Malham Cove

Friday
Another gorgeous day today and we went to explore the Malham area. First we went to Malham Cove. Malham Cove is a curved crag of carboniferous limestone formed after the last ice age. Meltwater, particularly from Malham Tarn, cut back the cove as it fell over the edge as a waterfall. We spent a while at the RSPB post where they have a couple of telescopes trained on a pregrine falcon nest on the face - you could see one of the young ones. Peter and Judy were feeling the after-effects of yesterday's walk, so they just had a gentle stroll to the face and back, whilst the rest of us climbed up to admire the view from the top - which was amazing. Also on the top is a great example of limestone pavement, where chemical weathering, due to slightly acidic rainfall, dissolves and widens the natural joints in the limestone, leaving naked 'lumps' of limestone, with deep fissures in between.

We had another great pub lunch in the sunshine then went to Gordale Scar, where Gordale Beck cascades in two falls down a very narrow gorge, believed by some geologists to be the remains of a huge underground cavern whose roof collapsed around the time of the last ice age. Then we went on to Malham Tarn, England's highest freshwater lake. The tarn level was raised in the 19th century by the addition of a dam and sluice gate. The land around is in the hands of the National Trust, and the lake is home to various waterfowl - we saw a great crested grebe