Semer Water, Countersett, North Yorkshire

Oh what a night! The VW squeezed in next to us was so close we could hear the man snoring! At daybreak we were awoken by voices, our neighbours and many other people, who'd arrived early by car were setting off on the three peaks challenge. 'Some of us are trying to sleep, if you could keep your voices down!'. Despite our early morning alarm call we were in no rush to leave. The views from Margery were stunning, and observing the throngs of walkers kept us entertained. But leave we must Margery. We have many more areas of 'God's own country' to explore.

As we left the station inn, outside Morris men and women entertained, their colourful enthusiasm mesmerised the watching crowd. We'd decided to head over to Semer Water, a thirty minute drive away along long undulating roads that swept across the dales.

Passing through Hawes, a pretty town of independent shops and eateries we decided to stop. Needing a few provisions we bought soft fruits, vegetarian sausage rolls and samosas, fish fingers and salad for our evening meal and carrot cake. Delicious.

The overnight stop at Semer Water is on the edge of a stunning lake with beautiful views. The land is privately owned by a farmer, described on trip advisor as making Basil Fawlty seem nice. The more Angela read about him, the more she wanted to meet him. The reviews were correct. What a miserable old sod! After a while of conversing with him he seemed to mellow, but only for a minute. His pricing structure was interesting. We paid £1.80 for two hours parking, then £9.00 to stay overnight on the foreshore. Bargain! Not perhaps though, for the people with kayaks. They had to pay extra according to the number of seats in their kayak. All a bit random. There are quite a few vans here tonight. Everyone is very friendly, it feels like a little community. And as expected the farmers wife came around to check we'd all paid. According to reviews, she was worse than her husband to deal with, but she seemed pleasant enough to us.

Everyone agreed the spot was amazing and peaceful, except of course the youngsters who arrived at eight thirty, parking up near the road with their engines running and loud music playing. There's seems to be no escaping these morons. Where's a farmer with his shotgun when you need him? Basil Fawlty wouldn't have stood for their intrusion.

Oh, and the fish fingers baps were delicious....

Ribblehead Viaduct, Ribble Valley, North Yorks.

We awoke to a beautiful morning. The sun lit a magical scene. Rolling countryside of lush green fields criss crossed by irregular dry grey limestone walls. We could see for miles, until the landscape slipped away into the distance. We'd enjoyed our time at Orcaber farm, and when a shower passed overhead the rain that fell didn't dampen our spirits. We felt free and settled. Travelling makes you feel like that. Midday arrived and we set off to our next stop less than half an hour down the road to Ribblehead viaduct, which carries the Settle to Carlisle railway across Batty Moss.

It is 400 metres long and 32 metres high, with 24 arches. After lunch we took the circular walk that passed under the arches over the heathland past farms and ruins of the homes used by the workers to build the impressive viaduct back in the mid 19th century. As always we were engaged in conversation by a local man. After some talk of politics we both return to our walks, ours taking us up to Batty Moss signal box before returning to Margery parked at the rear of to the Station Inn with many other campervans.

It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun shone, the dales a watercolour painting. Parking overnight at the pub is allowed if you partake of a meal. Today would have been John's mother's one hundred and first birthday, so naturally we wanted to raise a glass. The pub was noisy and busy. We are in three peaks challenge country. Climbing three peaks in twenty four hours, and there were lots of young people in the area doing just that.

Our stomachs full of excellent food eaten in the company of a local couple who asked where we'd visited and where we were headed. Back at Margery another small VW camper had arrived, parked about a foot away from us. Great! It's going to be an interesting night in the pop tops.

Orcaber Farm Camping, Austwick, North Yorks

We are loving the people of Yorkshire. They are friendly, good humoured and polite. This morning whilst pursuing one of the many second hand shops in Settle the owner joked about the weather when we commented on how we prepared for thunderstorms that didn't materialise, but a warm sun shone instead. His reply, 'the problem here is, the weather doesn't communicate with the weather forecast'. Shortly after, another elderly gentleman commented on Angela's shapely legs. 'I can tell you're a walker'! This morning we originally were going to stop off at the Settle swimming pool to use the showers. But Angela decided the £8.00 our showers would have cost would be better spent on a campsite for tonight. Most in the area are around £28.00 a night, she found one for £20.00 just outside Settle, which suited us well as today we were visiting the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. The four and a half mile trail boasts some of the most spectacular waterfall and oak woodland scenery in the UK, and we were excited about visiting it. It didn't disappoint. Once again the weather forecast was wrong, and our waterproofs packed in our rucksacks weren't required. The weather was beautiful. As we walked through woodland we could hear the roar of the water as it cascaded fast and furious down from through the limestone landscape.

We stopped a while to watch a dipper as it busied itself around the rocks. High above buzzards circled and amongst the brambles Red Admiral butterflies sat, not bothered by our presence.

The walk along a defined path over rough limestone and up and down a large number of steps was described as strenuous. After our few days walking the south west coast path Angela found it more of a stroll, with a few challenging sections. Along the way we talked with a couple of fellow walkers, two men, one seventy five, the other eighty, both having had knee and hip replacements, the older man also had had a pacemaker fitted four months ago. His friends called him 'scrap yard'! When we last saw them they were struggling a little. Hopefully they made it as far as the strategically parked ice cream van, a welcome sight.

Today has been very enjoyable. A great walk. Fantastic weather. Delicious ice cream, and now a brilliant campsites with amazing facilities. It's right up there in our top five campsites. We have now been in Yorkshire for five days, seen some amazing sights and met some interesting people. What we can't believe is that since our first night here on Sunday, we have driven less than sixty miles, yet seen so much.

Settle, North Yorkshire. (Day 2).

The weather forecast for today was not looking so great, so we decided not to move on, but to spend another day and night at Settle. Angela didn't mind, she needed a break from driving Margery. Spending more time here would also give us time to walk around the town and view the fantastic innovative, quirky, amusing flowerpot creations made for the flowerpot festival which began on the July 12th and runs until the 12th September.

The threat of a rain shower never far away we packed our waterproof jackets and trousers and walked along the cobbled pavements peering into the darkness of narrow alleyways, pressing our noses at the windows of closed shops, and visiting the outdoor shop after which we found ourselves outside the Victoria Music Hall, the worlds oldest music hall.

Alongside an interesting bohemian style cafe beckoned us. We found a cozy corner under the covered area and talked to a local woman who wanted to buy a caravan, tow it to Weymouth, site it, and use it as a base to travel out from. Of course we dashed her dreams. A caravan sited in Weymouth. No. A campervan, with the freedom to roam. Yes.

Early afternoon the weather settled and we walked up the hill to the Scaleber waterfall. The views back to Settle took our attention. The Yorkshire Dales are stunning, but we are starting to wonder if we might rethink our route before heading over to the easy coast for better weather. The long hot summer has spoiled us and we are finding it hard to tolerate the rain showers. Up here they'd probably call us 'soft southerners'. Which we probably are! Traveling makes you appreciate what you have. And the freedom to choose. So tomorrow we will decide on a plan of action.