Yorkshire Dales walking and a retreat.

Upper Wharfedale.

A few of my walking followers are wondering by now when I am going to be putting on the walking boots and this is the moment when I am about to answer this question. My "Scarborough sandcastle manager" suggested a weekend away to a retreat in the heart of The Yorkshire Dales involving some walking.
This is essentially a three in one post as I struggled to justify posting the first part on it's own due to the British weather !!

We set off from The Aysgarth Falls car park on what we hoped would be a scenic 6 miles circular walk to the south.

Unfortunately the walk ended up being more of a photographic study of various trees....

.... and an inviting door to see an Art display in the small village of West Burton.

The village of West Burton was one of the locations used by the artist JMW Turner. Given the circumstances, he would love to paint some of today's ethereal scenery !

On leaving West Burton, we climbed up the hill in an easterly direction and stopped to .... enjoy the view of the village ( err ... passing mist) while we had lunch. We took the long lane ( no, it's not quite a river) north towards Temple and the Wensleydale road.

Wensleydale

Despite a lot of the walk majoring on farmland and Yorkshire countryside buildings....

... the main focus was near the end of the walk being Aysgarth Falls. Visitors have been coming here for centuries, although maybe John Ruskin,  JMW Turner and William Wordsworth didn't quite see it like this.

 There wasn't the enthusiasm for my artist / walking companion to paint it either (apologies to him... he knows I'm only having a bit of fun with him !) as he headed off to the car and the warmth of our weekend accommodation at Scargill House near the village of Kettlewell.

Although most of the house dates back to the 18th century, some of the more modern elements such as the 1960's chapel have been a bit more controversial in it's day with the local conservationists...

Grade II listed Scandinavian chapel

The site has an unusual history as it was once purchased as a shooting lodge for Grouse on the moors but  was sold by a family descendent at an auction to the church of England in 1957.

The building developed into a mixture of catering and accommodating for various groups and a conference centre for issues of Christian faith, youth and the environment.

Due to financial difficulties, the centre closed in 2008 but was sold to a new buyer the following year who wanted to continue the original vision incorporating it into the local Kettlewell community. Now what a place this would be to live .... an office with a view......

Checking on my blog comments !!

Garden wildlife.

On Saturday, we went for a walk south along The Dales way. We were joined by a youth choir from Leeds who insisted on singing certain mountain songs relating to the musical, The sound of music !!

The Dales way is an 84 mile long distance footpath stretching from Ilkley in West Yorkshire to Bowness in The Lake District. Generally the walking is pleasant and an introduction to the serious Long distance walking paths of The Pennine Way, Coast to coast and West Highland way.

Littondale

 It was at this point ( 3 miles south of Kettlewell) that we decided to leave the choir and complete a circular walk via the nearby hill top to the east.

Interestingly enough, my Grassington walk last year covered the southern half of this section.

Relaxation at the un-named summit

Time to move on ...

...as the sun was starting to go down and we were wanting to have something left to eat for evening meal !!