Back from my visit to my sister in Western Australia and straight into another one of our Probus walks yesterday.

This was a beautiful 5 mile walk, starting from Grassington and walking anticlockwise to Hebden and then around the old mine workings – and back to Grassington!
I find that the name of this village is one that gives away the fact that I was originally a southerner – when I say its name without thinking it through it sounds rather rude! In fact it’s a rather beautiful place!

Our group is very keen on doing clockwise and anticlockwise walks – it may be Yorkshiremen’s economical approach to planning walks. You get two walks for the price of one, and interestingly a walk in the reverse direction feels completely different to the previous walk – often to the extent of getting lost! We’re thinking of repeating this lovely walk – reverse-wise!

We were lucky with the weather – the predicted light rain did not materialise, and we got wonderful views over the upper wharfe valley, with the low sunlight picking out the historic terracing on the valley sides.

At Hebden, a hamlet that I’ve often driven through on the way to the Dales but have never really ‘seen’, we walked up alongside the beck running through it – up to the fascinating old lead mines’ workings on the hillside, and then turned back through some very vigorous winds for a nice lunch at Grassington House Hotel.

This Yorkshire walk is in stark contrast to one I did very recently while in W.A. in the Southern Hemisphere. Staying at a place called Denmark (named after one of the naval officers on a British ship that explored the area in 1829), and feeling the need for some exercise after indulging myself in the many attractive wineries in the Region, my friend and I did the local WOW walk (Wilderness Ocean Walk).

This superb 5 mile walk included fantastic ocean views, bush views (with a multitude of spring flowers) and good wildlife, with many black cockatoos feeding from the bushes.

The route consisted of a winding nicely-surfaced path with very clear directions. What could go wrong?

Only the sight of two tiger snakes, apparently very poisonous – one sneaking off into the undergrowth next to the path, and another curled up on the path in front of us. Luckily the combination of the snakes’ timidity and my fear meant that we weren’t disturbed any more, but I confess to talking quite loudly for the remainder of the walk, and treading rather noisily on the footpath!

Both memorable experiences, and both of great beauty. It’s lovely to be back walking in Yorkshire though!