Day 4 Walking on Skye... Legends of Prometheus & Snow White
It's not hard to find Legend in Skye and everything about the Old Man of Storr feels legendary! Storr is the remnants of an ancient landslip that stands on the Trotternish Peninsula and I don't think there is anywhere else in the world quite like it. I wasn't surprised (but was incredibly excited!) to see the Old Man of Storr hit global cinema screens not only at the beginning of Ridley Scott's epic film Prometheus but also in the equally epic (but not quite as good - but still pretty cool) Snow White and the Huntsman.
Like many of the famous spots on the extraordinary Isle of Skye, The Old Man of Storr is popular and you have to join the conveyor belt of tourists and sight seekers to see it. But don't let this put you off because it really is awesome to stand in the presence of and if you persevere, the higher you ascend the quieter it becomes!
Impromptu Stroll at Armley Mills
Last weekend I visited the Armley Mills Museum to see an exhibition there by Lord Whitney. The exhibition is really cool and well worth checking out, as is the museum itself! In approaching the Armley Mills museum entrance you walk over a bridge that crosses the Leeds and Liverpool canal. This picturesque scene captured my imagination and I was armed with my trusty Canon G11. So on leaving the museum, I took a very short walk along the canal... I couldn't of walked more than a few hundred metres before I had to turn around and rush back to go pick CB up from work; but It's encouraging to see how getting out with a camera for just a short while can spark the imagination and generate some new ideas!
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Skye Walker Part III (The First Bit: Fairy Pools)
Whenever anyone goes away, advice is often given and received rather like Christmas presents. And thus your holiday begins with the pressure of
1. Trying to remember who gave what advice and brewing up interesting anecdotes that illustrate just how useful their advice was.
2. Finding good enough reasons to explain why you were unable to make it to that place they recommended.
While our Daily Mail and Telegraph reading friends warned us of the deep trenches at the side of the roads and obstinate road-dwelling sheep... many of our Guardian reader friends encouraged us:
"You must visit the Fairy Pools when you go to Skye, it's in the Wild Swim book by Kate Rew, have you read it? "
... So here we were, putting on our boots in the car park for the Fairy Pools with the rain pouring down more consistently than the micro climate weather we'd experienced so far; and as yet we hadn't knocked over a sheep or gotten stuck down a trench (phew)!
Our trip to the Fairy Pools occurred on a day of firsts. The morning was marked with my first ever sighting of a cuckoo and in the evening I saw, for the first time, a baked potato explode. If you ever come to use an 'all in one' microwave, oven and grill, be warned!
There are clearly more Guardian readers than Daily Mail readers speculate, as The Fairy Pools are popular! And while popularity is something that can often turn myself (and many other Guardian readers) off a place, the Fairy pools are so awesome it's hard to be put off by anything!
As the rain eased we even managed to find a quiet spot for our packed lunch, out of the way of walking traffic. Although that didn't stop the odd venturer poking their head over the rocks and looking down green eyed at our pretty good picnic spot! Maybe we shouldn't have lunched by the actual pool Kate Rew was photographed in for her book!
Sometimes there are walks where you get so engrossed in the scenery and experience of the place you are walking in, that you end up ditching the planned walk and just dreamily wander around and then wander back. Well Fairy Pools is such a place. This place IS magical!
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Counting Hobbies at Thursley Common National Nature Reserve
It's hard to imagine a nation with quirkier hobbies than the UK... That said, I saw a news piece once about a man in Belgium who dressed up and behaved as a penguin at weekends; but maybe that's more a comment on the news than hobbies. I digress, what I'm trying to say is that there seems to be something distinctly characteristic about many popular British pastimes. Read more
Skye Episode 2, Part Deux
One of the great things (for me at least) on Skye was the amount of daylight hours. By May sunset is already at around 10pm! Which meant we could fit a lot more into the day.
So having already experienced the micro climate of Waternish Point, dried off, downed a cuppa and scoffed some Viennese biscuits we took a trip to Dunvegan. The centre looked like it'd seen more lucrative days, but it was interesting enough and we found a shortish walk called the Two Churches Walk. This pleasant and interesting walk finishes by the ruin of St Mary's church built in 1682 and well worth a browse. With still more time before sundown we explored more of the Dunvegan area and found the Coral Beaches walk. A really lovely walk to end the day. An easy going but very enjoyable walk along Loch Dunvegan which resulted in spending a considerable time sitting and watching a number of inquisitive seals; a beautiful end to our second day.
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Skye Walker Episode 2: Waternish in the Snow... ish
The expression ‘micro climate’ is something synonymous with conversation about British weather. I’m sure I’ve used the phrase myself it but I will never use it in the same way again after our Waternish walk.
We set off reasonably early (reasonable for a holiday) with the warm sun on our backs, bright blue skies ahead and a bounce in our step, triggered by word that previous walkers on this route had recently caught sight of a basking shark from Waternish Point.
We followed a track either made for or made by the farmer’s quad bike; the origins of the track becoming more unclear as we encountered impromptu homemade bridges over various bogs, crevices and other obstacles. The cliff side farmland we passed through was vast and largely wild, with some of the largest cows I’ve ever had to nervously pass!
The walk to Waternish Point seems to be very much a 'wing it' walk. As you move away from the quad bike trail, there doesn't seem to be a distinct footpath, and judging by the few other ramblers we noticed, everyone found their own path to the point - which was great, if not at times a little disconcerting!
Upon reaching the point, which overlooks the Western Isles, we sat down for some lunch and watched a common seal hunting among the rock pools below us. Having been absorbed and mesmerized for sometime by the seal, we happened to glance up and notice a thick, dark, grey, Independence Day sized cloud hurtling towards us! We promptly got up and raced off, in the vain attempt to make it back to the car being before enveloped in whatever was brewing on the now not so distant horizon...
About half way through our rush to shelter we started to feel and hear the inevitable pitter patter, and within seconds a gust of wind slammed a torrent of 45 degree rain at our backs. Within minutes this turned to hail, then sleet and then to snow! As we neared the end of our journey, cold and damp, the snow eased and blue skies suddenly appeared. By the time we made it to the car we were pretty much dry. It was one of the more surreal walks I've done, that's for sure! As the Byre was on the way to Dunvegan (our next destination), we took a pit stop. A nice hot brew and more Viennese sandwich biscuits than necessary and we were off! Dunvegan and more to follow in Episode 2, part deux!
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Skye Walker Episode 1
Much like popular opinion of George Lucas' revisit to his cult classic space saga, there isn't a great deal to write about our late-ish arrival on the Isle of Skye.
After a gorgeous but rather long drive, the highlight of which was a sighting of two wild red deer stags, we arrived in the sun soaked village of Stein. Here, The Old Byre, a small self-catering cottage overlooking Loch Bay, would be our home for the next five nights. The small but deluxe split level cottage came with everything we could want, including a small bunny that came out everyday to play on our front lawn.
We were greeted with a large cup of tea, more homemade biscuits than I should have partaken of and a friendly natter with the owner next door. Then we dumped our bags and headed straight out, only too aware that this day might be the only one when the sun showed its face!
Our first exploration on Skye involved walking down and checking out the local - the appropriately named Stein Inn, a friendly and charming pub that sits right on the loch and is a popular place to sit in hope of sighting the elusive Sea and Golden Eagles. If you are not so lucky, the very tasty Red Cuillin (Skye brewery) available on tap offers a great consolation!
And that is as far as our first Skye ramble got really! Watch out for episode two though because the second day was epic!
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Rombalds Moor, from the other side
I had wanted to give a more detailed account of our walk on Rombald's Moor. Though I envisage sighs of relief from friends and family as they read this opening line; I had hoped to give a more, or moor (that one's for CB!) descriptive account of the walk that started in Riddleston, that took us past lambs just hours old, of the beams of light that pierced through the densely wooded... err.. wood, as well as the astonishing aerial display from several lapwings as they tried to divert a red kite (the bird of prey) away from their nesting area. I even wanted depict the delights had from the pint of Black Moor, brewed by Goose Eye brewery in nearby Keighley which was supped in the Crown Inn, Addingham and wasn't bad!
Alas though, I'm off to Skye in a couple of days and do not have time to spend on such a whim! However, I imagine after 8 days wandering round the famously scenic Isle, there will be no end to the drivel making it's way onto this site; so remember this gift of briefness when you wade through the swamp of waffle in the forthcoming posts!
And here are the Pics....
Sticks and Stones, Oh... and Some Sheep!
Sounding like something out of a good Indiana Jones movie (when Harrison Ford was the young one)... A hunt for the 'Swastika Stone' on Ilkley moor seemed like the perfect Sunday adventure for a couple of lazy morning ramblers.
The Swastika stone is thought to be either Bronze age (like many other stones found in the area) or Iron Age and there's some ambiguity over the stone's meaning too, although in a number of ancient civilizations similar designs are thought to relate to the sun. The stone is located a relatively short walk west of White Wells Spa Cottage, which has had accessible baths since 1703, was instrumental in giving Ilkley its Spa town status and has reported visits from the likes of Charles Darwin. The stones are such a short walk from here (a couple of miles I'd guess), we decided to extend our walk. I say 'stones' because there are in fact two Swastika stones. One is a Victorian replica which actually helps pick out the pattern of the considerably fainter original sat just behind.
Our walk continued past the stones, past Panorama Reservoir and onto Hardwick House farm, where I got momentarily obsessed with some very photogenic sheep! From the farm we walked down until we reached the River Wharfe where we followed the Dales Way back into Ilkley town centre. Nature on the walk included numerous encounters with curlews and red grouse, which seem to occur on many of our Yorkshire walks, and we also caught sight of a tree creeper.
We finished the day at the Cow and Calf Hotel with an enjoyable pint of Leeds Pale Ale but before making our ascent to the watering hole we stopped off to refuel. The Vintage Tea Room on Wells Road is an original, friendly and very well done tea room with irresistible homemade cakes and a list of speciality teas longer than my photography equipment wish list (which is larger than a News International legal bill!). A cream tea for two was just what was needed to make the final steps on our Ilkley walk!
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Winter Walk and Fine Ales in the Dales
Having double checked the handbrake, twice and debated leaving the car in first, I tentatively made my way to the back of the 45 degree angled parked car to put on my boots. It wasn’t until later we realised there was actually a car park in Appletreewick which we could of used. This oversight was probably due to the excitement of embarking on our first Dales walk: The walk we had originally planned to do in “Perils of Coffee” (A lovely walk round Burey in Whafedale).
Appletreewick is a village in the Yorkshire Dales and is pronounced “Aptrick” by locals. The locals also boast of Sir William Craven, described as the village’s own Dick Whittington, having left the village for London to make his success and ended up becoming Lord Mayor and sheriff of London before returning to Appletreewick.
The walk begins along the bank of the river Wharfe and the sun starts to thaw my rather chilled face, I realise what an awesome picnic destination these banks would make in the summer months. As the walk develops a diverse range of landscape and terrain is experienced. One minute a rocky valley the next a small picturesque village with a population no more than 30.
Highlights of the walk include a derelict resevoir called Skyreholme dam, which used to supply water to a paper mill and Trollers Gill which involves clambering over a rocky stream for a mile or so before an obligatory investigation of a rather large cave entrance; could this be the hide out for the spectre hound of Craven. Dare you to go in! (umm… please note: I take no responsibility for anyone who does themselves a mischief from taking up something I say in jest and that may not actually be the opinions of the writer: insert any other appropriate legal jargon here).
This is walk that is steeped in history and intertwined with folklore. Having the Ramblers Yorkshire Dales guide by David Leather really helped add context to the conveyor belt of lansdcapes and really bought the walk to life.
On completion of the walk we stopped in the Craven Arms for a pint of Black Witch, Moorehouse brewery. The pub was so inviting and charming we stayed for a pint of Cruck Barn (Brewed by the Craven Arms) and in case you’re adding up the points, CB stuck to the tea before driving us back on a scenic journey made all the more beautiful by warm glow of two fine ales in the system!
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