Balancing the Arts with Technology

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mood: exhilirated

Monday 2 April 2007
:: Malham, England - Yorkshire::

Our adventuring party continued their journey along the Pennine Way, back to the village of Malham. Sir Thomas Leaf was in deep contemplation about the new journey set forth before him ... a trip to Avebury to see the mighty ones. He had no plans (though many desires) to go to that part of England, and was lacking the resources to make the journey, plus he had already paid for passage straight to London from Leeds/Bradford area. Vanessa, Lady of the Rhine and Sir Ingo the Great was already booked to return to Dusseldorf after this 4 day hike. Lady Vanessa asked Sir Thomas Leaf if he would embark upon this mission. He must do his Lady's bidding. The party went up past many cairns and shake hoes in the Craven District, through Tings Plantation, and back on path with Pennine Way at a large lake called Malham Tarn. There the party stopped for first Lunch, up against a stone wall, sheltered from the wind, and under the shade of a thicket of trees which are rare in this area. Good conversations and great views of the rolling hills and divided plots of land from ages past.

After lunch the adventurers continued on, over Comb Hill, down through Comb Scar and Ing Scar where they stopped for second lunch at the bottom of a scar atop some nice flat rocks overseered by large rock walls - some with caves Sir Thomas Leaf was tempted to go explore if only his legs weren't ailing him. After lunch, it was off to Malham Cove, where a criss-crossed, trenched and faulted massive Limestone Bedrock floor awaited them. Hopping from stone to stone, some wobbling belong, with crevaches below, absorbing the intense scenery - it felt like they were on top of the world. Then the climb down from the Cove, down many intense and steep steps and scrambles ... some stoned by previous hikers, others not. Down, down, down to Malham Beck - a very enchanting little stream that was overlooked by the massive Cove cliffs above. Another money tree greeted our adventurers as they made their way to the pool where the water poured down. Sir Thomas Leaf inquired amongst other hikers the secrets about the money tree - but they did not know though thought they had once knew. Any guessing it was like a wishing well. They sat on the rocks and took in the awe of Malham Cove and Beck and spied some rockclimbers climbing the wall. Amazing. After a brief rest, our adventurers returned to the Pennine Way back to the village of Malham where they returned to the hostel for some rest and recovery from their day's hike - all dreading tomorrow when they would again return to their heavy backpacks and gear, and have to hike up and over the Malham Beck, Cove, and Tarn - enroute on a 7-10 mile hike to the village of Kettlewell ...

Sir Thomas Leaf on the Malham Cove,
overlooking the village of Malham in the valley below

Malham Cove

Entering Comb Scar

Comb Scar

Lady Vanessa and Sir Ingo along the Comb Scar on the Pennine way

To Malham Tarn from Gordale Scar

Malham Tarn
:: Malham, (Yorkshire Dales) - England ::
Malham Tarn is the largest fresh water lake in Britain. It sits on a high altitude (373 m) and is about 60 ha in size. During the glacial period it was at least twice this size and much deeper extending over what is now Tarn Moss and the Great Close Mire from where it emptied vast torrents of water over Gordale Scar and Malham Cove. It's very shallow, not much more than 1.8-3 meters deep at its deepest spots and is very well known for its trout fishing since the 12th c. C.E. It's located on a Lower Palaeozoic basement floor of impermeable Silurian slaty rock. In the 12th century, The Tarn was later granted to Fountains Abbey and its medieval monks by William de Percy with all of its fishing rights. 1791 Thomas Lister, the first Lord Ribblesdale built the Tarn House that overlooks the lake, and then installed a sluice gate, slipway, and embankment to maintain the Tarn and its water levels. The house and embankment was extended in the 2nd half of the 19th c by William Morrison. The tarn is still abundant with trout, curlews, mallards, and greater crested grebe - some of which are protected in a sanctuary on the western shore. The Tarn drains at Tarn Foot into a small stream that disappears into the limestone at Water Sinks down towards Comb scar. The water then reappears at the base of Malham Cove (historically believed, though now believed it actually reappears at Airehead Springs south of Malham and West of Malham Beck as the source of the River Aire). More can be learned about Malham Tarn at Classic Walks & Malhamdale.com.

Malham Tarn with the lodge across the tarn in the background

Spillway of Malham Tarn

road to Malham Tarn and Pennine Way

Trees are rare in the open,
so protection walls are built around them
to ensure their growth ....

Protected Trees

location of our first lunch, at the edge of Malham Tarn

departing Malham Tarn, entering the sinkholes before Comb Scar

Lady Vanessa entering Comb Scar

Sir Thomas Leaf in the Comb Scar

Sir Ingo the Great in the Comb Scar

The cave that Sir Thomas Leaf wanted to delve ...

Ing Scar

The pool below Malham Cove

rock climber climbing up base of Malham Cove

Malham Cove :: Malham, Yorkshire Dales, England ::

Malham Cove is a huge curving amphitheatre of different types and formations of limestone rock. It's vertical face at its base is a cliff that is about 260 feet high (8o meters high, 300 meters wide) and is a hotspot as one would guess for rockclimbing. The top of the cove is a large area of deeply eroded limestone pavement with a strange pattern rarely seen in England. water sculpted surfaces abundantly fissured with joints widened and deepened by solution occured during soil and glacial drift. This was once a magnificent waterfall which stopped flowing sometime in the 18th century except during periods of exceptionally heavy rainfall. The Cove overlooks and guards the village of Malham and is one of England's spectacular geological attractions. More can be learned at Malhamdale.com.

Limestone pavement atop Malham Cove

limestone pavement of Malham Cove

Sir Thomas Leaf and Lady Vanessa of the Rhine
with Malham Cove in the background

view of Malham in the distance from atop Malham Cove

Village of Malham
:: Malham, (Yorkshire Dales) - England ::
The small village of Malham was founded in the 7th/8th century by the Angles. It can be found in the uppermost reaches of a shallow dale running southwards from the upland edge in the Pennines at the southern base of the Yorkshire Dales. A very pretty village surrounded by limestone dry-stone walls and having a center square with a stream running through it. It's easily accessible from the urban areas of Yorkshire and Lancashire and has become one of the most popular villages in the Dales. This small village of 120 people can be quite lively with tourists, hikers, and sightseers. (population in 1881: 145; 1901: was 106; 1971: only 74. Today about 120) The parking lots of this small village also fill up quickly during the summer months. It's a hotspot location for those coming to see Malham Tarn, Cove, Beck, Gordale Scar, and the infamous Janet's Foss. The village started out as a nucleus of houses and cottages clustered around a green or square. There are Celtic (Iron Age) field systems and down-slope cultivation terraces in the area, but the only evidence of the Angles taking over a pre-existing site is that it was built on a pre-Roman site. The original plan of the village was a common type still used in the 17th and 18th centuries when following the dissolution of the monasteries, new freeholders replaced wooden buildings with stone buildings. Copper and calamine (Smithsonite -zinc carbonate) were mined on Pikedaw. Lead was mined localled and smelted at the mill still near the village. Coal was also harvested at the nearby Fountains Fell - all bringing industry to Malham in the past. More can be learned about Malham Tarn at Classic Walks & Malhamdale.com.