest one......

Gorgeous........

Back down the hill in the park the low autumn sun was lighting up the yarnwalk beautifully.....

This reminded me of a stained glass window.

I headed towards the canal and admired Lucy's duck on the waves once more....I just loved everything about this.........

I wandered along the side of the canal absorbing all the little details..........

Like the blue sky and the sunlight on the old stone buildings..........

The boat owners pottering about enjoying the warm weather and the smell of wood smoke in the air from a boat's chimney........

The interesting lettering skillfully hand painted on the side of the boats..........

the sound of narrow boats chugging past and the ripples they made in the water........

The wonderful golden light and the dancing reflections.........

The ice cream boat :0)

When I managed to tear myself away from the canal I was delighted to spot the Yarndale bus. This original London Transport bus took visitors from the train station up to the auction mart and back....look it's got bunting ! .....

and it says Yarndale on the side :0)

Further into town the market was in full swing and everywhere seemed very busy........

I headed for a little covered area of shops that Lucy introduced me to last year...........

There are some lovely shops here and I drooled over this dresser of gorgeousness.........

But the force was strong and I resisted ....it wasn't easy.

There is so much to see here that it was easy to distract myself. The castle is just at the top of the high street.....

This is the view from the entrance....you can just see the white roofs of the market stalls........

I turned up the hill looking for the back of the castle and ended up in the  castle woods. It's timeless natural  place is just minutes from the bustling high street ....amazing.......

I LOVED the dry stone wall covered in moss.

and the glimpses of the hills you could see over it.........

on the other side of the path was a pretty scary vertical drop.....

It was getting close to the time I had arranged to meet up with mum by now and I looked for a safe way down as I thought it would be the shortest route. Eventually I found some steps...steep steps

In the valley bottom it almost felt like the land that time forgot, with pools of water and prehistoric ferns .....

I was sorry to have to rush past most of it , just snapping a few pictures as I went........

Eventually I reached somewhere I recognized behind the castle........

There it is.........

I hurry along the canal-side and am again thrilled by the light and the reflections.........

I look at my watch...five minutes to spare, just time to have a super quick look at the puppet festival which is also in town. I loved this "Theatre" made out of a vintage caravan........

And this colourful tent..........

All too soon it was time to say goodbye to this lovely corner of the world.....

It really was a magical day I will treasure and remember for a long time.
Thank you Yarndale and all the lovely people I met.
Thank you to the weather gods for smiling on us.
and thank you lovelies for coming along for the journey :0)

Jacquie x