weekend away

Just returned from a good weekend in the Yorkshire Dales.  On Saturday morning Fay and I left for Barden Bridge, a few miles north of Bolton Abbey, in Wharfedale.  Arriving at 10 o'clock we then walked along the Dales Way for about 14 miles or so to Kettlewell - stopping at Grassington for something to eat.

This is a really enjoyable part of the Dales Way.  From Grassington to Kettlewell is one of my favourite stretches with wonderful sights from unusual locations.  For example Kilnsey Crag is hardly recognisable from the other side of the valley but can be easily found by looking for Mastiles Lane which snakes up and over the fell onto Malham Moor just to the south of Kilnsey.

We were lucky with the weather too.  The forecast had been for an increasingly showery afternoon and evening.  What we actually had was sunny spells and quite high temperatures all day until 5.30pm by which time we had already arrived in Kettlewell.

Apart from having an enjoyable walk the other reason for our trip to Kettlewell was to attend the wedding reception of two friends - Jake and Becca - at the village hall.  A fantastic party ensued until the early hours when a group of about a dozen of us trekked up Great Whernside to Hag Dyke which was where we were staying for the night.

Finally got to sleep at about 4.00am - woke up at 7.00am at the very latest.  A group of six of us then proceeded to make breakfast of coffee, tea, bacon sandwiches, croissants, pork pies ... and cereal.

After packing everything away we all walked back into the village and helped with the clearing away of the stuff from the village hall.  The DJ, another friend, was with our group who stayed at Hag Dyke and he left his stuff overnight in the hall.

After another coffee in a local cafe we left for home, finally arriving mid afternoon.

A fantastic weekend with a brilliant party and good company.  All the best to Mr & Mrs Carpenter - may you have a long and happy marriage.

Almost forgot ... pork pies.  The reception was slightly unusual in that the food on offer was pie 'n' peas.  The pork pies were absolutely brilliant though, quite a few of the 200+ guests mentioned that they were the best they had ever tasted.  At the end of the evening there were a number of pies left so we took half a dozen or so up to Hag Dyke.