Nine went to Kettlewell

The trip started well with news that the planned railstrike was cancelled – no need to worry about getting stranded in Yorkshire at the end of the weekend. Though it wouldn’t be a bad place to be stranded….

We went by train to Leeds, and then onto Skipton, finally taking a bus ‘up dale’ to Kettlewell. We had tea at Zarina’s café (reportedly highly rated by cyclists) whilst waiting for the hostel to open. Until recently the hostel was run by the YHA but it was recently put up for sale and is now owned and run as an independent hostel by a couple, Floss and Saul, who took the plunge along with their two children. The hostel was originally built as a guest house called Whernside House and has been part of the YHA for over 70 years, and since 2004 has also housed the village post office. Currently Floss and Saul appear to be running the whole enterprise including cooking and serving breakfast, dinner and packed lunches! Floss and Saul have plans to renovate the hostel in time but what the hostel lacks in finesse is more than compensated for by their friendly helpful attitude.

The next day Lynne led a walk up Buckden Pike, starting at the top end of the village. The sun shone and the birds sang, and up the hill we went, Great Whernside to our right (not the one that forms part of the Three Peaks – easy to get caught out). The paths were reasonable though towards the top we got bogged down by – well, bog! The path goes past the Polish war memorial erected in memory of five Polish airmen who died when their RAF bomber crashed on the hillside in a severe snowstorm during a training mission. The sole survivor, Joseph Fusniak, managed to crawl down the hillside despite an ankle injury, by following the tracks of a fox. (for more details and a video interview with Joseph Fusniak see  http://www.buckdenpike.co.uk/mainstory.html)

The views from the cairn at the top were fine and clear particularly westward towards Pen-y-ghent. The skylarks, peewits and curlews were still entertaining us with their song, but we also spotted a bird on the ground that looked a little lost. We got quite close and it didn’t seem to mind (later we discovered it was a dunlin).

We descended into the village of Buckden and some of us had tea – great café in a wonderful garden. Proper Yorkshire tea! The way back to Kettlewell was along the Dales Way by the river. We added more birds to our tally – dipper, swallow, swift, pied wagtails – and with the help of some twitchers - also a common sandpiper.

The next day we walked more of the Dales way, going from Kettlewell to Grassington. The day was greyer but it didn’t rain as had been threatened by all the forecasters. The path hugged the side of the ridge and gave us a fantastic view of Kilnsey Crag, much favoured by rock climbers. Grassington provided more tea and cake, and a variety of small shops to browse in. Some walked back and others caught the bus.

Before we left on Monday morning (catching the bus back to Skipton) we gathered with the villagers to watch the start of the Morris dancing event. Groups from all over the UK had come to the ‘Republic of Yorkshire’ for this event which was entertainingly compered. The final dance involved audience participation – yes reader, we joined in!!

 Jenefer S. 2nd May 2015