You might expect to find climbers on the rocks at the Chevin but I think you would be surprised to see elephants. (see at the bottom of the page)

• The Chevin Forest Park is a wooded escarpment overlooking the market town of Otley with magnificent views of the Wharfe Valley.
• Massive rock outcrops dominate the park which rises steeply to a height of 280m above sea level at its highest point. For bouldering enter the park at Caley Crags from the A660 Otley to Bramhope road.
• The whole park was designated as a local nature reserve in 1989 in recognition of its fantastic wealth of wildlife.
• There are a couple of orienteering courses available details of which can be downloaded from the Airienteers website.
• Geocaching   is a fun way to learn how to find your way around, using maps and following clues. There are six geocache sites for you to discoverand it is a fun activity to do with children – go to www.geocaching.com.
• After a brisk walk there is nothing like a bacon buttie at the White House Cafe and Visitor Information Centre
• When I spoke of surprising elephants I was not thinking about surprise view which is a good place to park and access the Chevin from York Gate road by the Royalty pub. From this lofty spot 280 meters circa 800 feet high you can look down on Leeds Bradford airport runway and watch the planes take off and land. Also there are views of the Wharfe Valley, Otley, Pool and off towards York
• For the wild life enthusiast there is a deal of flora and fauna to look at.

Chevin Forest

• There are a number of different woodland types within the Chevin Forest Park.
• Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland can be found beyond the West Chevin Road.
• The Danefield area of the park contains plantations of mixed broadleaved and coniferous woodland.
• As the photos show there is wood sculpture as part of the natural management of the wooded areas.
• Those infested with Himalayan balsam were subject to a lot of effort last year by volunteers who removed the weed by hand.
• Great Dib Wood is designated a site of special scientific interest SSSI due to its special geological interest. This includes features such as the exposures of rocks from the Namurian series, in particular the fossil rich bed known as the Otley Shell Bed.



Download a 5.5 mile walk the Otley Chevin Forest trail from here

The Chevin.net recommends walks or horse riding through the gentle woods, to picnics in the level grassy open areas at Danefield or climbing on the grit at Caley Crags as some of the activities you can try. I recommend the fun of an impromptu gamer of rounders off East Chevin road.
For more on Bouldering see link

My favourite departure points from Yorkshire are Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) or Yeadon as I still call it and the Hull ferry terminal at King Georges Dock.

Jet 2 operate from several UK airports but have a very good selection of destinations leaving and importantly returning to LBA. I have just returned from Tenerife where I went for some November sunshine. I chose a Jet2 package holiday on an all inclusive deal and found it as cheap or cheaper than when I had made my own arrangements.
The LBA airport taxis are a stitch up and are far more expensive and cumbersome to book than SJK a commercial operator. The airport mafia force commercial taxi drivers to drop you at the back of the car park but the cost saving and evasion of blackmail is worthwhile. See LBA Costa Packet Airport report.

As you can see the landscape in Tenerife was nothing like Yorkshire. The highest mountain was over 12,000 feet high, a good bit higher than Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent put together but then they only have one mountain and it is a volcano!
The 4 hour flight each way was fine despite a heavy landing in wind when we got back to LBA and Yorkshire brewed beer.

In 2011 I have been lucky enough to travel to Holland on the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam (and from Newcastle to Amsterdam with the badminton club but that is another story). It was blinking cold and I was glad to get back on the boat and back to Hull dock the following morning. There are some great deals on P&O particularly mid week in winter on a 2 for 1 basis. At least you feel you are getting a good deal even though the Euro left me feeling even colder.

Having said all that it is not to say that Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is not a good departure venue. Indeed Co-op Holidays in conjunction with Robin Hood Airport allow you to book your holiday easily online, with 100′s of low cost and charter airlines available, you can select from a huge range of suitable flights and also choose your ideal hotel or apartment.

Departure points to avoid include the M62 west and all other roads leading to Lancashire. I also hope to avoid the crematorium departure point for a good few years yet.
The best part of leaving Yorkshire is knowing that you will be coming back!a

I do not know a lot about Water Lilies but I know a man who did. GARDENERS TIPS

Major Percy Stewart carved out the two lakes at Burnby Hall Gardens to provide private trout fishing for himself and his friends. In the 1950′s he planted a small collection of water lilies to beautify his trout lakes. Now this garden is home to a National Collection of Hardy Water Lilies. If you visit you will see why it is the biggest collection, of over 80 varieties, to be found in a natural setting in Europe.

The two lakes that contain the lilies are set in eight acres of beautiful gardens – including rock gardens, a natural shrubbery, formal beds, the Secret Garden, a Victorian Garden and many other attractions, details of which may be found here on our website.

The Gardens were the inspiration of Major Percy Stewart who, on his death in 1963, left his estate in Trust for the enjoyment of the people of Pocklington and the thousands of visitors who come from all over the world. The Stewart Museum in the Gardens provides a fascinating glimpse into his life.

Tips for visiting Hardy Water Lilies

‘Adventurer, traveller, scholar, philanthropist, soldier, collector, environmentalist Major Percy Marlborough Stewart was an extraordinary man: a descendant of the Earls of Galloway, godson of the Duke of Marlborough, and second cousin to Winston Churchill. He was born in 1871, one of the 14 children of the Reverend James Stewart, Rector of Little Stukely, Huntingdon. He gained a 1st Class Honours degree in Semitic Languages at Cambridge University.’ A great traveller he collected many artefacts that are now in state-of-the-art display cases at Burnby Hall Museum.

Studley Royal also has water gardens to admire.

A view onto Cotterforce Waterfall near Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. Cotter Force Waterfall © Copyright -George Hopkins and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons license

Hardraw Force by Joe Dunckley

Janet’s Foss, Malham, Yorkshire by Simon Starr

Ingleton is famous for the run of waterfalls

Below is Force Gill Waterfall 290405 by Yorkshiresoul cc SA 2.0

Complete Guide to Top 30 Waterfalls in the Yorkshire Dales – on the Walking Englishman

During the hot spell of April 2011 Ilkley has been a top spot to walk and sunbathe.

To get on top of Ilkley you need to be prepared for a bit of a climb. The town is at river level as you would expect with the River Wharfe running just below the church and main street.

Places on Top of Ilkley

• The cow and calf rocks are the view point from which this photo was taken.
• The views from White Wells, Gill Head or Keighley Road also require a mountain goat walk. It is well worth the effort!
• The Tarn is a more accessible view point.
• Further along the moor edge you can’t beat Addingham Moorside for valley views.
• On the Northern bank of the Wharfe is Langbar and Beamsley beacon.
• Parts of Middleton Wood look down on Ilkley (like the Middleton residents).

Looking down on White Wells and Ilkley from Gill Head. The Twelve Apostles stone circle is just over the brow after walking from Dick Hudsons the pub that should be called the Fleece.

The houses you can see on Parish Ghyll Drive are on the 17th most expensive street in Yorkshire with the average home costing £573,000 according to research by Lloyds TSB in January. The top ranked street in Yorkshire, on top of Ilkley, is Bracken Park, Scarcroft, in Leeds, where the average home costs £871,000.

This photo is courtesy of Tim Parkin on flickr under Creative Commons license 2.0. It struck me as a nice end of day shot to round off a walk on top of Ilkley Moor.

Flowers can make fine wines. Try Dandelion or Elderberry flowers for starters.
My preferred beverage is Nettle beer (if real ale is not available of course).

If you do not want to grow and brew your own then why not go for a walk. I don’t mean to be funny but the Flowers of the Dales Festival is arranging a ‘Boozy Flower Walk from Ingleborough on 30th April 2011. Start and finish at the Tan Hill Inn! What could be better.
During Ingleton folk festival the Tan Hill Inn hosts the comic song competition. Worth a visit if you can get in it is generally packed.

The Festival for the Flowers of the Dales 2011 is running from March to October with 100′s of events.

Bat walks, photography classes, Keasden flowers, Hackfall bluebells, and painting flowers at Malham are just some of the events. The cost may be nothing for a walk or talk upto £305 for a long weekend with coaching and training.

I have just discovered other Boozy walks planed for 21 May in Swaledale, 11 June in Austwick, 16 July Wharfedale and 20 August in Wensleydale

You probably wont see these flowers on your boozy walks but you can drink in the colour from this photograph.

Moan

If you visit the Welcome to Yorkshire web site and search for boozy walks you get a list, the top 4 of which are in LANCASTER. Have we moved the boundaries at last. If not why are we wasting Yorkshire promotional brass on foreign places. Don’t bother linking