A Trip through the Dales.

Today is a lovely Autumn day - rain is forecast for tomorrow - so we decided, the farmer and I, to have a trip out in the Dales, through Wensleydale, down into Wharfedale and through into Ribblesdale. Barely had we left home when it began to rain, so the journey down to the bottom of Wharfedale went largely unrecorded. But by the time we turned off to cut through into Ribblesdale, the sun had come out.

. We stopped for a walk in the tiny village of Eshton. The first thing was saw on getting out of the car was a grey heron making a wobbly landing in a tree - too far away to photograph but I can assure you he looked quite ridiculous. Sheep with their ram were grazing the velvety green fields; in the distance Eshton Hall, a fine building, shone in the sunlight. I took a closer shot - what a typically English country house scene it is. There was a pretty lodge by the gate and the river meandering past. Beech leaves are still clinging to their branches making superb patches of colour here and there.

Once through the villages of Hellifield, Long Preston and Gargrave, the weather came down again and we drove along in thick cloud. Eventually we wound our way back into Wensleydale and stopped at the Wensleydale Creamery, where genuine Wensleydale cheeses are made. We had a delicious lunch in the cafe there before driving home on the familiar road through the dale.

I stopped to take a picture in my favourite spot. The River Ure is just winding round the bend; on the left bank a stand of deciduous larches lines - and lights up - the bank; on the right bank a patch of cornus shows its winter red stems. That is my favourite view of our river. Usually there are one or two grey heron attendant on the banks today there were none.

Hope you enjoy the photographs though.