Today’s post is 1650 words, 42 photos, 1 video, a 7 1/2 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone

This week I’ll take you on our last day of Walking the Herriot Way from Reeth to Aysgarth, a distance of 14 miles. However, we decided to skip the trudge up another steep hill and opted to begin our walk to Aysgarth at Castle Bolton, a pleasant walk of only 4 miles.

If you missed the first ten stories in this series about our time in Scotland and England, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Castle Bolton to Aysgarth

After the walk up and down the Great Shunner Fell, we decided to take it easy on our last day. We left the Butt House in two vehicles, I driving our rental and Chris in his car with our walking gear. He would pick me up at Aysgarth Falls where we would leave the car while we did our walk. Then we would spend the rest of the day exploring some of the villages and sites we didn’t have a chance to see during our walk.

Chris dropped us off in the village of Castle Bolton, home of Bolton Castle. This village is close to the bottom of the long descent in the top photo. I took a photo of Chris and he took a photo of us ready to do our last trek on the Herriot Way. I should mention that Chris is the main chef at the Butt House with Jacqui as his helper. He’s a great cook, I enjoyed his beef dish at a couple of the evening meals, it was par excellent.

Bolton Castle dates from the 14th century and is owned by the same family since that time. The castle is now a tourist attraction with its manicured gardens, demonstrations of archery and falconry, and interesting Middle Ages history. There’s a nice tea room and gift shop. Bolton Castle a very popular wedding venue and a stop for the many tour buses that pass through the Dales. Admission is £15 (about $20 USD), parking is £5 (about $6 USD). The castle is closed from November 1 until March 1.

One of Bolton Castles claims to fame is that Mary, Queen of Scots was held as a prisoner at Bolton Castle for six months. Apparently, her confinement wasn’t that difficult, she had a staff of 51 people that accompanied her to this so called prison!

Shortly after leaving the village of Castle Bolton, I noticed this sign along the path. I was beware but didn’t see a bovine anywhere near the old craggy wall and barbed wire fence.

Maybe a 100 yards further down the path, we came across this notice and the sculptured dragon seeming ready to pounce on passersby.

Then came this notice about worrying the livestock. The short version is “mind your dog or else!”

I never grow tired of the beautiful scenery in the Yorkshire Dales. By the end of our four mile walk, the sun was shining and the fog dissipated.

Not too far up the road, we passed this herd of Holstein cows. I’m sure you do know Holsteins originated in the Netherlands while Guernseys, Jerseys, Ayrshire, and Milking Shorthorn dairy cattle originated in the United Kingdom. Go figure.

The young heifers rose from their cud chewing and walked over to greet the three Americans. They seemed to want something that we couldn’t provide.

Later on, we passed this interesting flock of mixed bred sheep. A couple of white ewes and the rest were a mix of black, white, and gray. Most of the lambs were pitch black. It had me scratching my head, trying to remember the sheep production class I took at NDSU taught by the famous shepherd himself, Merle Light. Well, that was about 50 years ago so maybe I learned about this breed of sheep or maybe I didn’t. But it doesn’t matter, they were fun to see and observe.

As with every other day on the Herriot Way, the path was varied and so were the stiles. The one below was easy to maneuver, unlike the skinny slits in the stone walls.

Our walk ended at the Aysgarth Fall Visitor Centre where we left the car parked earlier in the day. Then we were the only car in the lot, now it was full. We ditched our backpacks and poles then took another look at the falls on the River Ure.

 

 

As I’ve mentioned in every post about the Herriot Way Walk, Jacqui and Chris made lunch for us that we enjoyed somewhere along the trail. The last day wasn’t any different. We grabbed a spot at one of the picnic tables that were outside the Visitor Centre tea room where there was a line of people purchasing drinks and food. Here’s what my typical Butt House lunch consisted of, an egg salad sandwich on grain bread, a bag of crisps (potato chips), an apple or banana, and a bottle of water. I liked every lunch.

Near the picnic table, birds were flocking to feeders for their lunch too. Over the talking of the many people filling the tables, I could hear the rushing sound of the falls. Almost every person or couple had a dog, a few came by for a pat on the head. It was a delightful, relaxing break.

Hawes

After completing our lunch, we jumped in the car to take a tour of some of the places we walked past but didn’t have an opportunity to visit. Our first destination was Hawes, a market town with a population of about 1000 people.

One of the popular attractions in Hawes is the Wensleydale Creamery. It’s also the largest employer in town with over 200 employees. The parking lot was nearly filled with cars and there were a couple of tour buses parked near the entrance. The Creamery attracts in the neighborhood of 300,000 visitors a year. The tasting room was crowded but we were able to sample a few of their award winning cheeses. We also checked out the gift shop and had a taste of their ice cream. A fun stop.

Our next stop was at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Visitor Centre in the Dales Countryside Museum, once Hawes’s rail station. I chatted with the friendly folks at the information desk with my Traveling Partner and The Youngest perused the gift shop, they found a couple of things to purchase. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to do justice to the museum. It’s on our list for next time.

It was a short walk from the Visitor Centre to the shopping district in town. We checked out the local bookstore where I bought another book I couldn’t resist. We stopped in to look at the merchandise in a couple of shops that sold outdoor gear. They obviously cater to the many walkers and bikers that come to the Dales. We passed the Old Penny Bank, now a self-catering cottage available on AirBnb and VRBO.

The River Ure passes through Hawes and provides a nice waterfall to enjoy from the street.

The Herriot’s is a six-room guest house in Hawes that is capitalizing on the empire that James Herriot created through his writings.

There was a small outdoor market near the main intersection of town. We checked out the wares that included clothing, food products, and local crafts.

We made our back to the Visitor Centre to retrieve our car then headed up the road to Hardraw and the Green Dragon.

Hardraw

About two miles up the road from Hawes lies the village of Hardraw, population about 200. There are two main draws to Hardraw: the Hardraw Force, the highest single-drop waterfall in England (100 feet); and the Green Dragon Inn. Interestingly, they coexist side by side as the entrance to the waterfall (admission £4 or about $5 USD) is next door to the pub.

While I’m sure the waterfall is spectacular, I was more interested in seeing the inside of the Green Dragon, a traditional Yorkshire pub. The ceiling was low, the oak paneling on the dark side. The fireplace gave off a smoky whiff that has infused the pub from centuries of burning coal and peat. The interior looked familiar to the pub scenes from “All Creatures Great and Small.” They were because is the location where they were filmed. I imagined having a glass of ale with James, Tristan, Helen, Mrs. Hall, and Siegfried in the Drovers Arms across the street from the Skeldale House.

We struck up a conversation with Maria, the barkeep. I ordered a half pint of and the ladies ordered sodas. Maria regaled us in stories about the pub. The day before was a bank holiday and the place was packed with people on their day off from work. She was exhausted and hoped for a very slow day to recover. I’m amazed she was so cheerful.

We took our drinks outside to enjoy the sunny day. We chatted with a guy that was making repairs to the roof of the pub. Then we saw a woman with a Herriot Way t-shirt and asked her where she purchased it. Glenda was her name and is a friend of Jacqui’s from the Butt House. After posing for a photo, she proceeded to tell us that she was an extra on the coming season of “All Creatures Great and Small.” I’ve got to say, we met some interesting people at the Green Dragon. You will too if you stop by when in the North Yorkshire Dales. By the way, we ordered t-shirts for ourselves.

From Hardraw, we took Cliffgate Road over Buttertub Pass to Keld. On the route, I stopped to take some of my last photos of the Yorkshire Dales scenery.

This is one of my favorite photos from the Dales with the stone walls, barns, sheep, and a winding road.

Back at the Butt House, we started packing for our departure the next morning. As usual, dinner provided great food and lively conversation. There was an American couple. and two English couples at the table. Here’s what it looked like before we ate.

The next morning we said goodby to Jacqui, Chris, and Scamp after posing for photo. It was sad to leave the Butt House but our time was up, we had to move on to our next adventure.

Next week, join me for the last post in this series, The Trail Home.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM