Swaledale Barns

A circular walk from Muker to Keld and back. After all the good weather we have had this week, we could not complain about this one grey and drizzly day.

In fact, we really enjoyed the walk.

Lots of birdsong, and great to hear the returning curlews. And oystercatchers, lapwings, and drumming woodpeckers. Spring is sprung.

At Keld, a complete novelty. A sign said "Open", so we walked into the building. The sign explained that we could put the kettle on and make a drink, help ourselves to the goodies, all we had to do was put a donation in the box. So we did.

I love the old stone barns in Swaledale. We got into conversation with some walkers from Liverpool. They were puzzling over why the barns have large stones sticking out of them, did we know why ? We did not. But getting back to our BnB our host (who is a carpenter by trade) explained all. The buildings have outer and inner walls with a cavity between. These large stones are Strooths, which sit across the cavity and act as ties. Because the stone in these parts is very hard it is not cost effective to dress the stones so the sticky out parts are just left.

So there it is.