I woke early and finally finished my book, leaving several loose ends which no doubt continue to the next book in the series! I’ve now gone from a body in Scyamore Gap to one in Gordale Scar where we walked yesterday in a Dales mystery called Date with Death! Sounds like this walking lark might be a bit more dangerous than just a blister!
We began our day with another of the best drives in the dales, along Goat Lane which climbs out of Stainforth then heads uphill with the 694m peak of Pen-y-Ghent appearing on the left, the lowest of Yorkshire’s Three Peaks.
The lane becomes the Pennine Way and dips down into the valley of Littondale, with the scattered cottages of Halton Gill at the foot of the fell. Despite meeting several cars, a cyclist and two walkers hiking the Pennine Way, it still feels a long way from civilisation and when you look at a map, you realise you are!
We looped round to Malham Moor and parked beside Malham Tarn, 377m above sea level and the highest lake in England, then walked round it. The whole area is owned by the National Trust, including Tarn House on the far side of the tarn, once owned by Walter Morrison who had such visitors as Charles Darwin and John Ruskin as well as Charles Kingsley who was inspired by the local scenery and Darwin’s ideas of evolution when he wrote the Water Babies.
We stopped to eat sandwiches, then continued walking round, spotting a rabbit and deer on the way!
The last stretch took us across fields to an old smelt chimney which gave a great view all round. During the 18th century, lead, copper and zinc carbonate were mined on Pike Daw, the crushed metal ore was processed at the smelt mill and a long flue led from the mill to this chimney, where the toxic fumes dispersed.
Another great walk and the sun even came out towards the end. Back to our cottage and a curry feast curtesy of the Co-op … perfect!
Off Travelling Together 