The Heart of the Dales

It’s been a busy few weeks and we are settled on our winter mooring in Skipton. As the boat is stationary, we’ve opted to bring the car up and use it for exploring. Ian’s been off to the woods and Malham Tarn whilst I’ve been recuperating from my second hand operation and planning for Christmas!

Choosing a winter mooring is a bit of a gamble as there are only a few sites set up across each region of the system. Back in the summer, we’d started looking at locations across the north of England when these temporary sites were first posted. The cost varied depending on location and availability of facilities. As we like a quiet life, we’d settled on a couple of remote options that had water close by, but as you know, we changed our minds and were trying to get back to the Macclesfield Canal when the breach in the canal happened and we were surrounded by stoppages. By this point, the only spaces left for a winter mooring, that we could reach, were back in Skipton!

It’s very unusual for us to be moored so close to shops, people and lights. Skipton is full of charm and character, a Yorkshire town with lots of alleyways full of cafes and charity shops. The regular markets are a joy to wander around and remind me of the big Saturday markets that we use to have in my hometown of Congleton in Cheshire, a stall for everything and bargains galore. There’s even a very handy chandlers in the canal basin which is well stocked with ropes, fenders and all sorts of bits and bobs for the boat.

On a dry morning, we headed off back towards Pendle, to discover the aliens had landed near to a beautiful little hamlet called Wycoller. This sculpture, locally known as Atom, was one of several commissioned about 20 years ago to commemorate the renaissance of East Lancashire. It’s based on a panopticon, an 18th century design for prison cells around a circular space so that all the incumbents could be observed by a single guard. As bizarre as it looks, this curving structure sits rather well in this rolling landscape and frames delightful views in all directions.

One of the attractions of the moorlands is how dark the sky is at night. I love star gazing and I’m a huge fan of the northern lights. Unfortunately, they didn’t dance for us on the nights we went out. But there’s hope! The sun cycle which repeats every 11 years is approaching a solar maximum, when sun flares and sunspots are more active. This increased activity means there’s going to be nights when the Aurora Borealis is visible across the UK, usually to a camera but occasionally to the naked eye. If you want to learn more check out this article on Live Science 

There are apps and Facebook groups that you can follow to be alerted when an event is imminent, but it’s tricky to predict with lots of science to delve into. We’ll just take the easy option and moor up in the most remote places we can find to have the best chance of seeing them.

Back to the lights of Skipton and time to enjoy the local community and have a taste of Yorkshire. The first peculiarity that I’ve spotted was in the Fish & Chip shop, a Yorkshire Fish Cake, two slices of potato sandwiching minced white fish (cod or haddock) covered in batter (this is nothing like the much thinner breadcrumbed fishcakes that we get down south).

Then in a local bakery I saw a Yorkshire Curd Tart. Ian’s family is from Yorkshire and his grandma was a keen cook. He remembers having Curd Tart whenever they visited, it’s a bit like a curdled egg custard with dried fruit in a pastry case. It’s delicious despite the nick name that the family gave it, Turd Cart! (How rude!). I think I’m going to enjoy this winter mooring!