Where We Walked @Catrigg Force @YorkshireDales @England #walks #photographs #memories

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This was a walk we did twice when we were in the Yorkshire Dales. The second time we were here was by accident. We got lost – surprise, surprise – and came over a hill to find us again at …

Catrigg Force … a small but impressive waterfall just east of the village of Stainforth. The first time we found it we’d actually planned to call to see it as the first part of a longer walk (more to come on that another time!)

After a snack in the local pub (called the The Craven Heifer in Stainforth – spot a theme in these posts?!!) we headed up a bridleway called Goat Lane. (not sure why it’s called that, we only saw sheep and lambs – definitely no cows… well not at this point anyway!). The track, between parallel stone walls, is a small section of the Pennine Bridleway

We meandered along the upward track for about a mile, past several derelict farm buildings, and stopping to admire the view. In the distance on the moorland, are the Winskill Stones, pedestals of limestone and topped with slate, left behind by ice-age glaciers. Finally we reached the signpost for Catrigg Foss on the left of the track.

No stile this time, a kissing gate, leading to a steep, rocky, narrow, path, down to the stream, Catrigg Beck, which flows from the hills and feeds the waterfall.

The poor quality and lack of any particular viewpoint/perspective in this photograph is because it was taken by me, on my mobile phone, while balancing on the edge of the waterfall and hanging onto a branch of a nearby tree. All without the knowledge of the photographer, who’d wandered off to find the the base of the waterfall.

I followed. Leaving the stream, I made my way down another narrow path alongside a sheer wall of limestone rock and a tree-lined drop to a deep, hidden gully that holds the waterfall and the shallow river, the continuation of Catrigg Beck. There were two separate, quite magical falls, well over six metres in height in the long wooded copse. The sprays of water, a sparkling shower of colours in the sunshine that flickered through the leaves, landed all around us. The only sounds were the waterfalls and the calls of birds. Perfect peace …

Ah well… as I said, this was only the start of a massively, more strenuous, longer walk – a longer walk, planned by the photographer, to take in the landscape from the Victoria Cave in Ribblesdale (discovered by chance in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation). This second time we were here was purely by coincidence, and at the end of a quite sedate walk … for us! We ambled through fields, back to where we were staying in a tiny cottage in Langcliffe.

By the way…

Apparently Catrigg Force was a favourite haunt of composer Edward Elgar. He visited the waterfalls and, during his visits to the Yorkshire Dales, was inspired to compose Pomp and Circumstance and the Enigma Variations, his most famous works.

Three fun facts about Elgar – Not only was he a composer, but he was also an amateur chemist. In his spare time, he would tinker with experiments. He was the first composer to fully embrace recording music. And he loved cycling. He had a Royal Sunbeam bicycle that he nicknamed ‘Mr. Phoebus. ‘

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23 thoughts on “Where We Walked @Catrigg Force @YorkshireDales @England #walks #photographs #memories”

  2. Yet more stunning pictures of equally stunning scenery. Thanks for the enlightening comments, too, Judith. I always learn something new, in addition to enjoying a part of the world I’ve never seen.

    All the stone walls amaze me. In Florida, there is NO stone, and sand makes a pretty lousy fence. 😁 But I’ve never seen walls like that in other parts of the country, either, so they always catch my eye.

    Looking forward to photos of your next easy, short, non-tiring stroll! 😂

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    • Oh, thank you, Marcia. I’ve been battling all afternoon with the Internet, but here I am! We lived in Yorkshire before we moved to Pembrokeshire, Wales, and is always our favourite place to go back to and walk there. Sometimes makes me a little homesick, even though we love it here near the sea. I’ve always loved the stone walls meandering over the hills and moorland (and always try to put them somewhere in my books!) Yes, I guess sand might be pretty useless for making fences😂. I think we did have one more ‘easy’ stroll – but the photographer does like his landscapes… from high up!!🙄😊x

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      • My internet has been down, too, Judith, and I fear it’s about to disappear again. (Black clouds and thunder are very often accompanied by power or internet problems.) Florida is basically a sandbar on top of a coral reef, so we’re lucky we have relatively firm foundations for our houses. Definitely no stone walls, though. I’ll have to get my fix from the photographer’s work, and your commentary. 😊❤️😄

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      • Sandbar and coral reefs – gorgeous though they are – I think I like stone walls best. Our internet problem isn’t due to the weather but poor broadband, which has been a nightmare lately. So glad you are joining us on our walks, though – David photographer will be so chuffed you like his photos. 🥰🥰

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  7. Pingback: Where We Walked @Catrigg Force @YorkshireDales @England #walks #photographs #memories | Judith Barrow

  8. You’re doing a better job than the Yorkshire Dales tourist board! The photo you took is pretty impressive – but I do worry about the cricumstances in which it was taken. If you’d fallen in, would you have washed up near the photographer? ! xx

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  10. Thanks for the walk, although I was panting partway through. The name of Elgar’s bicycle remains me of what the fictional Father Brown names his: Bucephalus, named after Alexander the Great’s horse.

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