All I can say is England is a cold wet miserable place, it rained heavily all night the first time since we have arrived in the UK. Looks very bleak outside can just see the outline of the Ribblehead Viaduct and the hills closest to the motorhome. The little stream by the road has increased in size and is turning into a little rapid gushing over the rocks, hope the roads are okay as parts of the road yesterday when we were driving through the Yorkshire Dales were flooded. It also needs to ease off so Richard can swap over the gas bottles as we ran out of gas during the night the gas switch on the fridge was blinking meaning no gas, don’t want spoilt food.

Still raining we set off to Settle winding our way through the Dales with views of Pen-y-Ghent Peak and Ingleborough Hill (mountains) some of the finest limestone scenery in the UK including the heather moorlands with sheep grazing. Selside is the first of a few stone-built little villages we drove through with narrow winding throughway and drystone walls to test your driving skills.

The scenery round Langcliffe is very dramatic the rugged limestone cliffs relics of an industrial past the Craven Lime Works and Hoffman Kiln was operational from 1873 to 1931, the largest of its type in the world converted limestone into lime a valuable product with many uses in the industry and agriculture.

The rain as eased we stopped at the Watershed Mill on the fast flowing River Ribble, previously known as The Shed dating back to 1785 was built as a cotton mill to house the new spinning machines of the age and was later converted to a weaving mill in the 1820’s. However financial difficulties let to the closure in 1855 leaving many workers forced to seek employment elsewhere. Many of the mills closed in the early 1950’s today the mills have been converted to warehouses or other types of buildings which is a pity.

A good stop for morning tea, browse through the huge clothing shop, Richard managed to change over the gas bottles in between the showers before heading down the road to the historical market town of Settle, which is overlooked by the majestic Castleberg Crag (mountain) that towers over the town. Some of the buildings date back to the 17th century especially the narrow lanes we walked down to the main Market Place, which is surrounded by a variety of glorious buildings most notably the Shambles (1675) where the Settle butchers once plied their trade and the Town Hall (1832) now housing a selection of shops.

Just round the corner is the settle-Carlisle Railway, which takes you on a 72 mile journey through the magnificent Yorkshire Dales over the 24 arches of the Ribblehead Viaduct. The Settle Station has been restored with its working Signal Box and Water Tower the only survivor of eight watering places for steam locomotives on the Settle-Carlisle railway.

Decided to drive to Malham to see the Malham Cove a huge natural limestone cliff, once the scene of a spectacular prehistorical waterfall. Followed another motorhome on a narrow one lane road lined with drystone walls with very few laybys for oncoming vehicles to pass through the limestone and heather moorland, mountains over many cattle grids through narrow gates with breathtaking views all the way.

Slight detour to view the Malham Tarn a large lake formed by glaciation in the last ice age, the lake is set high above Malham on the Malham Moor. Now for the steep descend down the hairpin winding road lined by drystone walls hard to see where you are driving down the mountainside with beautiful panoramic views of the countryside of Malham and the Cove only to find the carpark is some two miles from the Cove and difficult to park the motorhome. Thankfully we stopped on the descending hillside to look at the huge limestone cove and take photos.

Set the satnav for Skipton, now for the journey back on the narrow one lane road over and under bridges, by fast flowing streams and rivers till we reached A65 great to be back on a main road no more pot holes or bumpy road. Past through Gargrave main market square looks just like Settle, now views of pine forests and woodlands till we reach the market town of Skipton. Richard hates big towns so we just topped up with diesel £1.109 good price before leaving the Yorkshire Dales winding down through the mountains to Fewston Reservoir where the scenery changed to woodlands as we drove through the Forest Moor.

Getting late in the afternoon Harrogate (noted as a spa resort) was a nightmare a large city and we are stuck in a traffic jam. Richard doesn’t want to stay and I think it would be hard to find somewhere to wild camp for the night so we move on to Knaresborough which is not far away and find a Park n Ride carpark where like a few other motorhomes stay for the night.

Wish the rain would stop spoke with Edna regarding caravan sites in York as we will rest up there for a few days to enjoy hopefully the sights if it stops raining like it is now.