Somewhere that I haven’t visited for a long time is the attractive Yorkshire market town of Settle. I was really heading there however for the nearby Scaleber Force waterfall, which was new to me.
Settle Town Hall and Market Square.
Walking from the the Town Hall it’s a straightforward route out of town up High Hill Lane to a signpost for the waterfall on your left after about a mile and a half. It’s a pretty steep climb for most of the walk, as there isn’t much that is flat surrounding Settle!
Lovely old signpost marks the way.
Turn round and the view however back over the town and surrounding countryside is well worth it.
Looking back over Settle.
Interesting ‘ridged’ hillside near Settle.
The strange horizontal ridges in the hillside caught my eye. This showed particularly well because if where the sun was at the time. From what I understand, and I may be wrong, this is ridge & furrow ploughing in the Middle Ages, on fields that have since not been ploughed. Interesting.
Settle rooftops and chimney pots.
Yorkshire Dales scenery.
It’s hard to beat the beautiful scenery of the Yorkshire Dales and as they say ‘big skies’. I often think that the sky is as important if not more so than the land, for making a good landscape photo. During my visit the weather delivered fast moving billowing clouds with patches of blue sky in-between. Quite a mixture, which meant a bit of hanging around waiting for some sunshine to hit the fells. Patience is everything when photographing landscapes!
Don’t forget to look out for the giant Yorkshire Dales monster, on the prowl!!
Finally a bit of flatter road!
Footpath sign to the waterfall.
My first view if Scaleber Force was a good one through the bare winter trees. I can imagine in the summer it would be hard to see without following the very steep and rather dodgy path down the side of the gorge.
Looking down onto Scaleber Force from the top path.
Nice to be able to see the attractive road bridge over Black Gill Beck in the background and all from a rather well positioned bench, which made for a good picnic spot. A flask of hot tea was a must though, with a cold wind whistling in from behind me!
A closer look at the waterfall before I descended.
Plenty of water today after recent rainfall.
I’ve seen some beautiful shots of the waterfall taken on a long exposure, giving the cascading water a soft mystical appearance. Sadly on this occasion, lighting and camera limitations didn’t permit this effect for me, though you can partially see it in one of the shots. I think photographing the waterfall from the bottom certainly looks more dramatic and makes the 40 foot drop more obvious. The climb down isn’t for the faint-hearted though!
Final section of the waterfall.
Made it!
Long shadows.
On leaving and heading back I noticed the long shadows of trees that lined the top of the gorge, stretched out across the field. This was helped by the low sun. Such a beautiful part of the country.
Ribble Valley at Settle.
I liked the hazy view across the Ribble Valley just outside Settle as I descended to the town. The haze was largely as I was looking towards the sun, which was quite low in the sky.
Settle from Castleberg Rock.
No visit to Settle would be complete without taking in the view after a short but steep hike up Castleberg Rock. Note the famous Settle to Carlisle railway line cutting across the middle of the picture. No passing steam train to enhance my photo though!