Having picked up a car from Birmingham the remaining stops in our grand tour will be short and sweet, and the aim is to make the blog posts similar.
We chose Hawes as it is a quintessentially Yorkshire Village close to another fabled walking path, the Pennine Way. The Yorkshire Dales is my favourite area of England with its rolling green hills criss-crossed by stone walls and hedgerows, dotted with stone cottages and farm buildings. There is also a special quality to the light from the interplay of sunlight and clouds on the hills.
On the first night after a wander through the streets, which are configured in a one-way loop round the village centre, we settled into the Fountain pub for some good English pub grub and ale. There were four pubs lined up on the same side of the main street but the Fountain was showing day 4 of the Ashes on TV, so it was an easy choice.
On the morning of our second and only full day in Hawes we wandered in light drizzle around a market in the middle of town. From there we took a short walk to the Wensleydale Cheese factory for a tour and tasting. The brand’s profile skyrocketed in 1996 when the producers of the brilliant claymation cartoon Wallace and Gromit decided to give Wallace a Wensleydale Cheese addiction. Since then the series and the cheese have become virtually synonymous, with posters and statues of Wallace and Gromit (and their evil penguin nemesis Feathers McGraw) prominent in the visitors’ centre. I also learned how they make cheese, long overdue as like Wallace, I’m addicted to the stuff.
In the afternoon we drove through spectacular countryside to the unpromisingly named Buttertubs. The limestone walls of these deep ravines were eroded by rainwater acids over thousands of years. The origin of the name is uncertain, but it is believed that merchants on long journeys lowered butter into the ravines to keep it cool. Interesting, but the road was a bit winding and hair-raising, especially in the wet. We also checked out the Hardraw Force waterfall via a tranquil rain-forested loop walk that reminded us of Dunedin’s Ross Creek.
The rain cleared late in the day, so I went for a walk/run on the Pennine Way, which runs just north of the village. Conditions were perfect, warm and still. I took an out-and-back route over two hours through classic Dales country. Having sampled other epic walks such as the Cotswold Way and the West Highland Way, I pondered how amazing it would be to string all the great pathways together and walk the length of Britain. A great idea, perhaps, had I not made a solemn promise that this long-hauler would be our last.😊
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