Well after a Saturday of rain all day we were really pleased to wake up to sunshine on Sunday morning ...
It may not sound like much but we walked from Malham village to the top of Malham Cove and back again ... and it was oh so worth it.
Martin and I were both very keen walkers in our younger and more fitter days with Martin, being a Yorkshireman born and bred, being a regular in The Dales. For me it was the hills and dales of the Peak District that were my favourite haunts.
When I booked this break to the Yorkshire Dales it was in the hope that we might just get out and do a bit of proper countryside walking, but I didn’t, for one minute, expect we would make it up to the top of Malham Cove.
We were booted up and out pretty early for us ...
The forecast was mixed, but mainly cloudy with sunny spells, so we fleeced and waterproofed up and headed out with a rucksack full of hats, gloves and scarves and drinks and snacks.
There are two paths to the Cove from the village, one across fields starting out just past The Lister Arms and the other, more well defined path, heading out from the top of the village. Following the rain of yesterday we decided to take what we would hoped would be the less muddy option and headed out from Woodside Cottage ...
... through the woodland, alongside Malham Beck ...
... up to the Beck Hall Hotel, where the clapper bridge was accessible today, following the high waters of yesterday ...
From here we had a short walk along the road to the start of the footpath ...
The finger post told us it was just half a mile to the Cove, so we thought we should be able to make that. We weren’t sure at this point that we would be up for the 400 steps up to the top, even though we both really did want to see the limestone pavement, neither of us ever having seen it before ...
We were booted up and out pretty early for us ...
The forecast was mixed, but mainly cloudy with sunny spells, so we fleeced and waterproofed up and headed out with a rucksack full of hats, gloves and scarves and drinks and snacks.
... through the woodland, alongside Malham Beck ...
From here we had a short walk along the road to the start of the footpath ...
The views of the surrounding countryside and the Cove in the distance were fab and so much better that we had managed to see yesterday from the car on the road ...
We didn't have to walk far before the clouds came over and the weather took a bit of a turn ...
... bringing us and rain, sleet and even a little bit of the white stuff ...
Within just a few minutes the clouds had blown over and the blue sky and sunshine were back as we continued along the path following the beck towards the Cove ...
We passed the spot where the other path would have brought us and were glad with the choice we’d made as we would either have been retracing our steps or getting very wet feet ...
We were at the point where the path split ... to the left to climb the steps up to the top and straight on, continuing alongside the beck to the bottom of the huge limestone crag ...
Here the path was very close to the beck and we did our best to find a route which kept us with dry feet ...
Having had a bit of a breather we about turned and picked our way back amongst the rocks ...
... and back to the gate, which we managed to negotiate rather expertly, if I do say myself, both making it through again with no wet feet at all ...
It was then decision time ... should we go up or had we had enough ... we decided we were up for it and that we had to give it a go ...
Knowing that there were at least 400 steps I decided I was doing 50 at a time and then having a photo stop ... this was at the first 50 looking back across the valley and the path that we had followed from the village ...
Martin was already beginning to flag a bit ...
... and there were plenty more of these to climb ...
Here we are at 100 ...
... 150 ...
... 200 and Martin was really flagging , but still going ...
... 250 and over half way ... you can just see Martin coming up on this one ...
... 300 and nearly there ...
... 350 and even more nearly there ... We could see exactly how far we'd come along the path from the village on the right of the picture and how far up we'd come too ...
Finally, and pretty much knackered, with hearts pumping and legs aching we'd made it. Once we got our breath back we had chance to have a bit of a scramble and take in the limestone pavement which seems to stretch away for miles ... and the views in all directions made it well worth the climb ...
... especially looking back across the Cove towards Malham village and the way we had come ...
There was time for a few selfies and a quick refreshment break, whilst sitting to rest the aching knees...
... leaving the Cove behind us ...
There was time for a few selfies and a quick refreshment break, whilst sitting to rest the aching knees...
... before scrambling back across the clints, avoiding the grykes at all costs ...
... to start to make our way back down ...
We had both been a bit concerned that the walk back down would be tricky with our dodgy knees, but taking it steady and going sideways made it not too bad at all and, all the way, the views were a good distraction ...
We were soon back by the beck and heading back for the village ...
Before we knew it we were back at the clapper bridge by the cottage, where an easy decision for a quick call in to The Lister Arms was made ...
We thought we’d earned it ...
What a day. We were so pleased we’d made the effort, it hadn’t been easy, but we’d both managed it, though I’m sure there would be some aches and pains later 😀
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great trip!
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