Skipton Holiday Cottage

News today that there is a chance to walk across the famous Ribblehead viaduct of the Settle-Carlisle railway. As a result of a line closure this summer for repairs an organised opportunity to walk the line is available on Sunday 22nd July, It will be a ticket-only event with 2000 tickets available at £15. For more details click this report from The Craven Herald newspaper website.

Labels: Ribbleshead

The Craven Herald newspaper website has this feature about the work of the gardeners this Spring at Parcevall Hall, the not-to-be-missed hillside garden in Upper Wharfedale, less than half-an-hours' drive from the house.
Link here

Labels: Parcevall

This week we have been awoken each morning by a cockerel's dawn crowing at
close quarters. This is unusual because there are no small holdings near
this street and the gardens or courtyards of nearby houses are unsuitable
for livestock. We finally caught sight of the offending creature yesterday.
It was poking about in the wooded bank which leads down to the stream near
here. We guess its owner is wondering where its got to. Perhaps its crowing
about managing to escape. There are small holdings and allotments with
poultry about 800m from here the other side of a connecting road.

The lovely sturdy map case we've had in the cottage since we opened to
guests three years ago has disappeared suddenly. It may well be sitting on
the back shelf of a guest's car or in a rucksack pocket inadvertently
forgotten about. Please return if you see it.

Yesterday we walked from the cottage to Sharp Haw, one of the highest of
the moorland peaks surrounding Skipton, about 350m above sea-level. It was
a gorgeous day - blue skies with thin cloud making for gentle sunshine and
the occasional lick of a cooling breeze. Our route took us across Skipton
Golf course which must be one of the most well-situated for scenic views.
The ascent to Sharp Haw's summit is a very satisfying one - not too steep
and yet a worthy achievement. The top is clearly visible from well down
the approoch and there are no hidden dips to deceive you with extra
climbing. From the top Skipton is laid out to the south- eest and in theory
on a crystal - clear day with powerful binoculars you might see the
cottage. We did not because the cost of gentle sunshine was a haziness
which prevented clear views at a distance. To the north there is Simon's
Seat and to the south-west the village of Gargrave is also laid out like a
map. Like the moorland summit of Pin Haw above Lotherdale south-west of
Skipton, Sharp Haw punches above its weight as a summit in terms of the
views afforded and the sense of altitude you feel at only a little over
1000 feet. The approach route is described in a booklet entitled Circular
Walks from Skipton to be found in the cottage along with the appropriate
Ordnance Survey map.

The vacuum cleaner has been replaced with a Hoover cylinder model. This should prevent instances of power cable damage in future. Also, in response to guests' comments a mirror has been installed in the living area.

Labels: new items

Out to the shops in Skipton town centre this morning to purchase a new vacuum cleaner for the cottage. Not that the one we have is broken. Its a perfectly functioning upright Panasonic. The problem is that for the second time in six months guests have damaged the power cable by running the cleaner head over it. As the local repair shop has quoted yet another £30 for replacement - almost half of what we paid for the whole machine new - its time to replace it with a cylinder cleaner. I am at a loss to understand how this happens. It's not the guests I blame, but the designer of a machine which is so readily rendered unsafe by normal useage. Surely this product should not be on sale?

Labels: Panasonic

Today we drove to Grassington from Skipton and parked at the National Park Centre there. From the car park we dropped down to Linton Falls and walked for almost two miles along the River Wharfe towards Conistone. Our destination was Grass Wood, well-known for its wild flowers and its ancient Iron Age settlement mounds. The steep path to the top of the wood was rewarded by excellent views of Kilnsey Crag, for all its grandeur nonetheless dwarfed by the hills buttressing it. We reckon though that once the trees are in full leaf and the views obscured it will not be worth climbing to the top edge of the wood but following the main drag through the centre will still give the same experience and also leads you past the atmospheric mossy mounds which are the site of the Iron Age settlement.

After leaving Grass Wood its a short walk across fields back into Grassington. We had a pleasant good value lunch and pint in The Devonshire Arms, located in the market-place.The highlight of the day was still to come.

Leaving Grassington on the Hebden Road we drove east through Hebden and onwards until a sharp right-turn is reached signposted Parcevall Hall Garden. Parcevall Hall, at Skyreholme, is now a church-owned conference and retreat centre - of Tudor origin - with extensive grounds on south facing slopes opposite Simon's Seat, the high summit above Bolton Abbey. The gardens were laid out by a former owner in the mid-20th century who was one of the founding members of the Northern Horticultural Society. After his death in 1960 the gardems fell into disuse; but since 1984 there has been a successful restoration programme.

In April it is the extensive drifts of daffodils which first impress. There are also wonderful bursts of pink and red flowering rhododendron and camelia. Two large venerable cherry trees on the terrace were in full bloom today at the absolute peak of their profusion. Well worth a visit later in the year too, when the long borders will be more full of colour.The £5.60 entrance fee is fully justified. Royal Horticultural and Nothern Horticultural Society members get free entrance for themselves.There is a tea-room near the car-park. Be warned - this is not a visit for those who can not cope with walking up and down steep gradients!

Labels: Grasssington Parcevall