GRUMPY SISTERS' INK

John opted for his Own pathway on Sunday, I think we had worn him out on our Moors trip. but then he does have pins in his leg from his skiing accident, and 'twingeing screws' elsewhere, so we let him off with a caution. He drove us up to Saltergate, a large car park on the moors. It was our intention to walk around the Hole of Horcum North Yorkshire's Grand Canyon? It's not too fanciful a thought, as you stand at the top of the Hole of Horcum and gaze across Levisham and the North York Moors. The simply enormous moorland amphitheatre is several hundred feet deep and a mile across, and such a gargantuan natural feature has attracted all sorts of local legends. Some see it as the 'Devil's Punchbowl', while others cling dear to the enduring tale of Wade the Giant, who scooped up the earth here to throw at his wife during an argument. The truth is based in geology, though just as startling – an ongoing process known as 'spring-sapping' has undermined and eroded the land here over thousands of years, making the feature ever larger and ever deeper. We had started early so there were no other walkers to be seen. It was bright and clear. Curlews called from the sky, the sheep wandered over the scrub, the oath disappeared into the distance. The path went past Iron Age and Bronze Age workings and possible village sites. Strange to imagine all those thousands of years ago people going about their daily business. The Hole looked green and lush in comparison to the tops we were walking on. After a while we descended though a cool calm wooded area, with a black,or stream wandering through. The streamed was rocky and the sides steep. On the map the feature was called a GRIFF, and later, after much searching on the Internet, we learned that this was the name for the step and rocky sided stream way. By this time we were at the bottom of the valley. Then the people came, from then on we met so many other walkers, including a large group of about 30. All cheerfully greeting us. There was a abandoned farmhouse that was in good condition and would make a lovely cafe stop. Would have to do something about the access though, no road, no power and a flaming great hill to get up and down. Would need cable car. Being non conformist, we left the Mao and set off cross country thinking we could find a less steep climb to get out of the valley. Two scaled fences, one double back, two stiles ........All good fun, but still steep and lots of steps!! John had been off researching the Rosedale railway a bit more, and once we had met up again, repaired to the Horseshoe Inn in Levisham for lunch. Levisham is a small village nestling on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors accessed through a dramatic deep valley. Levisham has existed since before the Domesday Book, and after centuries of continual change still flourishes today as a farming community. I had a try of a dandelion and burdock drink.. A bit like liquorice tasting coke. We thought we would go down to the railway ... Seriously steep hills again, but this time we were in the car. There was music going on as this was the swinging sixties festival, so we were entertained while we waited for a tan to come chugging along. We also got talking the artists in residence there whose speciality I'd train pictures, but he also does landscapes. He also has the job of clearing the roads when they get snow in the winter. He got the job because he is the youngest in the village. And he was 60. Yorkshire can be unforgiving in the winter, bitterly cold and snowy.