Orcaber Farm Camping, Austwick, North Yorks

 

What a wonderful spot last night. Awaking at Semer Water this morning, the lake like glass framed on three sides by the the rolling green hills. Beautiful. Keen not to be too late leaving, we were packed up and on our way by just after nine-thirty. We had waterfalls to visit. First Hardraw Force. England's largest single drop waterfall at a hundred feet.

The waterfall is famed for being the spot in the film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, when Maid Marian spotted Robin Hood, played by Kevin Costner, bathing under the waterfall. Hence a £4.00 entry fee (cash only) to the site! On our way to the waterfall we encountered a group of off roaders driving Pinzgauers, 4-wheeled, and six-wheeled utility vehicles.

We pulled over to photograph them. The man driving the last vehicle pulled over to chat, informing us that all the vehicles had VW engines. They do like to engage you in conversation here in Yorkshire. The Aysgarth falls were our second waterfall visit. The series of cascading falls amongst woodland make for a pleasant walk.

We sat by the falls to lunch, their steady sound calming. But overhead the skies darkened and by the time we arrived back at Margery large raindrops spotted the ground. Tomorrow we are visiting Malham Cove, and conscious we need to arrive early to secure a parking space, we decided to drive back across the dales to the Orcaber Farm campsite where we stayed on Friday night. Staying here, meant we would be around 45 minutes away from Malham. Having already driven this route we know how challenging the drive is. Angela isn't looking forward to it. But needs must. What worries her more is we're running low on cash. Along the way,  we've paid cash in the bakers, at the ice cream van, in the car parks, some cafes and today's waterfall visit. Don't tell Rachel from accounts!

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.