Wednesday 25 May 2011

Teddy Tours Acoras Scar

Set off early this morning Skipton Grassington Pately Bridge Ramsgill and parked at Lofthouse
ignore the blue P sign it's now a private car park
through Studfold farm and onto the bridlway, looking back down Nidderdale
 lots of Bunnys about
and there seems to be lots of Moles at Moor House Farm
looking back down the Bridlway
and back again
the first shooting cabin comes into view, there's a side shed open but the cabins locked tight
plod on and look back again
and the way forward
passed a damp bit with some good tracks (Stoat ?)
looking back again
and to the side (northish)
the top cabin comes into view
passing check that it's unlocked and on a chain and hook great ! pass to have a look at Acoros Scar
steep it's one in stupid
hoping I can get back and remembering a tale I heard about someone Flint (arrowhead) prospecting this way found a skeleton in one of the peat hags that turned out to be a Pedlar complete with leather satchel of sewing needles pins haberdashery etc. from the Pack Horse trail days
made the bottom safely and started to follow the stream down
don't recognise these
and there were lots of these flying about
started to climb back out
not as steep this far down stream
then the top cabin comes back into view
I bet some of the TGO challengers would have liked this
and what a change to not be locked, there were a couple of boards blown off where it was a touch rotten at the back corner so I straightened some scrap nails and did a repair before Teddy opened the Bistro
Lavazza drip coffee, South African Pinotage Shiraz, home made buttered  bread, watercress, baby vine tomatoes, and a home made local beef, beefburger with falafel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falafel which is a great dried camping food and beefburger rusk substitute and some Nandoes peri peri ketchup
given 10 Ft. of snow I could have played at being Shackleton. Looking out over Acoras Scar to Great Whernside it looked like an Alien Invasion was brewing
with the Lenticula ? clouds
back down the track
with the ditches in bloom
 and at one point a bubbling Ocher spring

this caught my eye at Mark 002 almost like a circle ?
left the track just below here to explore Blayshaw Gill
I presume this is the piped water from Amgram and Scar house reservoirs
but what a wild camp find
get in late and out early and plenty of Foxgloves flowering on the gill side
and a few Butterflies about
passing through a field gate the gatestone was a work of practical art
came out back onto the Bridleway and it's always a relief to see the van still there.

just thought I'd share, cheers all Danny

Friday 20 May 2011

Tag Bale Hill

Thursday 19-5-11 Drove through Grassington (again) well I can see the hills from the kitchen window so they have a pull, and parked in the picnic area at Grimwith reservoir
I've had a couple of e-mails saying the photo's are small  ! but if you left click on them they should open in a new window, larger, then blue return arrow top left to return to Blog.
straight out of the car park the bankings were covered in wild flowers
and Fractals
Down to the reservoir and along the dam wall
with lots of squeaking and whistling from the Oystercatcher mob
followed the track round
and over the bridge at Blea Gill
in the woods over the bridge I spotted a few of these
carried on to the bridge at Gate Up Gill where I turned left along the old mine track
looking back down the track
carrying on the ruins of the mine come into view
with what looks like a winding wheel pit
as its inline with this open shaft ! one and two and three and four and - Clunk Splash !
looking up the valley from the mine
but I dropped down to the beck to find this
well I'm writing this so it was safe !
the valley to the left took my eye
so followed the small stream along
to find a hidden jem around the top corner
it sounded as good as it looks
looking back down the gill
the Bear found some Ocher slime
and some scum on the water
then made a Lavazza drip coffee
dinner was home made bread Doves wholewheat flour with a handfull of yellow sultanas and some orange calandula Marrigold petals baked in. With a tin of smoked Brisling in T sauce and not shown a sliced vine tomatoe on top with a glass of Fynbos South African Shiraz, it's in a Kumal bottle because on my last stock up shop for small bottles of wine they'd gone into plastic bottles ! so I opened a big bottle and refilled an empty from the last tour.
while sat in the sun listning to the waterfall there was a tit tit tit as I was being scolded by
I presume it had a nest near by as it kept flying up into the banking, but I didn't disturb it by having a look
I climbed up and out of the waterfall 001 Mark on the map and it's equally hidden from above
with just behind a ruin
but how did they get here this is the view the other way
as I headed over to Tag Bale Hill on the way back with Pendle Hill on the right horizon
with a view back down to the reservoir from here
I dropped down passing a fossilised stone car !
it was then onto the track around the res. with a quick pan of the camera and x2 clicks of the shutter
here's a crop from the original size of the second click
back along the dam wall and the final photo
Just thought I'd share, cheers all Danny