Up Hill and Down Dale

Maybe it was a result of Saturday's day of drizzly rain, but yesterday morning J and I both agreed that we should make the most of a dry day and go out for a short walk somewhere. We are exceptionally lucky to live on the very edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, so it's only a short car journey to get us out of town and Up Hill to one of our favourite fresh-air-and-views place.

This was an especially lovely little afternoon walk as we had all three Little People with us, and miraculously there was a distinct lack of moaning. We had announced our intentions over lunch (when Little Man had only just crawled out of bed, and the other two were still in pyjamas), and by 2pm we had everyone showered, dressed and ready to jaunt. I was impressed by the lack of resistance actually - that seems to be the best I can hope for these days, gone are the times when a simple walk was met with squeals of excitement. But I'm OK with that, I understand that things change and I am trying my hardest to adapt and not expect too much.

The air was surprisingly still up on the tops yesterday, it's usually a place of gusting winds and it's unusual to be able to stand still and tune in to the sounds of the birds without the wind howling in your ears. I noticed that the heather is only just starting to flower and the fells were still very brown looking, so it'll be a few more weeks before the landscape will wear it's purple coat. We must remember to go back for that.

We weren't Up Hill for very long, it's the place we go to when a very short, breezy walk is required. So instead of heading back home, we drove on over the fell and Down Dale to the riverside on the edge of the Bolton Abbey estate. It was a warm and humid afternoon and by the time we arrived at the river there was a light shower of summer rain falling, but not enough to worry about. We ambled along the footpath, it was so lush and summery and the tall grasses were absolutely full of wild flowers.

I used to retain a fair bit of knowledge about wild flowers from my childhood years spent walking about in the Dorset countryside. My Mum taught me a lot of the common wild flowers and yesterday I did manage to drag a few long forgotten names from my memory banks. I recognised Meadowsweet and Yarrow and Cranesbill, but had no idea what this cute little tufty purple one was. I've just looked it up (gosh you've gotta love Google for this sort of thing) and have discovered it's Knapweed. I have added the name to my wild flower data bank and hope that it stays there.

We also spotted these beauties - the Common Spotted Orchid no less (Google, you are marvellous). I love to have this sort of knowledge tucked away in my head, it makes me want to go right back there and identify every single little flower I can find.

We ducked off the footpath to go down to one of our favourite river beaches....

....to treasure hunt and find the best flat stones for skimming. J tried to teach Little B to skim, but he got soooo frustrated when he couldn't do it and ended up just lobbing stones into the water in a fizz of quiet personal fury. Bless.

Summer by the river is a true delight and I've grown to love our regular walks along this quiet stretch of the River Wharfe. It was lush and peaceful and green, a different kind of feeling to being by the sea but equally good for the soul.

At some point during our walk along the river back towards the car, tummies starting rumbling and we took a spontaneous family decision to head to the pub for dinner - pub grub and no cooking for me, oh yeah, bring it on!

 

It's a short drive to the delightful village of Appletreewick....

....where there are views in abundance....

....and one of our favourite pubs with a lovely little beer garden tucked away to the side. We sat out here for a while with drinks, encouraging Little B to burn off some energy (we set him a series of "challenges" which mainly involved him running around the garden counting things) before heading inside the cosy old pub to settle down for our dinner. It was such a lovely, unexpected treat, a family Sunday to be remembered and treasured.

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ps I just bobbed into the Attic archives to try and find the last time we came to this pub (the time when Little B had the pink plasticine under his hat) - it was the first Sunday in August last year. The repetitive rhythm of my life truly amazes me!

 

 

Comments

[Debbie]

You live in such a picturesque area.

[Ellice]

Just beautiful descriptions of an expedition into the dales. I just love to see your photos of the wild flowers and commend you,for your stored knowledge of their names. I yearn to see the dales again. At the moment I am living in Singspore which is vastly the opposite. Walking with family is such a wonderful education. How important it is to enjoy nature.🌱🍃🍂

[Crystal Wall]

Thank you for sharing. I could just be right there by your story and pictures. You live in a beautiful place. How gorgeous is the Heather and that river. How lucky we are. As always loving the blog.
~Crystal

[Angela-Southern USA]

Always a holiday with mum is off cooking duty! ;D For me, any water found in nature soothes the soul. A lovely outing, thanks for sharing Lucy.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[ELVIA MAR BLANCO]

Lucy, thanks for share the view of a beatiful place,from Veracruz Mexico I send to you blessing and hugs. Excuse my bad english, I hope that you understand me :)

[Angela]

Edit to my original comment: Actually I just realised Lucy, I don't live near a national park so that's probably why I don't see any wild flowers, ha ha! We probably do have them growing in our national parks, will have to look into that one and maybe visit one or two!!

[Angela]

Absolutely delightful post Lucy! Thank you for sharing :) I am so going to go to the National Park in the Yorkshire Dales when I'm over your way. I just love wild flowers! For some reason here in NZ we don't get a lot, some grow on road sides but end up getting sprayed by the council as they are classed as weeds :( Thank you for your post Lucy and have a lovely day, actually it's probably your evening now :):):)

[Jude.x]

The common spotted orchid was the first wild flower that I took a photograph of and of which I am very proud, thanks to a friend who explained all the settings I needed! lol I've not improved any with my photography but am stupid pleased that that photograph has been used on several leaflets, interpretation panels and website from where I used to work. One day I will practice those settings again in the hope of taking photo's somewhere near as good as yours. :-)

[Daisy jones]

We went on a very similar walk on Sunday, my Mum is visiting from the States and it was lovely to share an English Summer day with her....
bestest to you Daisy x
Ps Repetitive is comforting is it not?

[louise]

Lovely! I was camping in Appletreewick two weeks ago :)

[CJ]

What a lovely day. We've just come back from North Wales, and the heather up there is looking beautiful at the moment. I took loads of photos of wildflowers to look up later. Lots that I don't seen down here so much. My boys spent about an hour every evening skimming flat slate pebbles into the water, they were obsessed with it. Just one of the things I am missing in this post-holiday week. Glad you had such a lovely Sunday. A meal out and no cooking or washing up is SUCH a treat isn't. I don't really care what I'm fed, it's just the luxury of not having to prepare it and clear up afterwards! CJ xx

[anne@andamento]

Love the contrast of the red phone box against the green fields.
A pub dinner sounds just the thing to finsih of country walks, yum!

[ANA MARIA MILANESI]

BEATUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HERMOSO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tine]

j'aime ces paysages, je rêve d'habiter là-bas ou quelque endroit identique. merci pour ces belles images rafraichissantes.

[Karen]

I agree so much about the fact that being near water makes us happier. I used to live 5 mins from the sea when I live in Newcastle, now live on the Suffolk/Norfolk border and our nearest coasts are at least a 45 min drive :( I so miss the smell of salty sea air filing my lungs...I need to go home for a holiday I guess. Thanks Lucy for your wonderful blogs x

[Lynn Dee Butler]

Your pictures are very lovely and green! I live in Southern California and we have landscape watering restrictions due to the ongoing drought. Most lawns, parkways and such are brown. This year, outside watering is very limited and non compliance can result in huge fines. Everything seems scorched, dead and brown, as it should since we need water for living, but it looks so sad. So it is very soothing to my soul to immerse myself in your pictures. Thank You!

Any new hooky on the needle? You surely have something new going on. I can't wait to see what it is!
Lynn

[Mags]

Lucy, you might like this book, if you haven't read it already:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18656041-blue-mind

It's about how being near water makes us happier.

[Nicola]

Janet's Foss is a lovely walk, a magical end at the 20 min stroll. Double back on the path behind the blacksmiths shed in malham and just follow the path round! Kids can have a paddle at the end, if it's nice warm weather of course, don't forget to point out the fairy cave on the right of the water!!!
Love Nicola xx

[Winwick Mum]

When somebody else is doing the cooking, I'm on holiday :-) xx

[Rina]

Hello Lucy, your Blogs also are a part of my repetitive rhythm of my life. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and wonderful creations.I am working in the High Tech industry but still find time to crochet. This is for my soul...I am amazed from the quality of the photo's that you are publishing on your Blog.Which camera are you using ? Sending you my very best regards from sunny Israel.

[crafty mema]

best sunday ever
xooxox crafty mema