{"id":340,"date":"2011-02-26T00:33:46","date_gmt":"2011-02-26T00:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=340"},"modified":"2011-04-29T20:16:38","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T20:16:38","slug":"gordale-scar-and-malham-cove-n-yorks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=340","title":{"rendered":"Gordale Scar and Malham Cove, N. Yorks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Show me a more photogenic or perfectly set village in the Yorkshire Dales than Malham, and I&#8217;ll personally jump with a pair of water wings from the top of Malham Cove.<br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.onload = setupZoom; function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk;\nvar walkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=700,width=800,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script>First published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('GordaleScar.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4093\/5436128968_d9a21547e2.jpg\" title='Gordale Scar from bottom'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4093\/5436128968_d9a21547e2_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5019\/5435519925_f9cb4cc4b1.jpg\" title='Gordale Scar looking south from above the lower fall'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5019\/5435519925_f9cb4cc4b1_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5219\/5435520047_941f610367.jpg\" title='Dry Valley'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5219\/5435520047_941f610367_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4100\/5436129248_7b9ddcebe8.jpg\" title='Approaching Gordale Scar'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4100\/5436129248_7b9ddcebe8_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5096\/5436129404_ff6b684106.jpg\" title='Janet&#039;s Foss'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5096\/5436129404_ff6b684106_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5013\/5435520369_a060e1f8e1.jpg\" title='Malham'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5013\/5435520369_a060e1f8e1_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5214\/5435520477_83c27c5b09.jpg\" title='Malham Tarn'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5214\/5435520477_83c27c5b09_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=340\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\nThis gorgeous sunny morning laid special glory on the neat stone cottages, the bird-haunted gardens and the stone bridges across Malham Beck. I was already entranced as I struck out through the pastures on the paved path to Janet\u2019s Foss. \u2018Nice day for a walk,\u2019 said the farmer mending his field wall in outsize flat cap and rubber boots. \u2018Lord, didn\u2019t the rain half come last night! We could do with it, mind. Going up Gordale? That\u2019s quite a climb. Lovely day for it, though \u2013 wish I was coming with you!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In a narrow, tree-shaded cleft the waterfall of Janet\u2019s Foss sluiced down a mossy slide in twin tails of white water. Beyond the foss the jaws of Gordale Scar opened \u2013 steep slopes rising to sheer crags of jagged pale grey limestone 500 feet tall. The Scar is a vast cave, burrowed out by raging floodwaters at the end of the last Ice Age. The roof collapsed, leaving a giant chasm twisted into the body of the Dales.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019re not sure about the climb,\u2019 ruefully opined a couple, returning crestfallen from the depth of the Scar. But it proved a sheep in lion\u2019s clothing, an upward scramble beside a jutting cataract and through an upper chamber choked with striated boulders where another fall tumbled in lacy folds from a crack in the dark walls overhead. No wonder Gothic painters and poets loved Gordale Scar \u2013 in those awe-inspiring depths it\u2019s only natural to picture the Devil creating the chasm with a thunderous stamp of his cloven hoof.<\/p>\n<p>At the top of the gorge I came out into wide, windy uplands striped with stone walls and pale terraces of naked stone, where Malham Tarn lay flat and steely. Here I turned back along the Pennine Way, through the high cleft of Dry Valley to reach the crazed limestone pavement at the rim of Malham Cove. The eerie metallic squeak of a peregrine echoed from the enormous amphitheatre of the Cove, a towering limestone cliff, all that remains of an ancient waterfall higher than Niagara. As a coda for this walk of natural extravagance and superlatives, it couldn\u2019t have been better.<\/p>\n<p><B>Start &amp; finish<\/B>: Buck Inn,<br \/>\nMalham, N. Yorks BD23 4DA (OS ref SD 901627).<\/p>\n<p><B>Getting there<\/B>: <\/p>\n<p><B>Train<\/B>: (<FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.thetrainline.com\/\">www.thetrainline.com<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>; <FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.railcard.co.uk\/\">www.railcard.co.uk<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>) to Gargrave (7 miles)<br \/>\n<B>Bus<\/B>: Dales Bus (<FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.dalesbus.org\/malham.html\">http:\/\/www.dalesbus.org\/malham.html<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>) service 210, 211 from Skipton<br \/>\n<B>Road<\/B>: Malham is signed off A65 at Gargrave, between Skipton and Settle.<\/p>\n<p><B>Walk<\/B> (7\u00bd miles,<br \/>\nmoderate\/hard, OS Explorer OL2): Leaving Buck Inn, right for 30m,<br \/>\nleft by Malham Smithy across beck, right along far bank. In \u00bc mile,<br \/>\nleft past Mires Barn (902624, \u2018Janet\u2019s Foss\u2019) on path by<br \/>\nMantley Field Laithe and Janet\u2019s Foss (911633). At road, right; in<br \/>\n200m left (913635, \u2018Gordale Scar\u2019) to Gordale Scar. At first fall<br \/>\n(915641), climb to left of fall (see note, below). In upper chamber,<br \/>\nclimb on left side to top. Ahead to cross wall stile (914643); keep<br \/>\nahead with wall on right. Pass tree; in 100m, path bears away from<br \/>\nwall for \u00bd mile to meet road wall (906652). Right along wall for \u00bc<br \/>\nmile to Street Gate (905656). Left over wall stile; ahead to road<br \/>\nsign; right (National Trust notice: \u2018No Cars\u2019) on gravel road for<br \/>\n\u2154 mile to gate (898664). Left on Pennine Way\/PW (fingerpost) over<br \/>\nridge to car park (894658). Right along road for 50m; left (PW,<br \/>\n\u2018Malham Cove\u2019) on path to Comb Hill (892648). Down Dry Valley<br \/>\n(894646 &#8211; marked \u2018Watlowes\u2019 on OS Explorer); right across<br \/>\nlimestone pavement on rim of Malham Cove (897641). At far side,<br \/>\nthrough wall by kissing gate and down steep steps to foot of cliff<br \/>\n(897639); follow path back to Malham.<\/p>\n<p><B>NB<\/B>: Online maps, more walks: www.christophersomerville.co.uk.<\/p>\n<p><B>Please note: <\/B>Slippery sections include Janet\u2019s Foss, Gordale Scar, Dry Valley,<B> <\/B>Malham Cove limestone pavement. Many steps down Malham Cove.<\/p>\n<p><B>Gordale Scar<\/B>: Moderate rock scramble by fall; plenty of hand and foot holds. NO experience needed \u2013 but if in doubt, don\u2019t do it! Climb at your own risk. Signposted detour from road at Gordale Bridge to top of Malham Cove.<\/p>\n<p><B>Lunch<\/B>: Buck Inn, Malham (01729-830317; <FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.buckinmalham.co.uk\/\">www.buckinnmalham.co.uk<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>)<\/p>\n<p><B>Accommodation<\/B>: Buck Hall, Malham (01729-830332; <FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.beckhallmalham.com\/\">www.beckhallmalham.com<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>)<\/p>\n<p><B>More info<\/B>: Skipton and Craven TIC, Coach Street, Skipton (01756-792809); <FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.yorkshiredalesandharrogate.com\/\">www.yorkshiredalesandharrogate.com<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>;<\/p>\n<p><FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.ramblers.org.uk\/\">www.ramblers.org.uk<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>;<br \/>\n<FONT COLOR=\"#0000ff\"><U><A CLASS=\"western\" HREF=\"http:\/\/www.satmap.com\/\">www.satmap.com<\/A><\/U><\/FONT>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Show me a more photogenic or perfectly set village in the Yorkshire Dales than Malham, and I&#8217;ll personally jump with a pair of water wings from the top of Malham Cove.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}