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Todays hike was a 5 mile circuit around Thruscross Reservoir. There are at least 5 different dams within a 10 mile radius of our home, and Thruscross is one of the larger ones. During this hike I saw my first snake in England! A few pictures to enjoy: Last September the Reservoir was down at least 40 feet and you could see some old buildings The reservoir was very full today. The ducks were enjoying all the water My first snake in England. It's an Adder On the top of

Today's hike took me up past some more old mills and really old bridge. The pack horse bridge is rumored to date from the 12th century. The three remaining mills that are now private residences all came into being in the late 1700's or early 1800's. This is a fascinating area that is just a stone's throw from home The top mill is Thornwaite Mill, it is on Dairy Lane. The middle two pictures are Folly Gryll Mill. The bottom picture is Gryll Mill. All three of them

One of my common walks is from Dacre Banks to Pateley Bridge, following the River Nidd for much of the route. I've showcased parts of this hike in the past, but in todays blog I am going to highlight the 5 still standing mills along the route. Starting point for coffee and snacks! Mill in Dacre Banks Their has been a mill in some form in Dacre Banks since the late 1600s. The earliest reference I have found is to a Corn Mill, but it may not be at the same location. The Wei

One of my walking goals this year is to complete "The Nidderdale Way", a 66 mile walking trail in and around the Nidderdale Area of Natural Beaty. I started my hiking last June, and have I been working of the trail in manageable chunks. I haven't hiked the trail every weekend, but instead I have been trying to wait for non-gloomy days to explore the new bits. This day I filled on of the larger remaining gaps - the stretch from Ripley to the Rocks. My strava tracking ap

Darley is a village just down the river from Dacre Banks. By the river trail it is less than 3 miles away. In a car it is a little bit further and up and down several hills. Darley is an interesting village. It has a village shop/post office, inn (The Wellington), and a number of other businesses. Much like Dacre Banks, it was also on the railroad that ran from Harrogate to Pateley Bridge. Darley also has at least 3 original mill buildings in it. All three are no

It has rained in some form or another everyday since the turn of the new year. Somedays it has been a constant heavy downpour, other days it has been an intermittent cold mist drizzling down through the fog. The end result after 5 weeks is a very wet country side with lots of water and mud! Today's hike was another stretch of the Nidderdale Way, on a loop from Pateley Bridge up the dale to Ramsgill and back to Pateley. Most of this was new to me. Big Weir north of Pateley

It has been very wet and grey in England in January. I think it has rained every day this month. As a result, my walks have been wet and muddy, and other than some cool fog pictures, trying to tell the tale of my hikes with pictures doesn't show much. I will share some pictures of my hike while I was on business travel to Los Angeles last week. The weather was beautiful and the beach is always nice. I wound up walking 25 blocks while the sun set After a 27 hour day yes

Today I was wanting to fill another gap in the 60+ mile Nidderdale Way trail. I woke Dennis up at 8:15 AM to head out to Pateley Bridge to fill in a missing gap. Of course, he needed to "fuel up" at the Dacre Village Store for his long hike. A double cheeseburger, a Large New York Style Goujon Chicken Sandwich, a few drinks, some chips, and a gooey coffee and he thought he might have enough food to survive. The original plan was that Dennis as going to trudge along with D

I've been asked what type of gear do you need to be prepared for hiking in Yorkshire. It's not too complicated, but here is my short list: A good mapping app: Two apps I recommend for mapping: Strava | Running, Cycling & Hiking App - Train, Track & Share (Free) or Ordnance Survey | Great Britain's national mapping service (May have a fee) These two apps will show you the trails and provide real time tracking/mapping. I've used both and currently prefer Strava, but they

I tend to take the local weather forecast with a grain of salt because generally the description is something like "rain in yorkshire". Last night the forecast was for "Snow in the North of England, changing to rain later in the morning". Much to my surprise today, we actually had snow. Grange Lane at 8 AM The snow didn't stop my walk, I just changed my plans after getting a latte to go at the village store. Sports Field at Dacre The sports field had an inch or so of accu

I am starting to fill the gaps on my goal of completing the Nidderdale Way this year. I am at the point that most of the remaining sections will require transport to a starting point. Today I offered Dennis a choice - drop me off in Ripley around 9:00 AM (and get breakfast before hand from the village store), or pick me up around noon. Surprisingly, he chose not to sleep in and we left the house around 8:30 to get a bacon bap and coffee at the store: Dacre Village Sto

My 2026 walking season started with a cold morning hike! We spent the week between Christmas and New Years on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. It was a goregous 60 - 70 F the whole week, with plenty of sunshine. Getting off the plane at Leeds Bradfort Airport a 9:00 PM with a temperature of 28 F was quite the shock. It wasn't any warmer at 8:00 AM the next morning when I started my hike. Dacre Village Store My first stop on most hikes is the Dacre Village Store. Ryan,