A Warm Winter Weekend in North Yorkshire

Every year we go for our winter weekend in January or February, we hope for snow and ice and the enjoyment and challenges that brings. However, our weekend at the end of February this year was more like spring. We stayed at Grinton Lodge Youth Hostel on the slopes of Swaledale. It was a hostel with a view as we looked down to the village of Grinton and over to the fells beyond. A few of us made it in time for a walk in Wharfedale on Friday afternoon, we skirted a hillside enjoying the sunny weather and were intrigued to see oyster catchers in one of the sheep fields.

Other members of the group arrived in the evening and Saturday was a full day’s walk from Gunnerside passing a number old quarries as we walked up the valley. We were very fortunate with the weather and at one point on our walk we came upon a stream and the slightly strange sight of a mobile sauna with a man standing outside in swimming trunks. This was a pleasant area where others had gathered, but we were not sure if anyone was going to use the sauna and then potentially plunge into the river! Saunas are becoming increasingly popular but we resisted the temptation and carried on our way.

Dinner in the pub at Grinton was cosy and pleasant and the walk back to the hostel revealed a clear night so it was great to see the stars and a hint of the milky way. We didn’t stay out long enough to get the full benefit as a good night’s sleep called us to our beds.

On our final day we drove to Reeth and did a very pleasant circular walk, stopping at the small village of Langthwaite to eat our sandwiches before popping into the local Red Lion pub for drinks – mainly tea or hot chocolate rather than beer. The pub has suffered from severe flooding a few years previously and had photos on the walls showing the devastation and the slow recovery. The pub and village had also been one of the locations for the filming of All creatures Great and Small.

We finished our weekend back in Reeth with our traditional activity of going to a tea shop for tea and cakes before the long drive home. Maybe next year we’ll be fortunate to get snow again!