On the wet/frozen days when gardening is not possible, I can usually be found dressmaking or knitting or sometimes doing some embroidery. In November I wend my way to Harrogate for the Knitting and Stitching Show with my daughter. Last year we decided we would make it a two day trip. We would drive up on the Thursday and go walking, stay over and then arrive early at the show so we can have a full day of shopping. A good plan.
It was a good plan, but last year the rain was forecast to be constant on the Thursday. True to its word it was constant, it did not stop and much as I love walking and I have waterproofs, this did not feel like a fun day. So we went into Harrogate, poddled around some vintage shops and had a nice long lunch. The long lunch was an error as when we arrived at where we were staying we were too full to eat dinner and the food there was really good.
Undeterred we made the same plan for this year. The sky was mizzly grey and foreboding but by the time we arrived in Nidderdale the weather was good enough for a nice walk.
The rocks are made from millstone grit that have been moulded by wind and water over 325 million years ago. The site is now owned by the National Trust and as you can imagine people have been visiting it for centuries. It was once owned by the monks at Fountains Abbey for grazing flocks and later passed into the hands of Lord Grantley who had a house built there for people to stay in. It went through several iterations before the National Trust took it over in 1970. A key feature of visiting the rocks, as anyone would expect, was its tearooms. Sadly on the day we visited there was no tea (no cake) but it is November so I should not be that surprised.
The rocks are fabulous, they look stacked and layered. There were lots of birds, it is one of those places that you can pause and just hear quiet and birdsong.
We peered through holes,
It is all very dramatic. We mused that it must be used alot by film crews as it is so atmospheric. Very gothic, very Hound of the Baskervilles we said as we wandered around.
The views out across Nidderdale were breathtaking.
and this is the impossible 'Balancing Stone', I mean, look at it - absolutely impossible. We held our breaths as we walked past, we didn't want to be the ones that caused it to topple.
