Janet's Foss and Gordale Scar

I'm blessed with really good neighbours on both sides at the moment, a young couple on the one hand and a young man on the other. The generational divide isn't a problem and they are all friendly and extremely helpful. The young man is about to start a new job and was having a couple of weeks off so he asked me if I'd like to take a walk with him one day. He is from down south, has no car and doesn't know the Dales all that well, so it's rather enjoyable to introduce him to new places. We decided to go to Malham. It was mid-week so I knew it would only be busy and not as super-crowded as it tends to be at weekends and bank holidays. It was a reasonable day too, dry and warmish, if rather dull. We did the classic walk: up the gorge past the waterfall known as Janet's Foss, further up to have a look at Gordale Scar and then back and over to Malham Cove.

There was a fair bit of water coming over the falls, though I'm sure there is more now, as we've had a lot of recent rain. It's a charming spot in a wooded valley. You can quite believe the legend that the Queen of the Fairies lives in a cave behind the waterfall.

Beyond the falls it's another half mile or so walk up to Gordale Scar, a deep ravine that was probably formed by glacial meltwater or an underground cavern collapsing. It's hard to convey its scale in a photograph. The limestone cliffs are over 100m high and a stream comes crashing over the rocks in a series of waterfalls. The couple in the foreground of my photo were about to climb the cliffs. We watched the girl climb nimbly and fast, right up to the steepest overhang. I did take a picture of her up there but unfortunately she was wearing clothing that camouflaged her against the rock face, so you really can't see her. (All climbers should, by law, have to wear red!!)

The stream bed is notable for its deposits of tufa, an unusual rock formed by the water depositing calcium carbonate.

It is possible to climb up alongside the waterfalls and continue on up the gorge to Malham Tarn, the lake that lies above, though it is a steep and nerve-wracking scramble. (I have done it once - never again!) Instead, we retraced our steps down the ravine and then took the footpath that climbs steeply over the fields towards Malham Cove.