I had planned a trip up to Malham to do some walking but the weather forecast has been a bit dire. In fact yesterday it was expected to be very heavy rain, so I began to make alternative plans. However, this morning it changed to 30% chance of light rain so I decided to give it a go. The train trip to Skipton is relatively easy, but like Fountains Abbey the buses from there to Malham are very random, which is really why I couldn't do this trip on any other day.
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| A class 158 brought me up from Leeds |
Malham is a small village (predictably) in Malhamdale, to be honest on its own there would not be much reason to go there but the fact that it lies in a geologically important area means it attracts many many visitors even in February. There were only 2 of us on the bus from Skipton and the other person got off long before Malham. However, when the bus arrived in the village the car parks were busy and there were plenty of people around despite the fact that the skies were grey and threatening.
From the village it is a short and easy walk up to Malham Cove, a shear limestone cliff formed by a ice and melt water from iceage glaciers - in fact at one point in history there would have been an enormous waterfall here. Now the cliff is dry and Malham Beck bubbles up at the base of the cliff from an underground cave system.
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| Malham Cove |
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| The beck now comes out from an underground cave system |
A long and steep set of steps rises up one side of the Cove so you can climb to the plateau on the top and wow what a sight. Running along the top of the cliff is a huge limestone pavement formed once again by iceage glaciers and melt water. It is stunning to see even if it was a bit windy.
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| The limestone pavement |
A path then continues through a series of fields, gradually lowering you down to Gorsdale Scar. Yet another remnant of the iceage, this is an area of stunning waterfalls and has the bonus of being in full flow during the winter. From Gorsdale Scar an easy path takes you via another waterfall - Janets Foss - back to Malham. All in all the walk took me around 3 hours and I did not rush, its very well signposted and judging by the number of people around in February, there can't be many instances of you being up there alone.
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| Gorsdale Scar |
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| Janets Foss |
With the wind starting to pick up and the air feeling more damp, I decided to quit while I was ahead and after having a bowl of soup in a tea shop (sorry too cold for a cream tea today) I caught a bus back down the dale (only me on it again). With a couple of hours to spare though, I decide to jump off the train from Skipton at Saltaire, Yorkshire's other world heritage site, and have a look at Salts Mill.
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| Saltaire |
Saltaire is one of the "model villages" built by industralists to provide a safe, clean and heathy living environment for their workers. Saltaire was built by mill owner Sir Titus Salt (where did they get those names from!), with other examples in England being Bournville (Cadbury), Port Sunlight (Lever) and Silver End (Crittall). Sir Titus was a non comformist religious man so the church was a very prominant building and there were no pubs or purveyors of alcoholic liquor in Saltaire. Of course that means there is now a wine bar in the village called "Don't Tell Titus".
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| Salts Mill |
After a period of disuse, the original mill has been restored for use as commercial units and a multi level arts, dining and shopping space. The main gallery houses many works by local artist David Hockney. I very nice place for a wander.
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