Paul Lydon: Gordale Scar and Malham Cove

We left Alston in the morning after breakfast to stop off again in the Yorkshire Dales, this time at Malham.
It was approaching lunchtime when we arrived to find quite a lot of visitors already there, not surprising for Easter Monday, and a local farmer offering a parking space on a large field in the village centre. The charge was very reasonable so we had no qualms about paying to park there. One family had just parked their car and immediately pulled a set of folding chairs out of the rear of the car and set them up just by the back of the car – obviously they weren't planning on walking very far from their vehicle!
We set off to follow a wide track signposted for Janet's Foss, which is a small waterfall in Gordale Beck with a small rock shelter nearby supposedly once inhabited by the Queen of the Fairies, Janet.
We paused after the kilometre and a half or so when we reached the Foss (a Norse-derived word for waterfall, like Force) to look at the waterfall before continuing on our way.
After a continuing section of track we reached a minor road and then after a few hundred metres, the small camp site at the opening to the large and impressive limestone gorge of Gordale Scar,
A path leads thorough the camp site and soon reached the foot of the waterfall blocking the rest of the gorge but it is easily passed by a short and easy scramble on the adjoining rock.
Beyond the waterfall we continued on a narrow path rising on one side of the gorge to reach a small and flat grassy area where we paused for a short break to eat sandwiches as we watched some jackdaws flying opposite carrying nesting material in their beaks.
The path continued on rocky steps to reach the large flat grassy area on one side of Gordale Beck where we saw groups of Mountain Pansies as we walked along the limestone scenery on a wide strip of short grass with hazy views to Pendle Hill in the distance.
Reaching another minor road heading North, we turned off this road onto another which headed West near Malham Tarn before following another path heading South across grassland before reaching a shallow, rocky valley and then through drystone-walled fields from where we could see the top of the large limestone cliff of Malham Cove.
We crossed over to reach the large section of limestone pavement on the top of the Cove and crossed to the opposite side where a stepped path leads down to the bottom of the 80 metre high cliff.
Here we found more people who had walked from nearby Malham Village on a broad path with impressive views of the large limestone amphitheatre formed by the Cove.
We followed this broad path to reach another minor road which led after a short distance back to the village.
After an ice cream bought in a small shop in the village, we headed for home.