Were back!!

We are back from our little break away in Ingleton, not far from here but it could be a million miles as its so different from Blackpool. We got two buses and the journey was good, a bit bumpy but we got to see lots of little villages along the way. We stayed in a caravan at the bottom of the village near to the waterfall walk, on first impressions it looked a lovely site, the owner was very friendly and there are free range chicken and chicks wandering about, a noisy rooster that didn't shut up from about 5.30 onwards and a couple of ostrich (the are not free ranging!)

There was a separate toilet and shower block which we didn't like to use because of the cobwebs and spiders, we found a really good spider free toilet in the village!

The caravans decor was out of the 70's which we really liked and there was a cool retro bread bin that caught our eye -no we didn't snaffle it, everything was basic but OK, then that night after a walk round the village and a couple of card games our nightmare began.....Spiders!! Now me and my BF are really petrified of them, we get the sweats, feel sick, you name it WE ARE FRIGHTENED, so after the first 2 or 3 we didn't feel well, but they kept coming and coming, the more we inspected the more we found, eventually we managed to get some sleep for our big 4 and 1/2 mile walk around the falls the next day.

Here are the youngsters looking for faeries on a request from Nannie, these wooden toadstools were so cute, hand carved by the river. There was so much to take in and the trees and rock formations were awesome, the sound of the river whooshing along made us feel very tranquil.

Chris with his binoculars spotting sheep in a field - this was a novelty as it was day one!!

Thornton Force, the main waterfall half way round the walk, we stopped here for lunch and a well deserved rest. After this we walked up and up loads more steps and a big hill then down into a valley and across a river and then up another hill to an ice cream van, this was in the middle of nowhere, we got out the picnic blanket and sat with an ice cream and took in the view, we could see for miles, it was an amazing site, that ice cream man has the best work view ever!

The walk back was pretty tiring, there were loads of steps up and down and our legs had a major work out, the boys didn't moan once which was surprising but great, we kept stopping to take in the views, they were fairy tale like in parts, we all loved it.

This is the view on the way into the village, up another great hill!, there is a pottery just in front of the viaduct and cute houses with adorable gardens, the main river runs right through the middle.Imagine this view everyday you come out of your house, and listening to the sound of the river as you fall asleep, to me its a little bit of heaven.



Another day we had a walk up the hills in search of a waterfall I had found on the map, not on a trail I might add, we walked for ages and eventually found a tiny stream in the bottom of a valley, we followed in and had a bite to eat, the kids thought it was funny that mums waterfall had turned out to be a tiny stream running over a few rocks!

When we set off I had another bright idea of following the stream back to the village....it was worse than on the way, there were crows, cows and sheep blocking the way, there was rivers running down hills we had to cross and slippy mud, the next thing is, Chris has fallen in the river which has now become quite wide and deepish!! I had to get him out and into a field, take off his freezing soaking clothes and dry him off with tissues!! Poor kid had to walk back with miffy tissues sticking out his shoes, then behold a great site THE waterfall, a great big noisy whooshing one (see I'm not that daft after all) only trouble was, I had hurt my leg by bashing it on a stile and Chris was wet through so we didn't stop to admire it!

Another day, we went to Settle market on the bus and I managed to get us on the wrong bus and we had to wait in the rain for another one to come along that took us back to where we originally came from! We walked around Settle and enjoyed the stalls but it was pouring down so we didn't stay long.

Another day we went to white scar caves too but it was so dark the camera didn't take the photos well enough, it was pretty cold in the caves and a bit of a rush for the £26 we paid to get in, I'm not sure it was really worth it.

We went into the village everyday, the shopkeepers are so friendly and lovely it was a real joy.
There was a sweet shop that Tom loved, an organic fruit and veg shop, a cake shop which made the most delicious scones and cakes to die for - I liked it very much!!

There was also this shop, very beautiful and fair trade, she sold all sorts from wonderful organics toiletries to girly dresses and baby clothes, I could of spent all our holiday allowance in there, the boys got some pencils recycled from plastic bottles and a note book covered in an old tyre. I'm sure all you lovely ladies would be in awe just as I was....

it looks like the online shop part is not working so I will email and see if its coming back, its not too far by car though if you fancied a day out.

We had, had enough of the spiders after another night of going around the caravan with a torch killing them, at midnight Tom and I packed whilst the boys slept and next morning we came home 2 days early, my leg wasn't up to much walking and our brains were fuzzy from lack of a good sleep so we were pleased to be going, next time we will stay in a B+B I think!!