Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Dalis Does the Dales


The Yorkshire Dales are perhaps my favorite part of England so far. I love the undulating fields, the quiet valleys, the ancient stone walls that seem to go on for infinity. The walls don't seem as much a fence line to me as they are ribbons of stone, pulling me into the next field.






The four of us took a hike up the hills, through gates (close the gates!), over fields (walk single file) and were rewarded with buena vistas of the villages and valleys below.


The path/farm lane leading to Muker where we enjoyed a pub lunch.



The sheep in this valley are all Swaledale. Their wool is carpet grade and all sent to China for rug making. The farmers get only 50 pence (about $1.00) per fleece. It costs more than that to sheer them. We saw thousands of sheep so there must be profit in it somewhere.


The shepherds spray vibrant colors on the sheep so they can tell which are theirs. I especially liked these neon sheep.















Garrett and Forrest seem to like hiking.







Yeah! Pub lunch!





Forrest doing his incredible and amazing handstand! Ta da.






While eating lunch I watched this village resident slowly amble over to her spot of repose. She sat there, soaking up the sun and watching what little traffic was coming through the village, mostly horses and hill walkers, although I expected hobbits.


This cycle reminded me of the one Wallace and Grommit have.

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