YORKSHIRE DALES - SEPTEMBER 2018

So…for the first time in 6 years, we weren’t going to be spending our wedding anniversary in the Lake District with Mr & Mrs S. They had booked a holiday to Crete for that week and as we have now finished the Wainwrights, we planned to move onto Wales to start completing the Welsh 3,000 challenge. We had already done 5 of the 15, so could easily have done the other 10 in a week. However, we left it so late because we didn’t know if we were going or not and only managed to find one cottage that was where we needed it to be and for a decent price. But as we were planning to leave on the Saturday morning, we contacted the website provider the day before to ask if it was still available, but the owners hadn’t had it cleaned and prepared thinking no one was going to be in it and they were away themselves so couldn’t arrange for anyone to do it.

So, plan B. We definitely wanted to be away somewhere and not waste our week off. So Mr F found a lovely little B&B in the Yorkshire Dales called The Dales Haven Guest House in Leyburn. They had different themed rooms and there were two left, one being the Hepburn room and the other being the Paddington Bear room. Naturally Mrs F wanted the Paddington Bear room, so Mr F got n the phone to book it. Very strangely, the guy who he spoke to didn’t want to secure the booking with a card, he was just taking our word for it that we were going to turn up on the Monday! He also said if we book directly with them they would do us a better price than booking.com, which was a really good price at £260 bed and breakfast for 4 nights. So after we battled a bit of traffic heading up from London, we arrived in stunning Yorkshire with our B&B being right in the village square. We were greeted by a friendly lady called Alix who owned the B&B with her husband Martin, who Mr F spoke to. She showed us to our room which was really lovey and very much Paddington Bear themed! We were glad to have picked this room because we were at the back of the B&B upstairs whereas the Hepburn room was right by the stairs where everyone has to walk past…

Our Paddington Bear Themed Rom

Paddington DVD, Book & Annual...And Paddington Himself!

Our Fridge Was Restocked With Water Everyday 🙂

We didn’t bother unpacking, we just headed straight out to have a little look around town. We stopped at some of the places to eat to have a look at where we were going to eat that night and then headed down the road away from the village square to have a mooch. We stopped in the local church and walked up to a bridge where the steam train ran. The views were stunning, just beautiful green Yorkshire land for miles. We headed back up towards the square when we noticed a man pushing a young lady in her car. Mr F went over to help, along with another local man who stopped to help, then the amazing thing was, a man driving past in his van stopped to get out and help too…you’d never get that in London!! Once we’d had a feel for the village, we went and had a drink in the pub directly opposite our B&B in The Bolton Arms. You could see our room from the pub, so we needed to make sure our curtains were closed when we were getting changed! We went back to our room for a little while before heading out for dinner in a pub that Alix recommended to us called the Golden Lion...  

Some Stunning Views From The Railway Bridge

The Good Samaritans

We took a mooch around town and stopped to look at house prices in amazement. For the cost of such a beautiful farm house in Yorkshire, you wouldn't able to get a house for that price!


We then went into a little local convenience shop where they had an array of jams and relishes...

Not Really Sure What Traffic Jam Is All About! 🤔

Our Drink Pit Stop By The B&B

Although we were just effectively having a pub dinner, we both had one of if not the best pub dinner we've had! Mr F had burger and chips and Mrs F had pie, mash and veg with a really delicious gravy on the side...all courtesy of Mrs F's Mummy for our 7 year wedding anniversary  😊💖

We then went to the Co OP to get some nibbles and something for desert to eat back at the B&B where we had very comfy beds to have a good nights sleep in, ready for our first big day of walking the next day. By the time we headed back to the B&B it was dark and Mrs F could see there was a Solicitors right next to our B&B which she nearly went in to, as she was a few steps ahead of Mr F. Mr F however thought it was the B&B and proceeded to try and get in using the key we were given for the B&B. Mrs F watched on in laughter for a while before letting him know it was the wrong place!! 😂

Mr F's Awesome Burger & Chips

Mrs F's Amazing Pie, Mash & Veg 

DAY 1: PEN HILL 
14.5 MILES - 6 HOURS WALKING

The breakfast at the B&B was really good - cereals, yoghurts, porridge, eggs cooked to order, cooked breakfast, everything you could possibly want to start the day. From the breakfast room, we could see quite far out and in the far distance, we could see a very attractive looking ridge walk. After a short bit of research from a couple of books and a map from the B&B library, we discovered that it was Pen Hill. Martin said we could drive somewhere nearby, but being hardcore walkers we wanted to set out straight from the B&B...which is exactly what we did! We got our rucksacks ready and headed to the Co Op for a meal deal lunch and headed straight for the hill thorough an adventurous cross country route, which was something Mrs F had never done before and really loved all the little hidden paths through fields...

Breakfast 😋

Setting Off On Our Big Day In The Glorious Sunshine 😎

Old Shepherds Hut In One Of The Sheep Fields

It was such good fun making our way across fields and looking on the Satmap to see where the little hidden paths were. Although we didn't have a specific map for the Yorkshire Dales with finer details, we had a standard OS map that was good enough for us to get by. Mr F couldn't actually find his own Satmap before we left, so we borrowed Mr S's...however when we got home, he discovered that he was carrying it in his rucksack the entire time!! 

Making Our Way Across The Fields

Mrs F Getting Friendly With The Locals

Pointing To Our Destination

We walked through a field of horses, cows, sheep, goats...some of which were actually quite friendly. Mrs F fed one of the horses some of her dried cranberries which was funny to see him chew on something sour! Then we carried on walking through where we had some sheep who some allowed us to get up close and stroke their noses briefly...

This horse came trotting over because he thought we had something for him...there was a look of disappointment when we realised we weren't going to offer anything! 

We Came Across This Well Groomed Garden

We came out of the fields and onto a main road and over a bridge before crossing the road to head into the forest where we walked along a well trodden path that followed the river...

Mrs F By The River That Flowed Under The Bridge

Our Walk Through The Forest

Some Good Viewing Points of The River Along The Way

We came across this stately home which looked like it should belong in Downton Abbey and had a long drive up to the house, which we crossed and carried on going...

When making our way through the fields, we had to walk through the tiniest little gaps in the wall, which were on the OS map and we could just imagine the farmers having to accommodate the waling paths and doing so with the smallest walkway possible...and some of them even had gates too! It was a bit of a squeeze with the rucksacks but it added to the excitement of walking cross country, which Mr F said he came across quite a few of them when he done his Coast to Coast walk back in October the previous year, so he was used to them...

Mr F Squeezing Through A Gap In The Wall

Our Destination In The Distance

We came into one field where we needed to head over into the corner and through a gate. However, the field itself was a fair size and of all the places for a herd of cows to congregate, they chose the small section of the field right by the gate! There was  no way we were going to try and make our way through them as we didn't feel it was the safest option, especially as there were calves with Mothers and bulls...so we took a small detour. As going through the gate was the only way through, we had to chose the best way over the wall that surrounded the filed, which was the lowest part of the barbed wire which run along the wall...by a tree!! Mrs F spotted it and went over first, ready to take a comical view of Mr F following! 😄 

Mr F Making His Way Over The Wall

When we were over the wall, we could see the gate from the other side with all the cows on the other side!

The Cows Not Budging On The Other Side!

Once out of the fields and into civilisation, we stopped at a little local shop where they had a little bench outside, so had a brief little sit-sat with a shared can of Dandelion & Burdock  (more Mr F's thing that Mrs F's!) We carried on walking through the little village before turning off onto a steep, windy long road that will eventually lead us up onto the open moors where we had a clear view of Pen Hill. The road needed a bit of work to get up and as we were making our way up, as cyclist came coasting down and shouted on his way past "It's easier this way!" 😃 

Our Little Local Shop Stop Whilst Mr F Checks The Satmap

The Start Of The Long, Steep Windy Road

To make the time go by and make the steep road slightly more exciting, we took it in turns to kick the same stone up the road until we lost it somewhere on the grass verge on the side of the road, which was just the right time that we needed to take a right turn onto the open moors and up onto Pen Hill. We were more exposed to the chilly wind here and there was a short nasty little steep incline up, but it was a really enjoyable walk with rally good clear views...which we didn't get any photos of! We met a couple who were out with their two dogs and on their way down who we stopped to chat to briefly. The man was telling us of a different way we could go down as we don't like going back the same way, but his suggested way would have made it a massive day, so we didn't take him up on his suggestion! It wasn't too long before we were at the top where there was a welcoming wind shelter as the summit point, where we conveniently had our lunch...

The End Of The Windy Road Where We Turned Right Onto The Moors

Mrs F Pointing The Way To Pen Hill

The Short Little Incline To The Top

Mr F Checking The Map In The Wind Shelter

So the way back was down to the windy road and cut across through the gallops, which went on forever! The actual gallops them selves where the horses run on were made of what looked like old bits of ground up carpet and newspaper, which kicked up a lot of dust so we walked for quite a while on the grass. Although the walk was really long, it was actually really lovely because we just used the time to chat about life, our jobs, family, God and His Will for our lives...it was just a really nice moment to have with each other 😊❤️
As we came towards the end of the gallops, we saw a load of dead moles lined up along the wall along with a dead crow. We knew what the dead moles were all about - this was for the mole catcher to prove to the farmers how many moles they caught for their pay. We had to look up what the crow meant and it's basically the same thing, to show the landowner that the gamekeeper was doing his job...

The Dead Moles Lined Up On The Wall

The Dead Crow On The Fence

We eventually came out of the gallops and came across what looked like an old castle home. We walked through a field of horses that lead us out by a stables where there was a beautiful black horse which Mrs F went over to see. On her way over to the horse, she heard Mr F call out to her to come back - as the owner of the horse didn't want anyone going near the horse because he was racing the next day and didn't want to risk anyone giving him any germs...and was apparently the favourite to win! Horse left alone, we made our way through a town called Redmire and eventually through a little estate of houses that lead us up the steps by the railway line that we went to see the previous day. We both quite fancied going to one of the tearooms on the market square, so we went into Alice's tea room for milkshakes and cakes. It was a lovely little tearoom with an array of cakes and selections of tea. Mr F chose to have a strawberry milkshake and gave Mrs F the taste for a chocolate one. To go with our milkshakes, Mr F had a coffee cake and Mrs F had a pumpkin spice cake. Mrs F wasn't overly keen on her milkshake, which Mr F polished off and although neither of us are massive fans of cake, the cake was nice. The cost of two slices of cake and two milkshakes came to £14, which is quite steep but a nice little pit stop after a long day. 

Once back at the B&B and showered the day away, Mr F went online to see where we could eat tonight. He found a pub about a 15 minute drive away which had really good reviews so we decided to go there. However, when we got there they were closed!! Mrs F checked their website and they should have been opened, but alas, they were not. Plan B was to go to another place nearby called The Saddle Bar where they were having a curry night. We were so glad that the first place was closed and we ended up here because it was such a lovely little discovery. The place had a really nice feel to it, the ambience was set perfectly with low light and it was almost quite posh without it being so...if that makes sense! As it was curry night, we both opted for the curry which was really lovely and we both enjoyed it so much we planned to come back the next night. All in all, a great end to a great first day... 

The Castle Home We Came Across

We came across a little old Yorkshire town which Mr F also came across during his Coast to Coast walk where he stopped for a drink in the Black Lion pub just in the square... 

The Little Old Yorkshire Town 

Heading Back Via An Old Castle Bridge

Mr F Looking Tired In Alice's Tearoom

Our Milkshakes That Came In Little Glass Wellington Boots!

DAY 2: CASTLE BOLTON
12 MILES - 6 HOURS WALKING

So today's weather wasn't great with it being cloudy and rainy. However the weather never stops us, so we layered up with the waterproofs and headed out after breakfast. We went to the Co Op again for our lunch and headed for the Leyburn Shawl Trail. There was a board in the Market Square showing the route that said one of the theories of why it's called the Leyburn Shawl Trail, is from when Mary Queen of Scots made an unsuccessful attempt to escape her imprisonment in Bolton Castle and dropped her shawl along the way.

We made our way to the start of the trail which lead us through a forest route where we walked in front of a group of ramblers. We could see them up ahead stopping to look at something on the ground and as when we caught them up, we could see it was some kind of little grass snake! After we put a photo of it on the family Whatsapp group, we were informed that it wasn't a snake or a giant worm, but a legless lizard!

Ready To Embrace The Rainy Day!

Local Sheep Taking Shelter  By The Wall

Our Forest Walk

As the weather was so bad, we were unable to get the camera out to take many photos, so sadly you will need to use your imagination from the descriptions. Once at the end of the forest section, we were stood looking out onto an open field which seemed abandoned and baron. We needed to get right over to the other side which would mean headed out of the shelter of the forest and into the open rain. Once across the field, we walked through a working farm and along a small country road where we headed into yet more fields before making our way onto a main road...

A Rather Unhelpful Sigh Post! 😑

An Old Barn Or Shepherds Hut Along The Way

We walked along the main road for a short while before making a right turn at the end and heading back into the forest again, which had a well trodden path. We eventually made it to small village on the same road that lead us to Bolton Castle. It was quite impressive and we took a little look inside without paying tourist prices to have the full benefit walk around the entire castle. There was a cafe just as you go in upstairs which was surprisingly quite busy, which we would never have guessed. Just past the cafe was a little gift shop where you have the option of buying your admission into the castle, but we were ok with not having the full tour. Instead, we headed back outside where we sat in the shelter of the castle entrance where we had our lunch, which we actually really enjoyed 😊

Our First Close-Up View Of Bolton Castle

Side View Showing The Different Levels & Rooms

Our Lunch In The Castle Entrance

Looking Through The Entrance Gates

We had a little look at the best route back without going back the exact same way, although most of it would have to be the same way back as it was a circular out and back route. So from Bolton Castle, we headed towards back via Redmire, which was a really enjoyable walk. We headed down a country road where we came across a old tree log that was amazingly and rather impressively carved into a crocodile with a human leg in it's mouth! There was a sign to advertise the artist if you wanted your old tree logged shaped into something...random! After a while, we were on a main road which wasn't overly exciting and a little hard on the feet, so we decided to head off the main road and found ourselves once again walking through farmers fields full of sheep and what seemed like people's back gardens! Mrs F spotted a small sign pointing towards a suggested public footpath, that was pointing to the smallest hole in the wall with a swinging gate. It turned out to be the way we should go which lead us onto the back of more fields and eventually onto the railway tracks, which Mr F was heading for on the Satmap, so we knew we were heading the right way at least. We saw the same couple who we came across the day before, who this time we stopped to chat to because we could all see the same look on our faces that said "I'm sure we saw you yesterday!"   

The Impressive Tree Carving

Random Humpty Dumpty By The Small Sign Post

The Samll Hole In The Wall With The Swinging Gate

Heading Cautiously Across The Railway Tracks

We made it back to a familiar road which took us back to the baron fields we needed to cross near the start of our walk, by the initial forest trail. Mrs F assured Mr F that she knew the way from here, as she normally just follows Mr F without having a clue where we're heading. Mr F calls her 'Hathi' which is the little baby elephant from The Jungle Book who just holds on the the elephant's tail in front and walks without knowing where she's going! So Mr F put her to the test and she actually managed to remember the way back 😀

Walking across More Fields

An Impressive Big House Of The Main Road

Mrs F had to take a photo of this rare scene of an old red fully functioning phone box with a phone book with a post box right next to it. Very rarely will you see these British two icons together, especially not in London, most of the red phone boxes now are used as something other than phones...

Heading Back Through A Little Village

The Baron Filed Leading Into The Forest Trail

Nearing The Start of Our Day, Which Is Also The End...

As planned, we headed back to The Saddle Bar for dinner that night. We didn't book the previous night so eat in the bar which was actually really nice, but as we booked for tonight we eat in the main restaurant. We first went for a drink in the bar until they called us through to our table. We used Mapometer to track the route we did to get an exact mileage, which was different to Google maps but not too far off. It was good to see where we had been for the day too and look proudly on our big day 😊 We decided to have a sharing starter of baked Camembert, warm ciabatta bread, pickle soaked in all kinds of nice things, relishes...it was absolutely divine! We actually asked for more bread and polished off the lot! Mrs F then had cod and chips which mushy peas, which looked more like whale and chips and Mr F had a ham & leek pie which he said was delicious...

Our Pre-Dinner Drinks In The Bar

Our Amazing Camembert Starter

Mrs F Rather Large Cod & Chips

Mr F Impressed With His Pie

On our way back to the B&B there was an amazing light coming off the clouds from the bright moon, but as always, photos never do what we saw with the naked eye justice...

The Moonlight Bouncing Off The Night Clouds

DAY 3: AYSGARTH FALLS
16 MILES - 8 HOURS WALKING 

So today we planned to walk out from the B&B again to Aysgarth Falls, which are a series of waterfalls running along the river. We knew it would be a mammoth day but we were up for it! We didn't bother with sandwiches today, but got enough cereal bars and snacks to keep us going for the day. The weather turned again but this time in our favour - it was a beautiful sunny morning and stayed that way the entire day 😎 After filling ourselves with breakfast, we headed out into the sun through the same fields we walked through on our first day just by the B&B...

Happy & Ready To Face The Big Day Ahead

Looking Ahead To The Glorious Yorkshire Dales

We walked through a field of cows where there was a wire going across the field. Mr F touched it to see it if was electric...and it was, that gave him a little spark! 😄 It wasn't high voltage but enough too give you a little sting!

The Electric Fence

Mrs F laughed at Mr F squeezing through a small hole in the wall...

      ...Until it came to her turn to get through then Mr F took both the camera and the laughs!

We carried on making our way through fields with warning signs about bulls being in the fields and herds of mean looking cows which Mrs F was quite scared of...especially the ones with the big horns that looked like they were about to charge and stab you with them! We made our way to the same forest trail with the river running along side us, but this time, we didn't dive off further along - this time, we just kept going until we came to the end of the forest walk and out onto the beautiful Dales...proper cross country walking and we loved every moment of it...

View Of The River By The Bridge Crossing

Mr F's Favourite Red Admiral Butterfly

An Old Bridge Across The River

We eventually made it to the big country estate home that reminded us of Downton Abbey. From here, we carried on headed across over a difficult style by a wired fence...it was after we made our way over that Mr F looked at the Satmap to discover that we needed to be on the other side of the fence...so back over we go!

Mr F Heading Back Over The Fence

Beautiful Sight Of A Young Calf Suckling

Once we were on the right side of the fence, we walked for miles through the most beautiful fields and the sense of freedom in doing so was amazing. There is something about just walking freely in beautiful open countryside...

Loving Our Day Out On The Yorkshire Dales

We eventually had to make a right turn over what looked like The Shire from Lord of The Rings, with mounds all over the place. The path on the Satmap took us on a slight curved detour over the mounds, but we took the route as the crows flies straight across over them. We then headed up over a wall via the biggest steps we'd seen! It was on the other side that we saw an old man sitting eating lunch with his dog, which was a really warming thing to see 😊 The dog was really barking but the man said it was because he didn't share his lunch with him, not because he saw us! We stopped for a brief chat before setting off again across another baron field with another pointless sign post and back into the forest walking alongside the river...

Trying Not To Squint From The Blazing Sunshine

We Could See Some People Fishing Down On The Bank

Mr F Analysing The Mounds

A Jet Was Above Us For Quite Some Time Just Circling

Back On The Forest Trail

The First Of A Few Waterfalls

Muggles & Buggles Loving It As Always

The Pointless Sign Post!

Where We Were Heading...

...Where We Had Been

Stepping Stone Crossing We Would Be Coming Back Over Later!

More Of The Great Views We Were Seeing Throughout The Day

We came across our second viewing of the waterfalls which were getting better as we made our way up towards the bigger ones. We could see people on the other side and didn't know how they got there, but looked like a good place to sit and eat our snacks as it was nearing that time. As we couldn't possibly make it across, we carried on going until we came out into a church yard and on a main road with a bridge that took us onto the other side where the main falls were. We couldn't see the falls but could certainly hear them...

Out Into The Church yard

Before we headed over the bridge to see the main falls, we stopped in the car park of a little gift/tea shop just along the road and had our snacks. Mrs F went inside to ask if they would kindly fill her water bottle, which they very kindly did. The walk here was always going to be a long one, but worth it once we we stood looking at the beautiful Aysgarth Falls...

The Main Falls

Mr F Looking Very Thoughtful By The Falls

We headed back towards to forest on the other side to a small viewing point, stopped for a quick toilet break and mooch about at an information centre and carried on walking along the forest route until we were once again out on the open fields with the river now on the right of us. We saw a couple up ahead of us who kept stopping to look at their map, but when we caught up with them and asked if they were ok, they claimed they were...so we left them to it. We made our way across a fairly big field where at this point Mrs F questioned Mr F's navigation skills and asked if he knew where they were because we were quite a way from the river now. Mr F assured he knew where they were heading and we carried on through a narrow path where we eventually were walking through a small stream. Still unconvinced we were heading the right way, Mrs F followed until we saw a sign for the stepping stones which is where we planned to cross...how could she ever doubt Mr F's map reading skills! 

Down To The Viewing Point

Mrs F was however keen to get across the stepping stones before it was due to rain at 3pm and some moody looking clouds were closing in. Thankfully, we both made it across safely - Mr F going first and filmed Mrs F making her way over very cautiously. From here, the route back was the exact route we took on the way in, with the exception of a slight detour along the river where we came across a swing...of course we both needed to have a go!

Mrs F Having A Go On The Swing

Mapometer Showing Our Walk To Aysgarth Falls

The way back seemed a lot longer than going, as it always does. It really felt like the farmers had planted and ploughed a few extra fields while we were gone! We could see the field with the electric wire, which Mrs F touched this time to see if it was a s bad as Mr F reacted. At first it didn't do anything and just at the moment when she said there wasn't any electric running through it, she felt a short sharp shock which was probably made worse from the light rain we now had! The sight of the B&B was a glorious one and we didn't end up walking through the door it was gone 6pm, so we took no time in getting showered and back out for dinner at our favourite find, The Saddle Bar. We were so impressed with the Camembert starter that we had it again, this time with no extra bread because we found the night before that extra bread on top of a big dinner slightly overdone it! This time Mr F had the fish & chips and Mrs F had the pork belly, which was actually incredibly salty, but still nice.

A Well Earned Drink After A Big Day

On our way home, we saw an owl that flew in font of us and then sat down on one of the fence post ahead. Mr F drove past him but then backed up so we could get a close up photo and video, which we got shortly before he flew off...not very often you get to see a wild owl up close like that let me tell you!

The Owl On The Fence Post

DAY 4: DRIVE TO REETH

We packed up our things ready to head home before having our final breakfast. Mrs F was slightly sick during the night, which she thinks was from the salt in the dinner so had warm croissants for breakfast. We had quite a long chat with Martin & Alix before heading over to the Market which they have on Friday's but was really underwhelmed by it! From the B&B, Mr F took us on a drive towards Reeth where he was able to show Mrs F a lot of his walked route he did on the Coast to Coast, places he stayed, where he walked to and from, phone boxes he used to call Mrs F, pubs he stopped in...it was really great for him to show Mrs F, which she was very impressed with. It was a really lovely drive too as it was another sunny day, so the drive through all the long windy country roads was really enjoyable. We stopped at a pub called the Black Sheep which is the halfway point on the Coast to Coast walk and where Mr F also stopped on his walk. We used their toilets and then we headed back towards Leyburn and ultimately, back towards London...

The Boys With Paddington Bear

Our Comments We Left In The Guest Book

Stunning Scenery On Our Drive

Driving Through Old Yorkshire Villages

The Half Way Point For The Coast to Coast

Our View From The Car

VERDICT OF THE YORKSHIRE DALES IN SEPTEMBER 2018

Mr F: A very last minute change of plan, after looking to go to Wales but the weather looking grim we decided to do some low level walking in a beautiful part of England.. "Gods own country" they call it. So Yorkshire dales it was and a great decision it turned out to be. Booked into the Dales Haven hotel (great last minute deal from the owner).
Three very different walks over three days with very different weather every day.
Lots of miles walked but in beautiful surroundings with some amazing scenery, whats not to like.
Saddle room was a great discovery. The food and ale there is fab and it is so well priced considering the standard of service and food.
Leyburn is a great base for exploring the Dales and we would stay at the Dales Haven again, good breakfast, friendly hosts and a comfy bed.....what else do you need.

Mrs F: This was my first time walking cross country and I absolutely loved it! It is so very different to fell walking and in a weird way, it put more strain on my knees. I think because with fell walking, you chop and change your movement a lot more; going up, scrambling, coming down etc but with this, it was just repetitive walking which was using the same muscles over and over again in the same way. Regardless of that, I still really enjoyed just setting off straight out from the B&B across fields and coming across little hidden public footpaths, gaps in the wall to squeeze through, herds of cows to navigate safely through - it really did feel like a proper Hobbit adventure! Each day offered a different kind of walk. I really enjoyed walking through little villages all the way to Pen Hill and the walk back through the Gallops will stay with me forever because of the deep, meaningful conversation we had, which with busy lives in London we don't get to do very often. I really enjoyed walking to Castle Bolton, even though the weather wasn't great, it never stops us from getting out and enjoying our day. Our spontaneous lunch by the Castle entrance was inspired and very much enjoyed the feeling of a nomadic lunch! Knowing where the Castle was in relation to everything else gave us a good reference point the next day when walking to Aysgarth Falls, which was my favourite day. They were definitely worth making the long walk to go and see and the walk itself was a really enjoyable, completely off road country walk...including the stepping stones across the river on the way back!

My first experience of the Yorkshire Dales was a different but great one and a really lovely way to spend our first wedding anniversary that wasn't spent in the Lakes. We would definitely go back to the B&B because it's a good central point, even if we have to drive out slightly and loved the B&B that had a good breakfast...we'd aim to stay in the Paddington room again! 😊 The short drive out to The Saddle Bar was well worth it for the great food we had with great service set in a really nice place and would like to return, although we do like to try news things for a different experience. Much with the Lakes, there are lots of areas that need to be walked in the Dales and I can't wait to get back on the country walking road again...