Over Hill & Dale
Every Sunday morning should taste this good. We both agreed these were quite possibly the best pancakes we’ve ever tasted. The menu description was American-style pancakes, berry compote, oat yoghurt, & agave syrup.
My smashed avocado, smoky cured carrot, & rocket. Somehow the carrot really works!
A pre-hike mocha in the hotel’s snug. The wood paneling is inscribed with the date 1689.
Rub the turtle’s head for good luck on the hike.
Those clever, clever Brits.
A glorious Sunday in the Dales.
For I have learned
To look on nature….And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused…
—William Wordsworth
Nearly to our destination.
Janet’s Foss—According to legend, the waterfall is named after a Queen of the Fairies who was reputed to live in a small cave located right behind the cascading water. Foss is an old English word for a waterfall or a section of a river where the water drops over rocks.
Janet’s Foss was the location used to film the scene where Helen happened upon James wild swimming under the waterfall.
We did another hike on Monday with Amanda playing the role of Helen.
We then followed the stream path back into the village…
…finding this delightful little forager along the way.
The 2.5 mile loop with Amanda apparently wasn't enough for me, so I headed out on my own 4.5 mile odyssey with my first destination being Gordale Scar.
Over the last one and a half million years, Malham has been covered by at least three great sheets of ice. Each time these glaciers melted, huge torrents of water poured off the plateau above Gordale, scouring away the rock. Ice & rain further eroded the limestone, producing the extraordinary chasm that we see today.
Looking out of the canyon back toward the trailhead takes your breath away.
On the trail to the top of Malham Cove. Beck Hall sits in the grove of trees near the center of the image.
Amanda’s idea of how to spend the second half of the afternoon—hygge!
Reaching the top of Malham Cove.
What a view!
The glaciers that created Malham Cove also helped form the barren rocky landscape on top of it. The famous limestone pavement of the Yorkshire Dales National Park was scraped bare by the ice over 12,000 years ago. Since then, slightly acidic rainwater has dissolved the rock away along faults and cracks.
Swinging “kissing gates” are a favourite way of crossing boundaries along England’s footpaths. A little more fun are step stiles—essentially wooden ladders built over dry-stone walls. But my absolute favourite are the stone steps that neatly protrude from either side of the wall, creating a wonderfully fun way to cross.
Those steps took me to Yarnthawe Barn, which was used during filming of All Creatures Great and Small due to the dramatic backdrop of Malham Cove in the distance.
How could you not fall instantly in love with The Yorkshire Dales?!
For dinner I had the Casear-Style Salad with romaine, crispy tofu, avocado, fried capers, multigrain croutons, crispy kale, & cashew parmesan. It may be hard to believe, but the crispy kale was a delicious treat.
Amanda had the Korean Rice Bowl with gochujang chilli ginger chicken, soy beans, roasted sweet potato, kohlrabi slaw, crisp shallots, & charred red pepper mayo. We’re both obsessed with the gochujang sauce!
For dessert, we shared a chocolate bread-and-butter pudding with salted caramel sauce & vanilla-pod ice cream—the perfect ending to a deeply enjoyable Sunday surrounded by the glorious beauty of nature.
What a lucky woman getting to wake up to this every morning! 🍀
And I’m the luckiest man alive! 💕 💗
We haven’t shown them before, but we each enjoyed a flaky & fluffy pain au chocolat from the breakfast bar each morning.
Like the tide to the moon, Amanda was helplessly drawn again to the pancakes.
For me, variety is the spice of life, so for this Monday morning I was drawn to the sausage & scrambled tofu sourdough bap. (In the UK, a bap is a soft, round bread roll that is typically spilt in half & filled with savory items like bacon, sausage, or fried eggs.) I asked for a side of their stellar charred red pepper mayo—yum!
After breakfast we drove up the famous Malham Rakes (a rake is a steep narrow track up a hillside), past Malham Tarn (a tarn is a small mountain lake or pool, usually formed by glacial activity), & along this impressive northern ridge line of a glaciated dale (a dale is a valley). The park’s dales were formed by ancient glaciers carving deep U-shaped & V-shaped valleys into upland limestone & gritstone—creating the stunning landscape.
The village of Arncliffe below sits at the intersection of two perpendicular glaciated dales.
Though we had visited Arncliffe before, we had missed that this house was used to film the “back” of the veterinary surgery from All Creatures Great and Small.
The property name is Carr Farm.
Looking inside the small barn.
Near the entrance of St Oswald's Church are these remarkably well-preserved old village stocks. They retain the original wooden frame, the iron locking mechanism, & even the small stone stool where the accused would sit while restrained. These were used for centuries to punish minor offenses, such as public drunkenness or vagrancy. Offenders were locked by their ankles in full view of passers-by.
An intricate Celtic cross in the St Oswald's Churchyard.
Amanda with the tranquil River Skirfare running behind the church.
When we returned from our drive to Arncliffe, there were cows on the hill crest above the hotel. They are fans of the hotel’s vegan ethos.
After our drive, we decided to read our books by the fire in the hotel’s snug. I had my mocha & we shared a little slice of million-dollar tart heaven.
In the afternoon we took a four-mile walk so Amanda could enjoy Gordale Scar & the waterfalls. We crossed this adorable bridge along the way.
Us at the Gordale Scar waterfalls.
We’re really going to miss these views!
After our hike, we made tea and returned to the snug to sit & read by the fire. Amanda started her new book Theodora’s Tea Shop.
I continued reading the new memoir from Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears.
For our final dinner we had this flavorful sweet potato & ginger soup—so great, especially on this misty evening.
Amanda had the Caesar salad I had last night. I had the plant beef & Guinness suet pud, with beetroot & potato gratin, seasonal greens, & proper gravy.
The crust was made of polenta.
Raspberry & Elderflower cheesecake, with butter biscuit base, elderflower gel, dried raspberries, & honeycomb. It was more mousse-like, which was great because we couldn’t have managed a heavy cheesecake. And so, regrettably, our three-week food-porn channel comes to a close!
