Earlier this year Amanda from The Quiet Walker blog did a post on her visit to Strid Wood and a natural feature called The Strid where a river can swallow people!! I was fascinated by the idea and, as we were so close, just had to go and have a look.
Don't you just love stone walls covered in moss? :)
It was a beautiful walk through ancient woodland.
J M W Turner visited Bolton Priory and the surrounding area several times producing a series of water colours and sketches of the Priory, The Strid and Barden Tower seen in the distance in the photo below.
Finally, we reached The Strid where the river suddenly narrows forcing water through a gap at great pressure. Should you be unlucky enough to fall in there is reputedly a 100% fatality rate due to a deadly combination of fast currents, vortices, underwater rocks and overhanging rocks. It gets its name from the Anglo Saxon word "stryth" meaning turmoil or tumult.
We drove further into the Dales stopping off at a picturesque village called Burnsall. It is such a shame we weren't there longer because I really would have liked to explore more of the Dales and villages.
E catching Pokemon at the Priory, I think.
On the way back to the cottage we stopped at a pub in Embsay called the Elm Tree Inn for a meal - good pub food with huge servings at great prices :)
*D - photos taken by D with the Canon SX50 HS
That water feature is remarkable, like a minuture version of where the Blue Nile is squeezed into a narrow gap and thunders down with the force of a supernova explosion
ReplyDeleteSimon Douglas Thompson - Thanks Simon. It was rather awe-inspiring! :)
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my visit to Beck Hall in Malham. The moss on the stone walls captivated me. It was something I hadn't seen in that way before :-)
ReplyDeleteCherryPie - Thanks for the comment :) It was a beautiful sight - have seen similar in the Lake District :)
ReplyDeleteLooks an amzing place and a wonderful place to walk as long as you don't get too close to the water! I too love moss covered stone walls:)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got chance to visit the Strid (and the Bolton Abbey area). It's a lovely place and very good for birds....in the spring!
ReplyDeleteRosie - thanks so much Rosie. Believe me I stayed well away from the water! I love things like moss covered walls - little miniature worlds :)
ReplyDeletePam - thanks Pam. I will keep an eye out for any blog posts you do on the area in the future. I didn't see many birds about but can imagine you would get some good sightings there :)
Some wonderful images from your visit. I love moss covered stones and of course ancient woodland. I remember Amanda's post on The Strid. It's beautiful but so dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWendy - thanks so much Wendy. It was a very memorable post of Amanda's and I found the Strid just fascinating. I came across it again when researching places to visit for the holiday so once the family had decided to go to Bolton not Fountains it seemed an opportunity for a visit to good to miss! :)
ReplyDeleteAnother lovely corner of Yorkshire, though as you say it is a shame you didn't have time to explore more of the Dales, they are rather lovely (outside of the holiday season anyway!). The Strid and the woodlands thereabouts are wonderful aren't they, and when the river is flowing strong and the autumn colours are at their best it is fantastic place to enjoy the beauties of the natural world.
ReplyDeleteLovely images as always :-)
David - Thanks so much - do hope we can return to the area and explore more next time. There seemed to be a lot of places to walk around Bolton Abbey and I can imagine the autumn colours round there would be just superb and so beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention, it's such a lovely place and the surrounding area is too... You would have to move up for a year or two just to visit them all.
ReplyDeleteAmanda Peters - Thanks so much Amanda. I thought of you when we were there and am so grateful for your blog post because otherwise I wouldn't have known it was there. D and E were fascinated by it!
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