Wild-ish Walking in Wensleydale

The red tops blazed next week’s news: ‘A September Scorcher! 30º!’

Anyone living north of Watford Gap, or west of Slough knew better than to believe it, because only south-east England counts if you’re a London-based hack.  We Yorkshire types needed to read the small print to discover that northerners could merely expect pleasant warmth, a gentle breeze and no rain whatsoever.  Which was fine for a Sunday walk in Wensleydale.

On the way over there, it rained.  Getting ready for the walk, it rained.  The wind snatched urgently at our waterproofs and blew our hair in our eyes.  Mist rose from the valley bottom.  Grey cloud descended and thickened.

We didn’t mind.  The rain soon stopped: it was warm, and those grey skies made for moody, atmospheric scenery.  But our friend Gillian, who’d planned the walk, doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘stroll’ and had us battling boggy paths, and huffing up rough pastureland on semi-vertical hillsides.  We took it in good part.

But what rewards.  We had the constant backdrop of the Wensleydale hills.  Semerwater glittered at us from a distance: but close up, insistent waves rushed constantly towards our toes.

Semerwater.
Semerwater.
I don’t know who these two bikers are. But they enjoyed the view too.

We had a march along a Roman road.  And at the end, blue skies, sunshine, and a relaxing cup of tea on the village green at Bainbridge.

 

The Roman Road.

This week’s photo challenge is to make use of empty, unoccupied space in our pictures : to make it part of the story.  As I walked yesterday, I tried to use negative space: in this case, mainly the sky.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge  #114 – Negative Space

And another walk for Jo …

Jo’s Monday Walk

 

 

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

44 thoughts on “Wild-ish Walking in Wensleydale”

  2. You know, I hate grey skies on a walk. My spirit just can’t seem to rise above it. Even here in the Algarve. And yet your very poetic view of Wensleydale carried me along effortlessly. I love it, Margaret. Thank you! 🙂 🙂

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  5. No 30 degrees for us either though I wouldn’t have welcomed it anyway, and we did have beautiful weather with a distinct lack of grey skies. Very grey this morning – and wet. But we are promised sunshine and warmth by lunchtime! None of which is relevant to your atmospheric post and those wonderful views. It’s a long time since I saw Wensleydale; I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.

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  13. I think you may have had the more pleasant weather. To be honest, 30 degrees isn’t particularly nice, when you live in London. Lovely photos. I love walking / hiking and your photos made me feel like a race horse which has been in the stable too long and needs to get out there. Looks like a great area for walking trips.

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  14. Those overcast skies provided such wonderful light for your photos that really made it easy to visualize your lovely countryside. With all those gently rolling (when not actually walking) hills and dales its amazing that the Romans still managed to construct what looks to be a dead-straight road!

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  17. Very beautiful, especially the last with the walled fields. I have often been amazed when driving up the M6 to find a very lengthy northern traffic delay didn’t count as anything to mention on the Radio 5 Live’s traffic reports.

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  18. Now, that beautiful photograph of the patchwork pastures of green would have lost all of its feeling of intense isolation if there had been a blue sky. Rain and gloomy clouds may make for awkward fiddling with light settings, but the results are beautiful.

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  19. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Guadiana dreaming | restlessjo

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