Inspiration & ideas
Western Dales
Sleeping elephants, books, fine foods & wool
Sleeping elephants, books, fine food & wool: snuggled beneath the Howgills, straddling Cumbria and Yorkshire lies Sedbergh. Its address is Cumbria but we happily claim it as 'ours' since it's now within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
Driving towards Sedbergh, it's hard not to get distracted by the incredible views. Wainwright said the Howgill fells look like a 'herd of sleeping elephants' and I'd agree, although when we were young we used to say '…
Nine Standards Rigg
Your theories on this curious landmark? It's Nine Standards Rigg, an odd and distinctive landmark overlooking Kirkby Stephen on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a welcome sight for walkers on Wainwright's Coast to Coast route.
The drystone cairns stand in a row, 2 – 4 metres tall. They’re very much part of the landscape but do seem to vary over time – some say they can find only 7 of these tall ‘standards’, others claim to find 11! Their height varies with the weather and effo…
The drystone cairns stand in a row, 2 – 4 metres tall. They’re very much part of the landscape but do seem to vary over time – some say they can find only 7 of these tall ‘standards’, others claim to find 11! Their height varies with the weather and effo…
Big Stone: a curious climb
Have you visited this place? This isn't the best photo of it (if you have a better one I can use, please do send!) but I think you can see it's an oddity! It’s not very often that places in the Yorkshire Dales remind me of famous landmarks in Sri Lanka.
The Dales version isn’t quite as big as Sigiriya in Sri Lanka, but it’s still remarkable, an impressive stone standing proud on a lonely moorland road south of High Bentham on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales
‘Our’ Sigiriya is imaginatively know…