Often our walks have given us some special views. A mountain top reached after a few hours walk for example. Last September we spent one week in the Peak District and another in the Yorkshire Dales.
Whilst no mountains were climbed we did scramble up a waterfall at a place called Gordale Scar. Something we did 20 years ago and felt we still had the ability to try again.
Getting close to Gordale Scar, YorkshireWe set off scrambling up the left of the waterfall.
Usually the adventurous sort of person I did have a couple of moments where I had to have a stern word with myself to keep going.
Looking down while scrambling up…
I’m pleased I did. It was magical to look back and say, I did it.
Waterfall though a window of rock near the top.
Gordale Scar is a ravine, a gorge which totally blows your mind when you see it. I can highly recommend it as a place to visit – perhaps combined with a walk to Malham Cove which is its neighbour.
Looking way way down into the gorge and the path below
This limestone country is wonderful, get up high enough and you get a birds eye view of the world below. Fly a drone and it really does give you some amazing footage to look back on.
If you would like to see our walk from Malham Village to the waterfall called Janet’s Foss and then see us climb beside the waterfall at Gordale Scar please click on the link below.
Our walks in the Lake District generally takes us along footpaths alongside streams, waterfalls and up hillsides.
The tunnel leading to Cathedral Cave
Recently we have discovered a wonderful area near Little Langdale where mining and quarrying took place many years ago. Tucked away, quietly and almost secretly now, is a quarry where we found a huge cave called Cathedral Cave.
Cathedral Cave looking up and outInside Cathedral Cave
You enter via a tunnel and incredibly you find yourself in a huge area with a single pillar of rock and a large hole in its roof. Water drips in and all around are large boulders, heaped up and abandoned.
There is a smaller tunnel that leads to an area where you can scramble out over lots of boulders to a platform that leads around to a view through the ‘cathedral’ roof. It’s an amazing experience.
Right in the middle, you need to scramble out
Further on there is a tiny stone stairway which leads up and out of the quarry. To an area where slate (unsuitable I suppose) has been heaped up. An old quarryman’s hut remains.
Old quarry hut looking down into Little Langdale
No need to visit a museum, visit this place and you really get a sense of what this area used to be. Be careful and you can have heaps of fun.
Here is a link to a short YouTube video we made of our visit.
A little way up the coast from us is a wonderful garden that you can visit. East Ruston Vicarage Gardens, Norfolk. We visit at least once a year.
Getting our tickets to the garden
This particular garden has lots of ‘rooms’ and you can spend several happy hours drifting from one to another most with seating so you can really soak it up.
Be prepared, wear sensible shoes as there is lots to see and you really need to do a fair bit of walking. Here are a few photos, only a fraction of the number I took on this particular visit!
A doorway into another roomThis really is a room with a viewWonderful plantingThe sunken gardenWonderful paths leading into another roomGardening at its best
Once you’ve done that you can have a nice cup of tea and slice of cake, though there is more food on offer for bigger appetites. After that you can spend everything you have on the wonderful plants for sale!
Time for teaPlant sale
If you would like to take a look at a video and see us stroll through this wonderful the garden click on the link below :-
We are always on a journey. Our walks take us to some interesting places and we see some interesting things.
Mid May in Norfolk we usually make our way out to a local nature reserve with a specific aim. To spot the beautiful Swallowtail butterfly. It’s rare but holding on in Norfolk as its food source or rather the food source of its caterpillars, Milk Parsley, grows here.
This year we have been filming our walks and journeys to produce videos for YouTube and this week our latest video follows us as we look for these butterflies. Our channel, we hope, is a relaxing one. Hopefully enjoyed sitting back with a nice cup of tea or coffee – that’s our aim.
Here is a link to our video within our channel. The channel is called The Next Adventure because Tim has recently retired and so it seemed like the right name….Tim does almost all of the work, filming, editing and adding commentary – I just enjoy the journey.
Its been a long time since I have added a post to my blog. Time goes by, work can be tiring – no excuse but here I am.
Wow it’s been a bit warm recently hasn’t it? Here on the east coast of England it’s been no exception. We have headed to the beach a few times.
Horsey Beach, August 2022
As you can see even with recent high temperatures this beach doesn’t see many human visitors. It does, have quite a lot of seals. This is where grey seals come in large numbers to have their pups in the winter.
In the summer months small groups can be found along the shore.
Here is a group being photographed by my other half.
Phew it was a warm day but here we could enjoy a nice breeze coming off the sea and the pleasure of seeing these animals relatively close.
Our weather is baffling at the moment. Saturday 29th January Storm Malik makes its way across the country then during the early hours of Monday 31st January Storm Corrie swept in. A window of calm between them gave us the opportunity to get out and about….
Sunday 30thJanuary 2022
We set off on our walk from a village in the heart of the Norfolk Broads called Potter Heigham. It’s a tourist, boating hot spot which is popular in the summer months.
We parked close to Phoenix Fleet which hires out electric boats. Not all hire boats can do this but their small boats are able to get under the old medieval bridge when the water level on the River Thurne is low enough. It’s a spectacle in the summer months as people plan their manoeuvres and navigation on the water here.
Here in the Norfolk Broads the rivers are affected by tides as they all flow in and out to the sea on the east coast. The River Thurne was certainly high as we saw to our amazement from our parking spot. The banks had been broken and water surrounded the Pheonix Fleet boat yard.
On the opposite side of the river stands the much larger boat yard of Herbert Woods. That looked to still be on dry land.
The building of Pheonix Fleet and Herbert Woods on the opposite bank
It’s not the first time we’ve seen this but it does make me wonder. Do the owners of Pheonix Fleet keep everything of value away from possible flood waters? All the hire boats must be stored away (moored away) for the winter as they can usually be seen at this spot. I suppose they store everything else that doesn’t float away during the winter months….
Turning to the right we crossed the old bridge
We crossed the bridge and looked at the fast flow of water below. Ah, the cafe was open so we stopped for a coffee.
Coffee being served via the hatch
The cafe here has a serving hatch and you can see it being used by the cyclists behind Tim. It’s a good stopping point for cyclists – two others were already sitting at another table.
A man in a high visibility jacket with ‘Flood Warden’ printed on the back sauntered past talking into a phone. Tim and I looked at each other and both pushed a slightly concerned ‘hope the car is going to be ok’ thought to the back of our minds.
We set off making our way along a long straight track with marsh on both sides. I don’t usually like tracks that seem to go on for never ending miles, I prefer twists and turns with changing views, but today it was fine – the sun was shining and there wasn’t anyone about except for the geese, ducks and other water loving birds.
We turned left away from the marsh and headed to a tree lined path with a meadow to one side until we reached woodland. This area is part of Hickling Nature Reserve.
Leaving the marsh behindOutskirts of the wood
The wood does have some watery spots with streams and dykes and some trees were obviously victims of the recent storm.
A childrens den against a leaning tree
Last time we took this path through the trees we spotted deer which was magical. Unfortunately not this time but there was certainly less mud than we’d had previously. A small bridge leads out and up onto Weavers Way. Weavers Way is a long distance footpath – weaving was big business in Norfolk in the Middle Ages and that’s where this path gets its name.
In one or two places we had to avoid the flooding on our path. It made it more adventurous!
Getting through the gateway carefully
Today, as there was hardly any wind, Tim flew our drone for a few minutes and got some amazing footage. We could see how close we were to Hickling Broad with our ‘eye in the sky’. A landscape of yellow reed and grasses stretching out into blue water.
Flying the drone
We could also see a bird hide out on an island which can only be reached by boat. A few years ago we had the chance to visit this by a Norfolk Wildlife Trust visitors boat – it was good to see it again.
Drone packed away we walked past a small bird hide looking out to the broad.
Our lunch stop was on a jetty with reeds behind and in front of us. It was the most peaceful, serene spot. The only sound was distant birds or the occasional noisy flapping wings of swans as they took off from the water. It was so warm I really felt that I should have had some sun screen on my face.
We sat at the end of the jetty for lunch
Setting off after our leisurely lunch we continued along Weavers Way. Occasionally the path had water running across it because of the high tide – I couldn’t help but think about our parked car and wonder if that would be ok.
We came off Weavers Way crossing another small wooden bridge and back down onto the straight long track that we had used earlier.
Once we were back to the village we passed the larger moorings of Herbert Woods.
Herbert Woods moorings
This is an easy 6 mile walk which could be done in a morning or afternoon – we took our time, stopping several times and really enjoyed the warm winter sunshine. Oh and I’m pleased to say the car was fine, the water level had dropped.
Back in 2019 we were strolling around the town of St Ives in Cornwall. It’s a stunning place to visit.
On holiday we usually take a day off our hikes and drift around taking photos in the streets of houses and shops. Cameras in hand it’s a chance to find things we wouldn’t normally see in the countryside or coastal paths.
The Teddy Bear was up at a top floor window. I loved it instantly.
Hi there bear
Later we did some window shopping though the photo below is Tim peering through a window into an art gallery.
Ooh what have they got….
Then cafe windows gave me the opportunity to do a reflective selfie looking out onto the harbour of St Ives.
We headed out of Norfolk to Southwold in Suffolk – a journey of about an hour by car.
Once we arrive the clouds cleared and the sun shone down onto our faces at the sea side. Morning coffee, mid morning small glass of cider and picnic lunch were all enjoyed outside. It stayed unseasonably mild all day for our short walk though it was a bit breezy.
This photo was taken early as the sun was starting to break through the clouds….
September 2021 and we were back up north, to Cumbria and The Lake District. Two weeks were spent in a small cottage that we’ve returned to many times over the years. And a spell of settled warm weather meant that we could enjoy our walking at high levels and take lots of photos along the way.
The Langdale Pikes is a collection of mountains with its highest point called Harrison Stickle. The whole area is a popular and magnificent place to be at any time of the year so it’s good to get an early start to enjoy the day. We did just that and were one of the first to arrive in the National Trust Car Park called Stickle Ghyll.
The car park at Stickle Ghyll
The building you can see right in the car park is actually the toilet block. A handy place at the start or finish of any walk!
This walk is steep going from the start and we were slow and steady as it was a hot day. Usually there are plenty of sheep on the move in this area, I only spotted one. A very sensible creature in the shade of a small tree.
A shading sheep
Our route followed a waterfall all the way up to a Lakeland tarn – Stickle Tarn. It had been so dry that the water level was unusually low – you could hardly see the flow of water.
The way aheadUphill all the way
After lots of huffing and puffing we made it to the tarn and took a short break before heading up the flanks of Harrison Stickle.
Getting closer to the top
Once we reached the top we could enjoy the view with our lunch.
Lunch on Harrison Stickle summit
To go down we explored and circled around the summit and this gave us fine views to the high mountains in the west. In the foreground of the photo below is the dome shaped top old Pike of Stickle. Several people were stood on the top.
Making our way downThere’s people on the top…
Going downhill now we stopped frequently for sips of drink as the afternoon sun beat down.
Typical mountain path
At a nice resting place in some shade amongst rocks we looked back at the summit and our lunch spot. Wow it looked so far away. The photo below the highest point on the left hand mountain.
Our view back up
We continued downwards following a good path, quite steep at times. It was quite tiring. Eventually we made it down to where we started and headed to the sound of water and tipped our heads right into a small waterfall.
Dripping water over our heads to cool us down
The second walk really began whilst driving over the Kirkstone Pass. In all of our years of walking in this area we had never seen anything like this view we had ahead of us looking down towards the Ullswater valley. Without speaking Tim pulled over at the earliest opportunity so that we could jump out and take a photo or two.
Unbelievable mountain pass view
Our objective for the day was the mountain way ahead in the middle of the above photo. Here was Place Fell, standing at almost 1,500 feet, we couldn’t wait.
Once parked on the roadside in Patterdale we headed across the valley passing a scattering of typical Lakeland properties, then we joined a track going uphill.
Ullswater valley
A little way up we stopped to admire the low dispersing mists. I thought to myself that in years to come this spot, this bench, may well be as far as Tim and I can get our creaky old bodies to. If it is – it won’t be so bad.
A place to rest
The view in the opposite direction towards the Kirkstone Pass looked like this…
Ullswater valley
Much much later we reached the top and again enjoyed our sandwich lunch in glorious sunshine before heading down.
At the top of Place Fell – Helvellyn Range beyond Glenridding and the lake
Once again the temperature seemed to go up and up as we went down. Only when we reached the footpath that is alongside Ullswater lake itself did we get any shade. We made for the water running down off the mountain and splashed our heads to cool ourselves.
Cooling off
Then slowly and surely we made our way back along the shore path admiring the steamers and views across the lake.
Steamer on UllswaterTypical Ullswater view
At the end we crossed the valley again back to the car.
Almost there
Thank you to Sue and GC for their weekly prompts allowing me to link up to fellow blog writers and to those who follow my blog. Apologies I haven’t written too many posts just recently.
Hoping everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy and healthy New Year.
We were here a week ago. A favourite little spot, well photographed, often visited.
Brogrove Mill, near Horsey Mere, Norfolk
Not far from home on the north eastern edge of the Broads National Park is a body of water called Horsey Mere. A narrow channel of water running northwards from that is Waxham New Cut and on that is the derelict mill called Brograve. Built 1771.
The map below shows the extent of the national park.
In the photo below Tim is testing out our MSR Pocket Rocket camping stove – boiling water for lunch. This tiny lightweight stove might be something we will come to use for longer hikes…but for now it’s just for fun.
Tim organising our picnic lunch
I was about to take another photo of Tim when we were joined by two ladies slowly drifting past on a boat called ‘Cloud Nine’. Smiles and a quick wave and they were gone…..
its lovely out 