Tuesday 16 March 2010

Limestone Pavement Country

Tuesday 16th March 2010.
          Today has been another early spring day the temperature in my garden reached 12c in the afternoon This morning I think the frogs reached their peak in numbers and vocal intensity with lots of spawning, I'll upload the pictures and video tomorrow.
   But back to today we've had a good walk over Moughton, a limestone pavement and plateau area between Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent in the Yorkshire Dales, it's about 20 miles as the crow flies from our house. In the late spring and summer many rare plants grow in the grykes in the limestone pavement including several orchids.
This a  wonderful landscape of bare rock, the glaciers of the last ice age scraped away most of the topsoil giving it a rocky desert appearance.

              The start of the walk ..The hamlet of Wharfe in Crummack Dale                    

                                    
                                                                  Hazel catkins 
                    Moughton summit looking towards Pen-y-ghent

                                                       Looking towards Igleborough
                        In the distance our local landmark "Pendle Hill"                                
                                                       Looking north to Ribble Head
                                                     Juniper bushes grow in the grykes
                                            The vast expanse of the Limestone Pavement
                                                                         Pen-y-ghent
                                                                      Ingleborough
                                                                   Moughton Scars
         Moughton Scars with the summit of Moughton on the horizon                               
                                                       A final look back to Pen-y-ghent

3 comments:

  1. Looked a lovely day. See you friday. Julie x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Georgeous photos David. It really is a spectacular part of the country!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad to see our native juniper is still on Moughton, some excellent photos of the limestone pavement.

    ReplyDelete