As the weather was forecast to be changeable this Spring Bank Holiday Monday, David and I went for a five mile walk along the very commercial Ingleton Waterfalls Trail. The trail boasts 20 falls with six main viewpoints. The well defined path (no worries about getting lost), follows two rivers (Twiss and Doe), and meanders through an oak wood before crossing open moorland. The area is a designated SSSI. Instead of parking charges there is a relatively steep £7 each for admittance (that was my only bugbear!) We spent a leisurely three hours walking the trail and were lucky the weather stayed dry.
On our walk we focused on the sights, sounds and smells of nature. Before we reached the first waterfall on the trail, we spied a parent dipper feeding its two fledged youngsters. It was fascinating to watch as the adult would plunge into the water, swim and then pop up with insects or fish in its beak. The two fledglings stood begging with open mouths waiting for the parent to bring back breakfast. The scene was a highlight of our visit and David got some great footage.
As we continued our walk, climbing upwards through woodland the smell of garlic scented the air and the path was awash with wild garlic (ransoms). I attempted to focus more on the flora of the area and noted a splash of bluebells among emerging woodruff and the odd early purple orchid. I identified the latter two with the help of the app PlantSnap, thanks to Sharon for the suggestion. (Sorry for the poor shot of the orchid.)
Of course the waterfalls were undoubtedly the star attraction. Here’s a selection of photos by David and I.
Have you walked the Ingleton Falls Trail? What did you get up to during the bank holiday?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Christine Lucas 