16 September 2023 – Ingleton
Miles driven today = 84
Total Miles to date = 603
We had managed to drive a grand total of 540 miles on this trip without setting a tyre on a motorway but there are very few options for heading through the North Pennines from north to south so the M6 tempted us in and caressed us south through Cumbria for best part of an hour this morning before spitting us out onto the A65. From there we wriggled through to Kirkby Lonsdale, where we indulged in some expensive shopping in Booths, before driving on for a further 7 miles to the utterly charming North Yorkshire village of Ingleton.Thankfully the weather forecast had improved vastly since yesterday so we strapped on our walking boots and embarked on the 4.5 mile Ingleton Waterfalls Trail.
Having paid our £10 entrance fees and followed the initially gentle shingled path up the River Twiss. The first thing of note we happened across was this "money tree", almost entirely encased in coins which people have hammered into the wood. Perhaps somebody ought to tell Theresa May that these things actually do exist.
The trail started to get steeper with wooden and stone steps in places. At other times we had to scramble over bare rocks. It was certainly a proper work out for which we were rather overdressed.
The first waterfall was the impressive Pecca Falls.
This was closely followed by Hollybush Spout. Shortly after we passed this we climbed out of the woodlands and into more open countryside.
Thornton Force drops 14 metres over a limestone cliff. Some hardy souls had obviously been swimming in the pool beneath it and were drying themselves on the rocks as we arrived.
Up we climbed onto open pastureland with incredible views across the surrounding countryside.
This was the point where we re-crossed the Twiss and moved up and across to the adacent valley of the River Doe.
It feels as though we are as far away from civilisation as it is possible to get in the British Isles. So what is a bloody ice cream van doing up here?!
Just look at that amazing landscape!
Now walking back downhill along the Doe this is Beezley Falls.
The river passes through the incredibly narrow Baxenghyll Gorge. I'm afraid the photo doesn't really do the place justice as the torrent races through a gap less than a metre wide and some 10 metres beneath my feet.
Finally we walked through an old limestone quarry to bring us back into Ingleton. In order to slake our thirst the first port of call was the Old Post Office which now serves as a very trendy little micro-bar.
We only decided to call in at Ingleton a few days ago and being a Saturday the main campsite here, which sits beneath the viaduct, was fully booked when we rang them.
So instead we are doing another pub stopover at the Three Horseshoes.
When we introduced ourselves at the bar the Landlord didn't seem particularly bothered about whether we spent any money in the pub and only asked we put some money in the local charities' donation box in the car park. We've spent the evening in there nonetheless and it's a great pub. I always thought that Morcambe Bay was only renowned for it's seafood but we both had Morcambe Bay Chicken which is served up with a big chunk of black pudding and is absolutely smothered in melted Stilton. I think I might need to loosen my belt by a couple of notches after that!
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