10,000 Acres of Sky
09th June 2015
9th June
10,000 Acres of Sky
Sometimes it is not the soaring cliffs and heart stopping, precipitous drops over seemingly endless vertical crags and buttresses that make a place wild and dramatic.
Sometimes it is not the huge mountains, thrusting up from flat, verdant plains, or the deep crevices that hold and direct crashing waterfalls, that make a place seem dynamic and awe inspiring.
Sometimes these things can be found in a much humbler landscape, where the drama and aesthetic is subtle, less obvious but as equally as wild and inspiring.
These types of landscapes, due to their less 'significant' geology, can allow greater access and opportunity for exploration, where the physical hurdles are more about stamina rather than technical skill, or a need to have no sense of mortality.
The area around Kingsdale, on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales is a point in case. This is a huge area, but there are few obvious physical features in the landscape that would attract the hard, adventure seeking - adrenalin junkie. No long, steep pieces of rock to test your acrophobia/vertigo inducing gymnastic skills, just miles and miles of wild, bare high moorland.
This is typical limestone country, where any journey into this barren hinterland means passing through guarding, fractured Clints and Grykes. These, wonderful limestone features, stand like castellated terraces protecting the wild moorland to be found deeper within the moor. And further you penetrate into this wind swept landscape the quieter, remoter and lonelier the land feels.
In amongst the bends, twists and curves of these hills can be found a huge variety of wildlife, with swifts and skylarks overhead, whilst meeting Golden Plovers and Curlews on ground level. There are a multitude of grasses and flowers varieties, from Bistort to Tormentil. These add a hue and vibrancy to the seen, whilst the many birds provide the soundscape.
It is the lonely and barren nature of these moors, combined with the richness of wildlife, that makes the land wild. In addition, the areas are dynamic and breathtaking due to the huge skies, stretching seemingly endlessly to the distant horizons. You can look up and feel like you are flying, set adrift into 10,000 acres of sky.
10,000 Acres of Sky
Sometimes it is not the soaring cliffs and heart stopping, precipitous drops over seemingly endless vertical crags and buttresses that make a place wild and dramatic.
Sometimes it is not the huge mountains, thrusting up from flat, verdant plains, or the deep crevices that hold and direct crashing waterfalls, that make a place seem dynamic and awe inspiring.
Sometimes these things can be found in a much humbler landscape, where the drama and aesthetic is subtle, less obvious but as equally as wild and inspiring.
These types of landscapes, due to their less 'significant' geology, can allow greater access and opportunity for exploration, where the physical hurdles are more about stamina rather than technical skill, or a need to have no sense of mortality.
The area around Kingsdale, on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales is a point in case. This is a huge area, but there are few obvious physical features in the landscape that would attract the hard, adventure seeking - adrenalin junkie. No long, steep pieces of rock to test your acrophobia/vertigo inducing gymnastic skills, just miles and miles of wild, bare high moorland.
This is typical limestone country, where any journey into this barren hinterland means passing through guarding, fractured Clints and Grykes. These, wonderful limestone features, stand like castellated terraces protecting the wild moorland to be found deeper within the moor. And further you penetrate into this wind swept landscape the quieter, remoter and lonelier the land feels.
In amongst the bends, twists and curves of these hills can be found a huge variety of wildlife, with swifts and skylarks overhead, whilst meeting Golden Plovers and Curlews on ground level. There are a multitude of grasses and flowers varieties, from Bistort to Tormentil. These add a hue and vibrancy to the seen, whilst the many birds provide the soundscape.
It is the lonely and barren nature of these moors, combined with the richness of wildlife, that makes the land wild. In addition, the areas are dynamic and breathtaking due to the huge skies, stretching seemingly endlessly to the distant horizons. You can look up and feel like you are flying, set adrift into 10,000 acres of sky.