Wensleydale...

Yesterday I ventured up to Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park - James Herriot country. It was a sad day because I had just had news of my Auntie Margaret's death and that shadowed my view of the countryside. I drove north-west to Leyburn and then west to Hawes, returning to Aysgarth to walk past the Asygarth falls towards Castle Bolton.

This is typical of the landscape with its soft, end-of-winter muted colours...

Here are the ubiquitous dry-stone walls with Castle Bolton in the distance...

I was intrigued by the narrow gaps in the stone walls that provided access for walkers and featured flap gates to prevent stock from straying...

Faintly, on the horizon of this last photo, you can see smoke. It seemed they were burning off heather on the moors. There were a number of fires and, as I left the Dales the plumes of smoke could be seen from a great distance. It reminded me of Canterbury burn-offs.

While walking I met yet another Yorkshire lass, from Ripon, who had recently spent five weeks travelling in New Zealand and loving it. Are there any Yorkshire people who have not been to New Zealand or who do not at the very least have a family member who has???