Finlay's First Beaver Camp

Finlay Ready To Go!

Finlay went 'camping' with the Beavers last night, we had our fingers crossed that he'd have a good night and not get the 'heebie jeebies'. Thankfully he had a great time!

It was the first time he's been away from us overnight, we always do things together and he's not into sleep overs etc.

I suppose when you're only 6 years old it's pretty easy to get scared.

The kids we're sleeping in tents in a hall at the scout centre, so the snow outside wasn't a concern for them. There was a Chinese new year theme to keep everyone entertained and it certainly worked for Finlay! The leaders kept the kids entertained and everyone had a great time. I don't think Finlay had much sleep, he was full of adventure stories when he got home.

Penyghent Walk

Penyghent was one of the first Mountain I ever walked up, probably 25 years ago. It stuck in my memory as a good walk, the pain of the climb is worth it due to the great views at the top (on a good day!). It's about 6 miles round trip from Horton in Ribblesdale and there are only one or two steep bits.

We were up at Horton in Ribblesdale at just after 11am. The weather was pretty good, some high cloud, there had been a hard frost and the ground was frozen solid, good news for the kids, no mud to fall in!

Jack on the way Up.

Setting off we headed straight towards the mountain, it looked quite a long way, but thankfully this is deceiving. Up the road past the primary school, a stream on our left, as we approached the first farm it was time to leave the road, heading by the side of a wall, we would follow this for some distance. The path undulated for the next mile before we arrived at the foot of the mountain.

As we went over the wall the view changed and we could now see the path leading steeply away to our left. The wind was howling as we started to climb, I didn't have a hat on and my ears were soon aching, thankfully the kids had gloves and hats on. Even though it was pretty steep both Jack and Finlay didn't complain, or slow down.

Two Monkeys Climbing.

Andrea was in front with Finlay and I followed on behind with Jack, I kept him occupied by playing word games. He kept wanting me to give him clues, however I made him think hard and work things out for himself.

Jack was a little unsure about one of the steeper bits, but we were soon onto the last slope with the top in sight. It's always surprising how quickly you get cold once you stop walking, today was no exception. It was very busy at the top, the good weather had brought out lots of people. We had a sandwich and a drink on top, admired the views, kept out of the wind.

The walk back was pretty straight forward, but longer than the climb. We were soon at lower levels, again the frozen landscape made it easier, no mud or bogs!

We could have walked up to Hull Pot, but the kids and Andrea were happy to head back to Horton in Ribblesdale.

We had a look for somewhere to sit down and have a pot of tea, but nothing was open. Last week in Clapham there we're several Cafe's and Tea rooms, strange! So we headed back to the car and home!

On The Way Up.

Looking Back.

Sandwiches at the top.

Clapham - Ingleborough Cave - Walk

We'd set out to go up Pen-y-ghent but the weather was pretty poor. Plan B was to have a walk from Clapham, keeping relatively low in the valley bottom. It was raining and foggy, nice walking weather!

We Parked at the National Trust Car Park in Clapham village and headed up the valley towards the Church. To make this a circular walk we turned right at the Church and headed through two tunnels, a strange feature that I'd not seen before.

Heading up the hill on a track we turned right at the first opportunity, staying on an old unpaved road, now used by farmers to reach remote areas where sheep roam! The weather took a turn for the worse and the rain got heavier, as we continued up the track the cloud came down and the day felt miserable. It was quite atmospheric, the barren hillsides disappearing into the mist. We soon arrived at a style over the wall and headed down into the valley bottom, back below the tree line.

Jack and Finlay at The Waterfall - Clapham

From here we could have walked up to Trow Gill, but the kids wanted to head back. We were now on the main path above Ingleborough cave and the walk back was more scenic. We stopped briefly at the show cave, but at this time of year everything is shut up. The path back through the valley winds its way above the stream that flows into the artificially made lake. There's also a strange Victorian folly, the kids quickly explored this. Once we got back to Claphan we stopped for a rest at the waterfall which was looking spectacular! Walking back through Clapham we took a closer look at the church and the graveyard, the kids enjoyed looking for old dates on the gravestones.

Considering how poor the weather was the kids did really well, they didn't complain too much, in all we'd walked just short of 4 miles. Considering how muddy and wet everything was we had stayed remarkably clean, it had been an interesting walk, but we were glad to be back in the car and heading home!

Bingley - Druids Alter Walk

Map of Walk

The weather has been terrible over Christmas and the New year, we'd planned to do lots of things, but it's rained so much, and Andrea has had bad tooth ache, so we've done very little. However it has stopped raining today! We didn't want to go far so decided to have a walk along the River Aire at Bingley, then up the hill and see some views from the Druids Alter. There was lots of Geocaching to do as we walked around so it kept everyone busy, in all we did 7 Geocaches,Jack and Finlay were routing around in the undergrowth for most of the afternoon.

Geocache - Anything Good in There?

We parked up in Bingley and headed over the bridge towards Harden, turning right straight after the bridge and walked along side the river for a fair way. After passing a couple of farms we headed up through the trees and started looking for Geocaches along the top of the tree line, heading back down into the valley bottom we passed several more houses before as we turned hard left and heading up the steep track, this was pretty hard work and the kids were soon moaning. We stopped for a rest on a bench at the bottom of the woods, the views across the Aire valley were pretty good. Heading into the woods we did more Geocaching and the dog enjoyed the freedom on the paths. We were soon at the Druids Alter, a strange rocky outcrop perched on the edge of valley top. A really good Geocache kept the kids entertained.

From here it was pretty straight forward walking down Alter Lane back into Bingley. The Lane borders the St Ives Estate somewhere that we've spent time with the kids in the past. Surprisingly no one fell over in the mud, or got wet through in the puddles. Although the weather wasn't great it was nice to get out and about.

Bingley Church

Climbing Around.

Even The Dog