Walk with me in the Yorkshire Dales
Hello, my name is Marion, and I LOVE living in the Yorkshire Dales, and I am going to share some of the things I like best with you. Follow me as we wander about looking at lovely things.
Now the winter is over I am out walking again, so will update these pages with new walks. Keep coming back to see where I go.
I am going to take you on a walk from Marske in Swaledale to Orgate and back, are you ready ? It isn't very far, just a couple of miles. You will need walking boots. We will start at St Edmund's Church in Marske, it is a very special place. Some of my ancestors married here, and some are buried in the churchyard.
St Edmund's Church, Marske in Swaledale
Now we are going to walk up to Clints and go through the woods. If you come in February the woods are full of snowdrops. Before the leaves open you notice how beautiful the bark is on the trees, and the variety of colours and textures, trees are wonderful.
This is Pussy Willow, when I was young we cut these twigs on Palm Sunday, and called them palms. I have no idea why !
There is an enormous tree which has split in half revealing this hollow. The fallen half of the tree is just as large as that remaining.
tiny flowers of barren strawberry
gorse
primroses
Dry stone walls enclose fields and mark boundaries all over the Yorkshire Dales, and have a beauty all of their own.
I would love to know how to identify the different lichens and mosses, there are so many.
When you come out of the woods, walk beside the dry stone wall to Orgate Farm, then turn left down a farm track until you cross the beck. Turn right upstream and you will see Orgate Force through the trees. In summer it is quite obscured by the leaves, but is a hidden gem. Then return to Marske along the narrow lane. When you see a finger post on the left hand side, climb over the stile and walk across the fields back to Marske. See if you can spot the old water wheel by the beck, a reminder of Swaledale's industrial past.
Orgate Force
water wheel
Time for tea
