Today is a special day for me and my wife. 2 years ago we got married at the fantastic Matfen hall in Northumberland. so to celebrate we went out for a walk together. It may seem like a small thing but we have been so busy recently that walking hasn’t been top of the priority list.
For the last few years we have utilised a fantastic website for all of our walking needs. Go4awalk.com  provides maps to supplement OS and your eye. The walks are ranked to allow you to figure out which ones are the best for your fitness level. They range from 1 being a stroll in the park to 10 being silly-ville. having done  a fair few of these walks completed we know where we are, a 5 is a good walk for us but a 6 is …. a bit much. Today we decided to have a trip up to Malham cove, so after a quick check on the site we downloaded a 4 map (NY122) looping us round from the town centre through Janet’s foss, up to Gordale Scar and finally over the top of Malham cove. To say it was a bit of an adventure does sort of over state it but hey its blogging time!!

We arrived at Malham ready to get round the route in 2.5 hrs.. or so the map said. that obviously didn’t include the time for me to stop for photos…but as this was a walk not a photo trip i thought i best behave! I had managed to forget my walking boots so i was out in trainers.. not fun. Janet’s foss was a nice meandering stream through a wooded valley, ending in a great waterfall.

Janet Foss falls

Now after the nice wander we arrived at the stunningly busy Gordale Scar. At the end it was like Fenwick’s window the week before Christmas! (geordie people will get that one). We stopped for a quick drink and mouthful of old faithful, kendal mint cake, until we spotted the circus that was about to ensue. Now i know that i’m a little gungho when it comes to getting a nice shot but i do have my limits….as we arrived at the base of the falls i was in utter shock. in the image below can you see a man with a death wish!
 

Where’s Wally?This group of people at the bottom were rearing to get up there when one moron got there! now it was a tough challenge but after 10mins i thought it best to head back on the road rather than waiting with my 400mm to get the shot of this wally falling off!
The loop back up to the top of the cove let me get a couple of stop offs and camera opportunities. I said earlier than my walking boots were in Leeds….now i bet you can guess how bad my trainers were after 3 miles through sheep filled fields! i had visions of driving home in my bare feet again.


the wonders of Malham
At this end of the walk surprisingly it was quieter than i had expected but the light was not quite playing ball. There are so many nice lines on the top of the cove but there seems to be so many trees or scared dogs in my way! My plans for a wide angle shot from the top didnt happen but i did manage to get to play with my 10stop filter at the bottom. 

We had a great day out so i have to give a big thanks to Go4awalk.com for making it a fun anniversary!