Snowy Wensleydale
Its’ my 53rd birthday today and no better place to be than a snowy Wensleydale. Castle Bolton to be precise.
Castle Bolton is one of my favourite spots and the prospect of parking up here for a five mile walk along the tops on a snowy Wensleydale Monday is about as good as it gets on your birthday!
We have done this walk before, Castle Bolton walk (March 2015) but not with the snow and the cold that we experienced today – and the conditions made it so much nicer, crunching through the snow rather than sloshing through the mud!
Castle Bolton opens to the public from Valentines weekend – we are making a vow to get there this year, it certainly looks like a place we should be visiting, although not being part of the National Trust, it has eluded us for many a year.
As one of the country’s best preserved medieval castles; originally built as one of the finest and most luxurious homes in the land, the castle bears the scars of over 600 years of fascinating history. The castle is still in the private ownership of Lord Bolton, the direct descendant of the castle’s original owner Sir Richard le Scrope.
The countryside above Lower Wensleydale is beautiful; set off walking in a westerly direction from the castle and you can’t go wrong, today the views were beautiful, even with low heavy cloud, as we looked towards Askrigg and Aysgarth.
One day I would like to turn north and head up over the top to drop down into Muker and Swaledale; not today, but perhaps armed with a better map and some sunshine, that is something to aim for in the spring!
Anyhow, enjoy the view, there’s nothing better than a bit of snowy Yorkshire on a Monday; especially a Monday where you are a year older and wiser.
