On top of the world

I was fortunate to be able to have a short holiday in the Yorkshire Dales again recently.  I stayed, as usual, at Scargill House, the Christian community near Kettlewell in Upper Wharfedale.

One day, I decided to follow a walk up Conistone Dib to Conistone Pie that I'd seen in an issue of the magazine 'Country Walking'. It wasn't a long walk, less than four miles, but it was steep and scrambly in parts. (I'm not brave and I hate heights and there was one point where I thought I may have to turn back, as it was a steep and rocky climb up a narrow cleft. But I gritted my teeth and looked for the worn and shiny rocks that indicated foot and hand holds - and hefted myself up! Yay!)

Conistone Pie is a little outcrop of limestone that provides far reaching views up Wharfedale (above) and Littondale and across to the impressive bulk of Kilnsey Crag. It was jolly windy up there so I sat down in the sheltered lee of the rocks to eat my lunch, where I got chatting to a lovely lady. She was bravely walking the Dales Way (alone) and she quite inspired me to continue with my gym regime and regular walking, as one day I'd really like to walk a long distance path. The Dales Way goes from Ilkley to Bowness in the Lake District, a distance of some 78 miles, and passes right up Wharfedale through some of the loveliest scenery imaginable. You can just about see the Dales Way track on the far right, a dark line above the limestone cliffs.