It was with some surprise that I realised I had not written a weekly blog for the past 4 weeks! (In my defence we have enjoyed reflecting on our year of early retirement in the blogs instead). We have had a fantastic summer in the Dales so far, even though the rain has tried it’s best to skupper our plans. We have loved having lots of visitors, entertaining and getting out exploring and the summer is not yet over.
Showing off our lovely new cottage
We have spent most of the summer weeks entertaining friends and family. It has been wonderful to show everyone what we have been up to over the past 9 months in the house and even better being able to have people stay over. We have loved making the most of the new kitchen and cooking delicious meals that we can share with a glass of wine and catch up on life. Hopefully people have seen why we fell in love with the Dales and that we have not completely lost the plot relocating after 28 years in Sandbach. The weather has at times tested our hosting skills. We have bought an extra set of bedding for each bedroom as there have been days at a time when we could not get any washing dry!!! Some of our poor visitors have not really seen the stunning Dales scenery… at all due to torrential downpours and foggy mornings.
Richard has had a few work colleagues visit and has enjoyed catching up with all the school gossip and going ons, something that we never really had time to do when we were working!
This weekend we truly tested the capacity of the cottage with my mum, sister, brother in law and niece staying, complete with our beloved travel companion, van dog Cali. We had a fab time! Me and Richard were cosy staying in the van on the drive way, much to the bemusement of our neighbours.
A year since we moved out of our Cheshire house
August the 9th was the anniversary us starting 14 weeks being houseless after we completed on the sale of our house in Cheshire. For anyone new to our blog, we decided it would be easier to break the chain and complete on the house as there were a few complications (mainly to do with septic tanks!) on the Dales cottage. Initially we thought it would only be for a few weeks and it was the summer so we could just travel in the van, we finally completed the purchase in mid November. We have some really fond memories of that summer where we had an extra travelling companion for 3 weeks – Cali.
A year of YouTube
It is also a year this week since we launched our YouTube channel! I remember sitting on Shipley Glen nervously trying to remember what we wanted to say to the camera and it took several takes to get the video recorded. Looking back at the first few videos, we have certainly grown in confidence and in our video and editing skills. We have thoroughly enjoyed the process and the small community that we have developed. We have so many lovely messages from people sharing their early retirement experiences and travel plans. We are quite humbled by some peoples comments stating that we have given them inspiration to make changes in their own lives. It is also great to hear from so many people who are at a similar point in their own lives having early retired and bought a van!
Fast flowing waters
Living in the Ribble valley, we are never far from the river when we are out exploring. Even in the deepest parts of winter, we have never seen anything like the force of the water as it rushes down from the mountains. We have been exploring new parts of the valley and finding different hikes between the villages. We set off from the stunning village of Stainforth a couple of weeks ago and stopped off at the waterfalls to see what they were like after a big storm. WOW! You could hear the thunderous roar as the torrents tumbled over the steep rocks, where only a couple of weeks ago it was more of a trickle! We had watched some of the locals swimming and jumping into the river in the sun, that was certainly not the case this time!
All down the valley, the river has been high and flooding over at certain points, it makes for quite dramatic photo’s and I have included a couple to compare the sharp contrast.
Exploring the Dales by train
Over the last couple of weeks we have started exploring the Dales by train. We have always wanted to go over the Ribblehead viaduct on the iconic Settle to Carisle line. Sadly, we didn’t choose the greatest day for the journey as the weather was pretty atrocious! On the outward journey, the 3 peaks were shrouded in cloud cover however the views did open up on our return journey, even if the rain never let up all day. We had small window to explore Carlisle with our friends. The cathedral was hugely impressive and the castle picturesque, however the torrential rain saw us hot footing back to Settle and finding a nice country pub for a hot meal.
Our second journey was much more successful. We caught the train at Settle and disembarked at the stunning, remote Dent Station. The village of Dent is actually about 3 miles away, so not a station to get off at unless you have a plan. Our original plan to hike over Whernside back to catch the train at Ribblehead Station changed after speaking to a very knowledgeable local. He recommended a shorter but very picturesque route that took us past 2 vast viaducts and over Blea Moor, and we were glad we followed his advice. It was truly stunning. The highlight of the walk was going past a farm that was mid sheep shearing. The farmer invited us into the yard so we could get a closer look, what an experience.
Stepping back in time
We had the amazing opportunity to go with one of our good friends to watch her very talented niece at the English Athletics Combined Events Championships. It was at the Sportcity track in Manchester which is where our daughter, who was a pole vaulter, trained for many years. We bumped into so many people including her old coach and it was great to catch up with them. The weekend was even more special with Molly putting in a very mature, consistant performance in every event and convincingly becoming the English Champion by more than 500 points!
Settle Beer Festival
Luke and Charlotte came to visit last week and were very excited that their visit coincided with the Settle Beer Festival. It is held in the quaint Victoria Hall, reputedly the old music hall in Britain. We had a fab couple of hours sampling a variety of beers and sitting out in the gardens enjoying a break in the storms.
Out and about in the great outdoors
Any opportunity we get between visitors and rain storms, we set off either hiking or cycling. We have explored some great quiet back roads that link many of the local villages and have found a few great coffee stops too! We have been back to Malham a couple of times hiking, every time we go the views change and I am still in the awe of the limestone pavings at the top of the cove.
Escapees in our gardens
It's not everyday that you sit in your living room and look up to see a sheep eating the flowers! There was a mass escape from the field by our drive because the grass is always better on the other side! Luckily the cows had not quite got themselves organised to join their sheep companions
Over the next couple of weeks we have lots more visitors to the Dales and we are in the midst of planning our Autumn US travels in an RV with my mum who is on a mission to visit all 50 states. We are also trying to decide if we can squeeze in a late summer get away for a week, Scotland is calling and we must go!
Have a great week
Jackie and Richard
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