Yorkshire Dales

Last week Maggie, Meg and I stayed in a cottage in the Yorkshire Dales. It's a stunningly beautiful area of the country and a place we've returned to again and again. And at this time of the year, with the rich autumn leaves, it can just take your breath away.

(click on the images for larger versions)


Swaledale

This time we stayed in the small village of Reeth, nestled on the side of the Swaledale valley.


Reeth

Part of the enjoyment for me is driving over the tops of the hills along narrow, winding and sometimes very steep, roads


Narrow country lanes

You realise life travels at a very different pace in a place like this. Rural, remote and a sense of deep time moving slowly


Tree and walls

On one of our drives we came across an old lead mine that had been abandoned back in Victorian times


Old lead mine

I went back out there one night when the skies were clear to see if I could get some interesting star photography. A bright moon meant the milky way wasn't as noticable as I would have liked, but it was amazingly atmospheric moving around these old, remote abandoned buildings at night.


At night

One of the other advantages of visiting Yorkshire is it's only a couple of hours' drive from my father who, because of the distance, I just don't see enough of.

At 79 he's not so keen on getting his photo taken - strongly disliking the whole getting old thing. Inside he's still in his 20s and I think he still gets a shock everytime he looks in the mirror. However, I managed to convince him to let Maggie take a photo of the both of us.


Son and Father

Maggie says it's not difficult to see the family resemblance...