The first Monday in May is a national holiday for us here in the UK, making a 3-day weekend for many people as schools and work places generally close for the day. It's a lovely time of year as we are in full Springtime mode with deliciously long days and the beginnings of fresh greenery sprouting in the hedgerows and treetops. The weather doesn't always co-operate mind you, but somehow it doesn't manage to dampen the feeling of celebration.
Back in early April, I hatched a plan with my wonderful in-laws who live fairly close to us. It was a plan in which J and I would escape to the countryside for a much longed for mini break, proper exciting stuff for us I have to tell you. Now here's the thing - I absolutely love love love my role as Mum to my three Little People. But every so often it really is a great thing to hand the responsibilities of parenting over to someone else entirely and jaunt off for a short period of togetherness with the other half.
Do you know, when I sat and thought about it I realised that the last 2-nights-away we had together was a last minute jaunt to Amsterdam when I was 27 weeks preggers with baby number one. So that would have been the Summer of 2002 then, 13 years ago, holy-moly, I'd say we were really due this precious time away.
So with childcare arranged and consensus from the Mr, I booked us into a favourite little holiday hideaway up in Wensleydale which we had stayed in many years ago. Located in the picturesque village of Askrigg, it promised a weekend full of Good Things. A cosy nest, a comfy bed, great village pubs serving delicious fodder and the most fabulous walking country right on our doorstep. Wensleydale is extremely picturesque and also very watery - if you want to find spectacular waterfalls and rivers, this is the place to come.
Our very first walk was certainly a wet one alright. The weather was awful when we arrived in Wensleydale, with low-slung heavy cloud and a persistent light drizzle, the sort that my Mum always used to call "wet rain". But we were stupidly happy to be there, striding out in our old mismatched waterproofs, marvelling at the novelty of being able to walk and talk without the hindrance of offspring.
We walked from the gorgeous village of Hawes, across wet soggy fields to Hardraw Force which is apparently England's largest single-drop waterfall. It was very atmospheric, very noisy and extremely wet. We loved it. We perched on a wet rock and drank steaming coffee whilst admiring the watery scene and couldn't have been happier. I got to try out my new flask too, such a pretty little floral number purchased from the divine Girls Own Store in Bridport, but also to be found on Amazon {here
} should you wish for some floral goodness to keep your own drinks steaming hot.
The beauty of the Yorkshire Dales is not diminished much by a spell of dire weather, and we had such a good time tramping up and down hills and over stiles and bridges. Everything looked lush and vibrant and the rain-soaked air and damp earth smelt wonderful.
We eventually arrived at our little cottage at 5pm, walking in to find the table laid for two with home made scones and jam and a bottle of white wine waiting in the fridge. This is Yorkshire hospitality at it's finest, and made such a lovely welcome for two wet, weary walkers.
I didn't take any photos of Gamekeepers Cottage, but you can see find a few on the website here. It's a wonderful, cosy, teeny-tiny little place perfect for couples, with one room (plus bathroom) downstairs and one large bedroom upstairs. You can sit in bed (with crochet to hand!) and look out the window onto a green field with sheep grazing. The peace and quiet of the place is incredible, it fills your ears with a comforting silence and makes you sleepy like you wouldn't believe. OK, so the local ale might have contributed to the sleepiness a little (great pubs in Askrigg, it would have been rude not to mingle with the locals).
Next morning we couldn't wait to get out into the countryside again, but needed some fuel first. So across the street we went to visit Askrigg Village Kitchen. What a gem of a place, we settled ourselves down in the very pretty tearoom and enjoyed some mighty fine bacon sarnies and frothy coffees before heading out for another wet walk. Yup, still raining...........
.......and still very watery around these parts! This is probably one of the most famous waterfalls in Yorkshire, Aysgarth Falls. Not just one waterfall in fact, but a whole flight of them (three I think), rushing and gushing down the valley over a series of spectacular limestone steps. The picture above is of the Upper Fall and due to all the rain, the volume of water was really huge and the noise was very noisy indeed.
The rain continued to fall steadily as we followed footpaths and admired the scenery....
....up hill and down dale and along some quiet country lanes. The Blackthorn hedges were looking very pretty...
....and even in the dripping wet they remained beautifully springlike.
The above picture was the view from our morning coffee stop, a (wet) wooden bench in the sleepy village of Castle Bolton where there is indeed a real, larger-than-life ancient castle looming up at the end of the village green.
This is Bolton Castle, an historical 14th century pile of stone. Parts of it were badly damaged in the English Civil War, but there are still some rooms intact and you can have a good old wander around in there if historic castles are your thing.
We carried on walking (and yes, it was still raining), past impossibly beautiful stone houses and productive looking farms, over fields and rushing streams.....
....this was actually described as a "small beck" in our walking book, but it was a bit more "raging torrent" on the day we crossed over it. I wish you could hear the sound of all this water, it's in my ears as I type, I can remember it so clearly. It was sooooo noisy!
Another lovely Wensleydale walk, I think our wet soggy boots walked six miles or so on that Sunday morning and it felt deliciously lovely to finally sink back into the warmth and comfort of the car. It was mid afternoon by this point, too soon to return to the cottage but our legs were also veeery tired. So we did what many others do in this part of the country and took ourselves off for a pleasure-drive.
Driving anywhere in the Yorkshire Dales involves hills, and in some places those hills are rather enormous. In fact, we were driving so high up that we were pretty much sitting inside the clouds as you can see. We were passing over the high hills that divide Wensleydale and Swaledale....
.....and the views were absolutely breathtaking. Then suddenly - NO RAIN!!!!!!!!!! Yipppeeeeeeeeeee!!! The rain stopped and bit by bit the clouds cleared........
.....oh those hills.......can you see the little winding road that we have driven along? We stopped the car up here and ate a late lunch (don't you just love a car picnic, in dubious weather conditions they are the bees knees).
We drove in a large loopy loop to Reeth and then back to Askrigg, just for the pleasure of passing from Wensleydale into Swaledale and then back into Wensleydale again. To view all those views and commit it to memory, this special time just the Two Of Us.
Back to Gamekeepers Cottage, a quick change of wet clothes and footwear, then straight back out the door to the local pub. We had gotten cold after spending so much time in the rain and were delighted to find the big old range in the pub was fully stoked with a glowing fire and it was incredibly warm and cosy.
I don't often drink ale, but when I am out with J I do like to join him for a pint or two of the local brew. It slipped down surprisingly easily as we warmed ourselves by the fire and talked about all sorts of things. We went on to enjoy a superb evening meal in another of the village pubs before wandering back to the cottage and falling tired and happy into bed.
Our last morning dawned grey and overcast but finally the rain had stopped. We had promised the Little People that we would be back in time for lunch, but figured if we got going early enough we could manage one last tramp through Wensleydale before driving back home. An early bedtime and sound nights sleep meant that we were up and eating breakfast at 6am, and out starting our walk at 7am. It was wonderfully tranquil as we walked beside the River Ure, and gradually as the early morning progressed we noticed a slight lift in the weather....
....it was still very grey and stormy in the skies, but every so often there would be a brief break in the clouds and the sun would come streaming down to illuminate the landscape. Oh that sunshine, it was sooooo good to feel it and see it!
We climbed some steep hills on this morning, striding out over a high ridge which took in the ruins of an ancient chapel....
....and gave us sweeping views over the landscape.
The light was magical and literally changed minute by minute. It was mesmerising to watch the play of sunshine and shadows across the lush green fields as we walked.
We finished our five mile walk at 9.30am, and true to our promise we landed back amongst our happy Little Peeps in good time for us all to eat lunch together. Turns out they had enjoyed rather a good time staying with their doting grandparents, and I can guess that they were more than a little bit spoilt. As for J and I, well we enjoyed rather a good time too, I came home with aching legs and a happy glow.
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EDIT TO ADD :: for those who have asked, the walking book we've used for 20+ years is this one :: Pathfinder Yorkshire Dales (Pathfinder Guides)
. It has circular walks with great descriptions and full Ordnance Survey Maps for each walk too. The walks range from short 2-3 mile strolls to 10 mile hikes. We've used it LOADS, J loves the maps! :)
and 
and joy of joys they are absolutely perfect.
