Malham Cove, Ingleton Falls, Yorkshire

Looking over towards Seat
House Farm site.

Right: A tight fit
over Stainforth Bridge

Click on pics to enlarge
There are so many lovely places in Yorkshire and it's difficult to single out places to mention but here I have chosen to feature the areas of Malham Cove, and Ingleton Falls.

There are two sites we have stayed at in this area, both quite different, Knight Stainforth Hall at Settle being quite a large, busy site but our favourite, Seat House Farm, Gargrave, in contrast a small site which takes only five vans in the field we were in. The one thing they both had in common was that they both had stunning views.
We have been to Ingleton Falls a couple of times, it is that beautiful we would visit again, we walked all the way around the waterfalls which is around 4 miles. The climb at first is a steep, steady one with view points at each waterfall which has it's own name, the pathway intertwines through woodland at places and then opens out at the top with fantastic views. Each waterfall is unique some in which you can have a paddle, always a favourite with Lucy, and some where you can even venture behind the water, as our friend Paul did at ' Thorntons Force'.

Right; Pecca falls
Left; The approach to Thorntons Force
Below; Paul behind the water





Another Favourite of ours is Malham cove, formed from a waterfall after the last ice age, the landscape is facinatinating which makes the climb well worth it.

Walking from Malham village the pathway winds along and when the cove comes in to view it always takes my breath away, the climb to the top is very steep and this part does literally take my breath away. Once at the top it was time to sit and take in the views, the limestone pavement is like no where else I have seen before, the limestone is channeled with some really deep crevices where water once flowed. It has to be crossed with care and Lucy had to stay on the lead for fear of her falling into somewhere and not getting out plus there is a sheer drop from the top of the cove.


Our walked continued over the top and across the fields winding through rock formations and a short detour, walking along side a pretty stream to Gordale scar then across to 'Janet's foss' water fall. I love this place there is a peaceful calm air about it and on a bright day the sunlight streams through the trees and dances on the water. Janet is said to be the queen of the local fairies and they are supposed to live behind the waterfall, I like this story and would like to believe it to be true.
The route took us back to Malham village where we got a welcome cup of tea, I guess it would be around 4 to 5 miles in total. We have done this walk twice now and next time we said we will do it the other way round, so that way we will come down the cove and not up, ......that will be a treat lol.

Above; the limestone pavement on top of Malham cove

Right; the view from the cove
Above left; Janet's foss

Seat House Farm Gargrave.

A small site which also does bed and breakfast, the toilet and shower facilities are spotless, the views are wonderful and there were some lovely skies whilst we were there.
We went with friends and were able to pitch our vans how ever we chose, the grass was short and the ground level.
The site is a caravan club C.L (certificated location) which only takes five vans at one time.

'Nightmare in Yorkshire' !

One night whilst at Seat house farm site, we had an idea to play a prank on our friends, this particular night we were the only ones on the site.
We waited until they went to bed and their lights were out, Al dressed up with a mask that we quickly made and he put a black top over his head, we were in hysterics it's a wonder they didn't hear us laughing. I guided him over to their caravan, it was pitch black and we couldn't see a thing, he shone the torch at his face and knocked on the window, a few minutes after looking out we heard Paul shout in a worried voice, f*** off or I'm calling the cops. We knocked again and could hear muffled voices , we were in fits of laughter and after a while they realised it was us but not before it had scared the living daylights out of them. They said they were discussing what they should do as they didn't have a mobile signal to call anyone, a good thing for us because we would have looked pretty stupid had the police turned up.
It was all taken in good fun and turned out to be a good laugh and a talking point for some time.



Points out of 10

Area 9
site 8
pitch 8
Facilities 10

ENTERTAINMENT............. 11