Beside a hollowed-out ash set in mossy limestone pavement, an interlude where skylark sing and lapwing call. Before us, the Celtic wall and Ingleborough beyond.
Hoping for field pansies on Smearsett Scar we find them sooner.
Lunch in a stone shelter looking toward Pen Y Ghent as sunlight plays over Cosh Beck Head and Foxup, our previous day’s route. To the south, a distant Pendle Hill. Our stone shelter protects us from a chilly wind on the coldest May Day Bank Holiday on record! Topsy-turvey after the hottest Easter!
Down from the Scar, we are bound for Wharfe Wood, pausing to contemplate vistas of Moughton Scar and Pen Y Ghent beyond. Wharfe Wood and Oxenber Wood, wonderful for bluebells, cowslips, early purple orchids, primroses, false oxlips, wood anemones, wood sorrel.
At Feizor, Elaine’s cafe does a brisk trade. Everyone is outdoors at her tables, taking refreshments in the sunshine, enjoying the swallows.