Descent to the village

I’ve blipped a view down Worsendale before, on a grey Winter’s day. This autumnal view was just after the sun had set, and before a spectacular reddening of the sky.

This is the back road into the village from the top of Garrowby Hill, the highest part of the Yorkshire Wolds. It’s the single track alternative to the main road descent to the York Plain. Some SatNav’s send the unsuspecting this way into the village as it is a shorter route. It’s not for the faint hearted on icy and snowy days, but otherwise it is a good fun alternative.

Walking up and down here is helping to keep me fit at the moment.

On the left is the dry chalk valley of Worsendale. Some of the Dales are much longer, but this one surely has the most abrupt descent, and affords the best views beyond the Wolds to the York Plain. The grassland has been ungrazed for many years, and like so much chalk grassland now is dominated by tor grass which outcompetes the smaller herbs and grasses that would otherwise provide a rich flora of lime-loving plants. But that is changing. The highland cows that occasionally feature in this journal have been grazing there on and off for the last few years. And today I could see the difference they are making compared to the still ungrazed grassland higher up the dale.