We had to get up incredibly early on our first day as we knew it would take a while to get ready to leave and, because the golds were walking the same way for quite a while we were told they had to leave half an hour before us. We agreed because we knew they had a longer day ahead of them and needed to get started earlier however, it was very frustrating because in the end we were ready to go way before they were and we ended up waiting about at about 7am- not very fun when you know you could have had an extra few minutes in bed! We did eventually get started though and the picture on the front of the project is us just before leaving- looking clean, reasonably cheerful, if a little sleepy!
We set off and it was hard to get started- straight up Pen-y-Ghent! We weren’t used to the rucksacks yet and it seemed like the hardest thing in the world. It was made even more difficult by the fact that navigation was a bit tricky up the first bit- we took what we thought was the right way however, when we spotted the golds coming back towards us we soon realized that it was not right and we too turned back with them. We walked together for a small distance until our routes separated- and theirs went downwards while ours was straight up! As we went we could hear them laughing at us but we had the last laugh in the end when they returned from their walk on the last day! When we reached the top of that hill we were delighted- until we looked up and realized we had another long way to go before reaching the top of Pen-y-Ghent! We just carried on steadily until we saw some familiar faces- Val, Jan, Meriel, Adam and a few others. It’s always nice to see a familiar face when your on a walk- it sometimes feels very lonely apart from your group! They told us to keep on going as we were doing OK and we did! It got very cold and windy up the top but we found a nice sheltered spot behind a wall to have lunch.
On the way down it was very rocky and almost like a climb but me and Erin both decided it was quite fun to climb down and once we got down there the walk was reasonably easy to get to our campsite however, when you can see your campsite it always seems like forever until you actually get there and often the last little bit seems like the longest!
We eventually made it to our campsite and were overjoyed- not only were we early by about two hours, we also were on a gorgeous campsite- very posh, with nice showers and a river with a waterfall down the bottom. We decided to pitch our tents and then just relax for a bit until Val and the others arrived and it was lovely just to lie in our tents eating chocolate and playing cards
When everybody did arrive we were all set up with our Trangeas ready to go so that Meriel could see us cook- Beanfeast and Supernoodles and chocolate angel whirl. I made the angel whirl and I was very proud- it actually was OK, which is unusual for me! After dinner we all went to take advantage of the wonderful shower block and then we went down to the river to paddle about- most people waded around in the water but I was way too cold for that!
After that we had a sit on the swings and then it was time for bed-we were shattered and had another hard day tomorrow!
We woke up just about on time on the second day and I was remarkably not grumpy which is very strange for me- I am the worst morning person in the whole world! While Erin cooked breakfast we got ready and put down tents but we were still a bit late leaving the campsite- but not too bad! We left the campsite and found our path, which was signposted through a field. As it was signposted we knew we were allowed to walk there so we climbed over the stile. We saw there were cows but didn’t really think twice- a very stupid mistake! As we walked we could see them looking at us and, they started to walk towards us. All I remember is Erin saying the words “Stay calm, don’t run, and don’t panic” and pointing towards the nearest gate. As we got near to the gate they started charging at us- first slowly but getting faster. I was the last to climb over the fence and I struggled to climb over with my backpack on- that was when Erin started shouting ‘ROISIN, HURRY UP!” When I finally climbed over, I realized just how close the cows were- they were all still staring at us- and I was so scared of them after that!
We had to divert our route by quite a lot because every time we wanted to get back onto our path, there was a field full of cows and our whole group now had a major fear of cows! We eventually found a field with just cows and no bulls and decided we had to go for it. Much as we were petrified we made it through and back onto our route over towards Feizor. As we walked past the falconry centre we saw Chris and some others who were going in to see the birds and we popped over to say hello! We had to carry on though but we saw some birds being carried past the centre- made us want to go in and see them properly! We carried on through the fields and we hit some with cows in but after our last field our confidence was up and we opened the gate and began to walk. We got about a quarter of the way across the field when they started to charge- about 30 cows all charging at us very fast! We skipped the “Don’t Panic” idea and began to run back towards the gate. That was really scary and we all were very worried that we wouldn’t make it out in time as the cows could run a lot faster than we could- they didn’t have packs on their backs! We did make it out without any injuries but ducked behind a wall because the fence was very unstable and if the cows weren’t so unintelligent they would have run through it in a second. It was then that we also realized Frankie had dropped one of the maps- the map with our route cards and health information in its case! She decided she was going to go back and get it but after much begging to her she realized that it was perhaps not the best idea!
We didn’t know what to do about this map so we thought we should see if we could find the farmer and ask them to help us however we knew how close Chris and Jan were so Erin and Mia went back to ask them if we should find the farmer- they agreed that we should. As we walked along the road we walked past a nice, big house with a lady gardening outside- Mia took a chance and asked her if she knew the farmer- and she did- it was her! It was so lucky that we asked her and she very kindly offered to take Mia and Erin back to the fields with her so they can get our map back! We got it back and sat outside the front of her garden to have lunch. Unfortunately, Frankie asked me to throw her the tube of cheese spread, which I did however, I have a very poor aim and as I heard the spread splash when it hit the water down the drain, I knew I was going to get shouted at! We only had one tube left for the rest of today and the next- oops!
The rest of our day was spent finding alternative paths away from cow fields and unfortunately we ended up walking down a lot of road!
As we were walking down our last stretch of road before we hit the campsite we saw a car- I, being very unobservant ignored it and carried on but luckily Mia pointed out that it was Chris! She was pleased we were nearly there as we were a bit late but it’s always nice for that last bit of encouragement! When we got to the campsite we were exhausted and late- a very different arrival to the day before as Meriel and Adam were already there. We had to crack on and get our tents up and cook as soon as possible before it got dark. After tea and a couple of games of Uno, we were fit for nothing but sleep and had another nice early night!
We woke up a bit later on our last morning but got ready to leave much more quickly than the day before. We set off reasonably on time and had a nice gentle walk down through Clapham. We had to go under a very dark bridge at one point, which was so freaky we all got our torches out of our packs! We then started the climb up towards Long Scar. It was a long walk along a ridge, which never seemed to end but it did and we found ourselves heading downwards in reasonably good time. We were doing well until we hit the farms! That was when we got muddled and once again- cows appeared! We got confused as to which path we were supposed to be taking and took what we thought to be correct, which we soon realized wasn’t however; we found out how to get back onto route and did so. We were very careful before going into any fields and did a full on ‘cow check’ before each one which seemed to be working OK until we got halfway across a very large field and noticed two cows on the other side. I will admit we were getting a bit excessive when we panicked over two cows that hadn’t even spotted us but we panicked and went for the nearest gate. This took us out onto a road, which we realized took us straight into Selside-, which, luckily, was where we were headed so after about five minutes on the road we hit Selside and stopped for lunch.
With very little cheese spread lunch wasn’t particularly appetizing but I decided I better not complain, and waited till everyone else had filled their Pitta bread with cheese spread before I took any! It was then that Meriel and Adam appeared from round a corner and explained that they had just walked out route backwards- and there were two unavoidable cow fields- we were going to have to face the phobia! So, pretty soon we cracked on and started to make our way along our route. It started off OK with a clear path and reasonably easy walking however, as we started to head in the direction of base camp along the Pennine Way, the walking suddenly got a lot harder! The weather started to close in on us, we were on top of a hill where it was raining and windy and, to add to the fun- there, straight ahead, was a cow field, with the cows right by the gate!
We knew we had to go through it so we just had to hope for the best. We slowly worked our way across the field but soon realized that not all cows were violent and that these mummy cows just wanted to look after their babies- we were so relieved! From then, we could see base camp and we knew where we were- they weather was still horrible but the end was in sight! As we walked along the road towards the campsite, there were the silver boys, by the payphone- we were so happy to see them and it was tempting to stop but we knew it wasn’t over until we hit base camp-, which we soon did! We were tired and wet and sat down for a nice cup of hot chocolate and a rest! As much fun as the expeditions are- its always nice when you’ve finished!
Tourism is very popular in Yorkshire and one of their main attractions is the Dales as it draws walkers from all over the country and beyond. The views are amazing and they are the type that you can only find in a few places. There are a range of places to stay and in the county of Yorkshire there is everything from the coast to the countryside, from the villages to the cities.
There are many tourist attractions in Yorkshire such as castles, waterfalls and other specially built tourist attractions such as the falconry centre near Giggleswick which we saw along our walk. There are many attractions for visitors in the small area of Yorkshire that we walked alone and these include “Horses Health Farm” which is aiming to attract a specific type of tourist and, as previously mentioned “Yorkshire Dales Falconry & Conservation Centre” which will attract a wide range of visitors from families on their annual holiday to walkers on their break from the range of walks on the Dales.
Walking In Yorkshire
One of the main attractions of Yorkshire is the walking especially as the Dales are not the only national park in the area- there are two others; the Peak District and the North York Moors and between these three parks they protect more than 1000 square miles of walking country. This is enough for any walker with the walks ranging from nice leisurely strolls to strenuous treks. Yorkshire has its own part of the tourist board, which specializes in walking- “Walk Yorkshire”, and I doubt this is something we’d find in Buckinghamshire! In particular, Yorkshire has 3 National trails which are “The Wolds Way,” “The Cleveland Way,” and “The Pennine Way” which is one of the most walked routes in England which, in full stretches right from Derbyshire to over the Scottish border!
However, there are not only these large trails for walkers to travel and many various sources publish leaflets and books about walks that can be done such as in leaflet A (see leaflet page) which, strangely enough is published by Arriva Trains. This just shows how all sorts of industries, including transport, rely on tourism to help keep business going. There is also a website which is put online by “Walk Yorkshire” which has 42 possible routes to walk in Yorkshire, each graded in difficulty going from 1, which is “just for fun” and is less than 3 miles with no difficult obstacles, to 5, which is “Hill Challenge” which is likely to reach high altitudes, exposed dangers and in winter would require specialist skills and equipment- I’m guessing a D of E walk would be about a 4, looking at the scale provided! This is a very good was of making walking accessible to all sorts of people, including families and people who are not familiar with walking in hilly areas.
Other Sorts Of Tourist Attractions In Yorkshire
There are all sorts of other tourist attractions in The Yorkshire Dales, ranging from Caves to Health Farms and from Flower Shows to Bike Shows, which appeal to all different sorts of people and age ranges. One of Yorkshire’s main selling points is also the number of things, which have been filmed there such as Last of The Summer Wine. The Yorkshire tourist board suggests things fans of the programme could do in the area to make up a pleasant holiday. There is also a large amount of heritage in Yorkshire, and you can see an example of this in leaflets B & C. In the Yorkshire Dales, caves and natural landforms such as waterfalls are very big tourist attractions and you can see an example in leaflets D & E. E is a very good example as it is for the Ingleton Waterfalls walk, which shows how walking and other types of tourist attractions can be combined to appeal to more people. Finally, I have included a leaflet provided by , which is a general leaflet about Settle, which was where our base camp was and, why it attracts to tourists. This is leaflet F.
Overall, I have learnt that the Yorkshire Dales is a very good place to go on holiday and for tourists as there is a lot to see and do and the choice of activities is very widely varied to suit everybody. It is clear that a large amount of Yorkshire’s income comes from tourism and therefore people there go out of their way to make visitors’ stay a good one.
I really enjoyed my week in Yorkshire and I think it was a very worthwhile thing to have done because I learnt many new things and fulfilled all of my purposes. It also showed me how much stronger I have become as, until this expedition I have not been on an expedition where I did not cry and one point of another- usually due to sheer exhaustion! However, this time I enjoyed it much more and was much more relaxed about the whole thing, which made it much more like a holiday than a chore!
When I go on my next expedition I would like to develop my map reading skills even more, as although I’m improving, I still made a few errors! I would also like to do an exploration with less walking and more time to look around and investigate the area, as this interests me more than doing even more walking!
My clothing and equipment was all suitable for the expedition and I was particularly pleased with my new platypus because although it may not seem like a big thing, I seemed to get more thirsty than others usually- probably because I am still very unfit however, with a platypus I don’t have to slow everyone down like I did before and I can just drink while walking!
Most of the time our group got on very well, apart from on one day where me and Frankie disagreed over some map reading and we both got a bit stressed out for a few hours afterwards however, by the evening we had sorted our problems out and it was a combination of a personality clash and the stress of both of us trying our hardest to navigate correctly but I think it would be unusual for a group to agree on everything all the time.
It was a really good expedition and now I am looking forward to getting onto gold, even if I do have to wait a year to even start because of my birthday, I am planning to keep in practice by manning base camps in the mean time!
