Friday
By lunchtime our jolly little band had assembled in a large field at Redmire. Nick and Margaret, our caterers for the weekend, provided an excellent lunch, after which we headed off with the Pixies to Castle Bolton.
The village is dominated by Bolton Castle! Home of medieval banquets.
After a visit to the Castle and a stroll in the gardens during which some got lost in a maze and I managed to pull a muscle during a vineyard race, we returned via a southerly route.
This path revealed that it would be unwise to be reincarnated as a mole hereabouts.
Alastair and Sue, with assistance from assorted Pixies, managed to combine their culinary and pyromaniacal tendencies to assist with the catering, though we did think it rather unfair on Margaret that she was shrunk and magiced by her devious son into the bubbling pot.
Luckily she survived the ordeal and our resident magician converted the pan’s contents to ‘diced brains’. They tasted much like potatoes.
Saturday
Some of the brains survived until the following morning, when breakfast could be described as ‘sumptuous’.
Morning exercise was up nearby Penhill, which emerged from the mist as we ascended, taking late evasive action to avoid an imminent volley of bullets that would no doubt accompany a fast approaching line of ‘beaters’.
We had forgotten that this was the first weekend after ‘the glorious twelfth’. That explains the early morning baying of hounds…
A couple of cows took refuge on the campsite. They were remarkably clean!
The afternoon saw us transported to the mysterious world of Forbidden Corner, “a unique labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises created in a four acre garden in the heart of Tupgill Park and the Yorkshire Dales. The temple of the underworld, the eye of the needle, a huge pyramid made of translucent glass, paths and passages that lead nowhere, extraordinary statues - at every turn there are decisions to make and tricks to avoid.”
Here, the Pixies chuckle at those progressing down a deceptively narrowing pathway.
The garden sported a profusion of flowers, and ice creams.
After another fiery cooking session, copious quantities of red wine, and the sleep of the contented, we woke on Sunday morning to Alastair’s tending of a roaring fire below a ‘full English’.
The cows soon abandoned the camp site, then the rest of us strolled off to explore the banks of the River Ure around Redmire Force, part of which can be seen below. It’s just a little down river from Aysgarth Falls.
Here’s where we spent the weekend….
… we walked all of 10 km!
The sunny afternoon continued into the evening, when, after a pleasant journey home via Wharfedale, we enjoyed a stroll to Marsland Bridge with Julia, who was on holiday here in Timperley.
The above images are just a small selection from the weekend, the participants of which (and anyone else interested) can view a full set of about 80 images, including many from Forbidden Corner, here.
9 comments:
Altogether now, '10 dead mo-oles hanging on the fence, 10 dead mo-oles hanging on the fence - and if one dead mo-ole should accidentally fall, there'd be 9 dead mo-oles hanging on the fence...'
Haha, nice one...
Looks like you had a great time. Like the image of the ye olde boil in the bag. Just kidding.
The tent with cows on! Yes like that too. And behind that is the latest Cuben offering from Terra Nova i presume.
A message for Margaret:
"Hoping you can take the joke(s)!"
Yes, Alan, you can see we have been testing all the latest tent technology, including a fine example from Terra Nova, who I have to thank for recently re-taping and guying the old Phreerunner, which should last a little while yet. [Sadly TN say they have no plans for a one-man single skin breathable tent. I think the lightweight brigade (the vocal minority) prefer two layers of fabric dripping with condensation, to one slightly heavier breathable skin offering far more space inside and with no condensation. It doesn't help that some of the lightweight fanatics are in denial about the existence of a lightweight breathable tent!]
Are you still seeing the pixies?
Are they still everywhere?
Have you got your medication?
word = middl very lib-dem.....
Oh you lucky people! Whafedale, Castle Bolton, Aysgarth, ooo, you've just taken me back about thirty years! Wonderful area.
Yes, sorry about the wee joke, i just couldn't avoid it.
Thats great the tent has had a new lease of life. Thats good of TN to do it for you.
I'm with you on the tent saga as you know. I'm sure there must be one in the USA somewhere. One day soon maybe.
No wonder you are so active all the time, you'd need to be eating breakfasts like that! Shocking!
Why do farmers do that with Moles? Never quite understood it?
Hey Mike, in days to come, A + K may wonder why their mum referred to them as such...
...but 'The Pixies' are alive and well and may well reappear on these pages very soon.
Alan, I think we should be looking to source that tent in Europe, not the USA, where they manufacture for a different climate. Anyway, the Phreerunner is fine for a while, the Nallo is in good nick, the Hyperspace is 'awesome' as they say, and if all else fails I still have a sturdy Karrimor tent to fall back on (the lightest of the lot at 1550 gm)
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