Photographs taken on the fells and high ground above Settle, Stainforth and Langliffe in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
Jubilee Cave in Langcliffe Scar, Langcliffe near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.
Excavation of Jubilee Cave has revealed Iron Age human remains, Neolithic, Romano-British and Celtic material, vole, wood mouse and common shrew!
Victoria Cave, Langcliffe Scar, Langcliffe near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.
Victoria Cave was discovered by chance in 1837 and is an important archaeological site. Within the lower clay deposits were found 130,000 year old bones of hippos, narrow-nosed rhino, elephants and spotted hyenas. It is believed that the carcases of the larger animals had been dragged back to the cave by hyenas that used it as their den. The temperature at that time would have been much hotter than today, but ten thousand years later the glaciers returned and over the following 110,000 years the cave gradually filled with more layers of clay as the glaciers melted. Remains found within these layers show that around 10,000BC the cave was used by hibernating brown bear, but more importantly, amongst the bones of reindeer, a 12,000 year old antler harpoon was found. This is the earliest evidence of man in the Yorkshire Dales. Above all these prehistoric layers of clay, Roman pottery, jewellery, craft tools and coins have also been found in the cave. They are thought to have belonged to Romano-British craft workers using the cave as a workshop. There is also a belief that the cave was used as a shrine.
Victoria Cave, Langcliffe Scar, Langcliffe near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales.
Victoria Cave was discovered by chance in 1837 and is an important archaeological site. Within the lower clay deposits were found 130,000 year old bones of hippos, narrow-nosed rhino, elephants and spotted hyenas. It is believed that the carcases of the larger animals had been dragged back to the cave by hyenas that used it as their den. The temperature at that time would have been much hotter than today, but ten thousand years later the glaciers returned and over the following 110,000 years the cave gradually filled with more layers of clay as the glaciers melted. Remains found within these layers show that around 10,000BC the cave was used by hibernating brown bear, but more importantly, amongst the bones of reindeer, a 12,000 year old antler harpoon was found. This is the earliest evidence of man in the Yorkshire Dales. Above all these prehistoric layers of clay, Roman pottery, jewellery, craft tools and coins have also been found in the cave. They are thought to have belonged to Romano-British craft workers using the cave as a workshop. There is also a belief that the cave was used as a shrine.
Looking towards Victoria Cave in Langcliffe Scar from below Brent Scar in the Yorkshire Dales.
North of England Mule Sheep admiring the view from Langcliffe across to Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales.
Strip lynchets in the fields around Langcliffe in the Yorkshire Dales.
'Lynchets' - ridges, terraces of sloping ground (Old English).
Strip lynchets in a Medieval field system are believed to have been created by single-throw ploughing, and follow the contour lines of the hillside.
Music in the meadow at 'Meadow Connections', Lower Winskill Farm, Langcliffe in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
Attermire Scar leading to Brent Scar and Langcliffe Scar near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Attermire Scar, Settle in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
About 330 million years ago this area lay beneath a warm, shallow sea. The Great Scar Limestone which makes up the scars of today, was deposited in layers as tiny sea creatures died and became compacted on the sea bed. Over millions of years the limestone was buried by other deposits which formed small layers of shales and sandstones, often topped with grits. About 290 million years ago violent fractures and folding of the earth’s crust along the fault lines of the Mid and South Craven Faults which cross this area, shifted and raised the rocks above sea level. During this reshaping of the landscape the limestone rocks of the Dales were largely separated from the grits and shales of Bowland. Later during the Ice Age, huge sheets of ice eroded the layers of rock and soil above the limestone, revealing the white cliffs we see today. The scars are still liable to frost erosion and often have scree slopes of broken rock below them.
The limestone cliffs of Attermire Scar near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Remains of Attermire Rifle Range at Attermire Scar, Settle, North Yorkshire.
A shooting range set up in 1860 for the Settle Volunteers, a rifle corps set up in response to the threat of war with France. The range was re-used in both the First and Second World Wars.
Catrigg Force, Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
The two main falls Of Catrigg plunge six metres into a lovely wooded gill.
This was a favourite haunt of the composer, Sir Edward Elgar who often stayed with a friend in Settle.
This waterfall, regarded as the finest in Craven, was up for sale at the end of 2009 with a price tag of £35,000.
Goat Scar Lane, Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
This lane was first walled in the 16th century and runs from Stainforth to just beyond Catrigg Force, where it continues un-walled to join the old road from Helwith Bridge to Kilnsey via Malham Moor.
Pen-y-ghent and Fountains Fell from the Pennine Bridleway near Winskill, Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales.
Dry stone walls and limestone pavement at Lower Winskill in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Ingleborough can be seen in the distance.
Wild flower meadows at Lower Winskill Farm near Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
A medieval section of dry stone wall at Lower Winskill in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North Yorkshire.
Medieval farm walls were at least 1.5 metres tall and the top layer of stones protruded to form a overhanging lip which stopped wolves jumping over.
Night sky over Smeerset Scar and a distant Ingleborough from Lower Winskill in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Lone tree and limestone pavement at Winskill Stones near Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Sycamore tree on the limestone pavement in the Winskill Stones Nature Reserve above Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire.
Smearsett Scar can be seen in the distance.
Samson's Toe in Winskill Stones Nature Reserve above Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire,
This huge greywacke boulder was dropped by a glacier during the last Ice Age. It has been left standing on little limestone plinths because the boulder has protected the limestome from erosion caused by acid rain.
Local folklore says the rock was the toe of giant Samson which broke off when he attempted to jump from Langcliffe Scar.
Samson's Toe in Winskill Stones Nature Reserve above Stainforth in the Yorkshire Dales, North Yorkshire,
This huge glacial erratic, greywacke boulder was dropped by a glacier during the last Ice Age. It has been left standing on little limestone plinths which, because they have been protected from acid rainwater, have not eroded away.
Local folklore says the rock was the toe of giant Samson which broke off when he attempted to jump from Langcliffe Scar.
A distant view of Pen-y-ghent and Fountains Fell from a limestone outcrop at Winskill Stones in the Yorkshire Dales.