Yorkshire’s natural wonders of the Dales

Summary

Yordas Cave, The Cheese Press Stone, and Gragareth all lie in the area of Kingsdale, on the western slopes of the Yorkshire Dales. The area is full of limestone features such as pavements and caves, including Yordas cave and The Cheese Press Stone. The cave is hidden away in a small plantation below the summit of Gragareth, disappearing into a large cavern; a fine example of a solution formed cave. The Cheese Press Stones however, are two large glacial erratic boulders, overlooking Pen-y-Ghent. An area of variety you might say. Also, contributing to the Dales 30, is Gragareth, one of the Yorkshire Dales mountains that is over 2000ft, offering great views of the Dales and the Lakeland Fells.

The Hike

We began the hike from a layby, sitting on the brown of a road from the village of Thornton in Lonsdale, in Ingleton. It was a grey and overcast morning, but this didn’t stop us on our quest in search for ‘Yordas Cave, the Cheese Press Stones & Gragareth. We have done this walk before, but unfortunately, we missed all three of these landmarks, which made the hike feel incomplete.

We passed through a gate, following the rising trail on a broad green track. This took us through a vast landscape of limestone pavement, with a view of Peny-y-ghent that sat in the distance behind. Although it was grey and moody, visibility was excellent, as we meandered through the geographic rock landscape. The simplicity of walking through an area so peaceful yet exposed felt refreshing, but at the same time, it felt powerful.

 Whilst we continued on the track, we made our way to visit the giant limestone boulders, scrambling upwards onto a flat plateau of land.

“Look Rob, Cheese Press Stones” Charlotte said.

After looking at the previous map we had followed, I thought it was a lot further than expected in the hike. However, there it was, standing proud, overlooking into the valley below. It was fascinating! A fine example of glacial movement formed from the ice age. The size of it blew my mind.

Onwards, we continued along the gentle grassy path. This brought us past a couple of small potholes, until we eventually arrived at ‘Rowan Pot’ which is one of the most impressive potholes in the Yorkshire Dales. I could definitely see why, as we gingerly walked around the edge of the twenty metre or so pothole. It was covered with vegetation, but we had an idea of how deep was, by the sound of gushing water beneath.

Another captivating natural wonder.

Whilst we continued, ominous clouds began to loom over us, with the winds picking up and rain beginning to fall. I have been caught out before, unprepared, but this time I was prepared. I had my waterproof trousers; however, I was struggling to get the things on. The wind was too strong, I had to sit down to get my blooming trouser on. How embarrassing!

Anyways, we continued onwards to try and find Yordas Cave! We knew vaguely knew where it was from our last trip to the area, but we never thought to try and find it. We had walked straight past it before. The grass path brought us to a stile, taking us down a steep hillside. I could see a cluster of trees and knew the cave was in there, ‘but how would do we get there?’ Whilst the path dropped steeply, we eventually emerged onto the valley floor, navigating our way to a gateway entrance. We walked through the opening, and found Yordas Cave, hidden in the hillside. The small entrance was alluring us into the main chamber, however, to my frustration I forgot my torch, so I could only go so far without getting creeped out. I really wanted to go further. It was massive inside. I could hear fast flowing water too, which I have recently discovered to be a waterfall further inside.

I will have to go back with my torch one day!

Upon merging out of the darkness and into the sunlight, we began to think of what the best way out. I had the idea of scrambling up more rocks, but this became a quite tricky and slightly dangerous in parts. I don’t think Charlotte was so happy, but it’s part of the adventure, especially when things go slightly wrong.

When we emerged from the danger, we found a quiet spot for lunch beside the stream. I always find the sound of flowing water is both peaceful and reassuring. A pleasant spot for some lunch. Meanwhile, after lunch, we began our start of the final gruelling climb up to the summit of Gragareth. There wasn’t a path visible and therefore had to trundled over boggy heather to make our way to the wall side, following it upwards. This proved to be a bit more difficult than expected, especially with the ground being so uneven and extremely steep!

Eventually, we summited, both with a sign of relief as we were now on flatter terrain. The gentle path was easy enough to follow to the trig point, especially with what we had just come up. Gragareth offered some outstanding views over the Dales and Lakeland fells, whilst thick black clouds lay ahead. We could tell it was going to rain, so we descended a lot quicker than we had ascended, dropping down to another area covered by clusters of limestone pavement. The path eventually snaked its way back to the path of where we began on, just missing  the downpour.

A hike full of natural wonders and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

It’s area like these, that make you appreciate nature and how precious it is. Which is why we need to take care of it, to make sure it takes care of us.

GPX | Erratic Oddities