Yorkshire rays

Today we journeyed up to Lancashire, where I was working later in the week. Having taken the quick but boring motorway route last year, today we decided to go via Harrogate and Skipton. This enabled us to stop off for a picnic lunch in Wharfedale and a rather longer walk around the Malham Tarn NNR, an area I'd read much about but never visited. Our time was limited, but we managed to see an impressive number of different wild flowers, including heaps of grass-of-Parnassus in the mires and knotted pearlwort around the damp fringes. We even seem to have ticked off an endemic lady's-mantle!

Most of the time it was grey, cool and very breezy, even though there was blue sky visible further east. Just as we got back to the car the sun broke through the clouds, producing an impressive set of rays. This area is outside the NNR, but is perhaps more typical of the local scenery - stark but beautiful. Fortunately it was only a short drive from here to our hotel in Hornby, through some steep switch-back roads and beautifully kept villages.