Sunday tales from Yorkshire Dales

In the last couple of months my Sundays were reserved for hill walking exclusively. Last Sunday was not the exception. This time we (me and my 2 friends, Spider and Pete) decided to change the location a bit and swapped the Lakes for the Yorkshire Dales. Our objective was to climb to the summit of the Whernside (736 m) without getting too tired and be lucky enough to spot the odd train on the impressive Ribblehead viaduct spanning the Ribble valley on the Settle-Carlisle railway. The viaduct was completed in 1875, spans the valley with its 24 arches and according to Chris from the Best Centre, the construction cost quite a few people their lives. (he remembers it apparently!) And here it is

We were climbing, well, rather strolling up the valley and met a group of motorcyclists, who should not really have been there since it was a public footpath (in the phase of reconstruction even!) in the National Park and our geeky environmental selves were tempted to make a footage of them on the digital camera and pass it on, but our cowardly selves, sensing a possible beating, let go. The countryside was.... well, I have to be honest- bleak and rather uninteresting. Undulating hills covered in grass, not a single tree anywhere. Forgive me all british readers, who grew up in this sort of landscape and love it from the bottom of their hearts, for someone growing up surrounded by forests this looks like a desert. But the company was good as always so I enjoyed myself. Even more so when we got to the top of the ridge where suddenly we happened to be in the different, white world. It wasn't snow, just the frost blown by the constant wind, but incredibly beautiful, turning the rusty fences and stone walls into the intricate art features worth stopping and watching and capturing and as a result I stayed way behind my companions. I am posting some of them for you here and I am hoping you'll like them as much as I do

This happens to be myself:) I am the king of the castle....

I really like this one, it has a kind of atmosphere, don't you think?

Having recently returned from my native country, where we had lovely white Christmas, I found the whiteness really soothing and felt a bit homesick:( Then it was time to descend as one of us had a serious business to deal with later, so we moved on and eventually finished the loop just where we started and below is the viaduct from a different perspective. I don't know how frequent are the trains on this line, especially on winter Sundays, but we were lucky to see one passing just as we walked beneath:) Unfortunately my camera let me down on that occasion, so no evidence of this remarkable event whatsoever.

Traditionally, we finished our trip in the pub in Ingleton with a great selection of real ales and we had a discussion about how much money one needs to be able to live without work for the rest of one's life. Interesting topic for three unemployed graduates. And to finish the trip off properly, we had a feast of fish & chips in Pete's house. The last time, most likely, since Pete is moving soon:( Well, we hope he'll still come every now and again and there are many more adventures to look forward to!