Lakes District and Yorkshire Dales

We didn’t really plan to spend any time in the Lakes District, but when one of Paul’s old friends from Africa invited us to visit him at his home at the southern end, it gave us a great opportunity to drive through the area and have a little looksy. Wow! There’s a reason everyone talks about the Lakes District so much. With its rolling hills and sparkling lakes and hiking trails everywhere you look, it really is stunning. And if it weren’t for the throngs of people, I would have wished that we’d stayed a bit longer.

We caught up with Ben at the pub in Grange-over-Sands and met his lovely partner, Louise, and their nine-year-old daughter, Isabel. The kids had a great time playing outside, watching Top Gear, and putting songs on the jukebox while we adults caught up over a couple of drinks.

The next morning, a little worse for the wear, we headed off to Yorkshire Dales to check out the limestone pavement. On the way, we made a lunch stop at the Devil’s Bridge and climb on the rocks on the river shore. The drive from there to the Yorkshire Dales on extremely narrow, winding farm roads through little country villages was just exactly like how I imagined the English countryside. It was one of those awesome pinch-me-moments.

The hike up to Malham Cove through the tiny stone village of Malham and then through paddocks with cows and sheep grazing and springs of water trickling up from the earth and streaming into a small brook was so picturesque. When we got to the base of the cove the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was there with binoculars set up on tripods so we could look at the young peregrine falcons in their nest on the cliff face. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any flying, but the boys were pretty stoked to see one of their favourite birds in the wild.

The hike up the 400 and some steps to the top of the cove wasn’t nearly as strenuous as I was fearing, but the limestone pavement was every bit as cool. In some parts, the cracks between the stones would have been two meters deep or more. The views from the top were equally remarkable, and knowing that Harry and Hermione camped there was the icing on top of a pretty perfect afternoon.