Monday, August 28, 2017

Guardrails Not Required - Oughtershaw, UK (Showing Off "a Small Island" - Part 2)

Imagine a stretch of tarmac wide enough for one-and-a-half cars.  Now visualize that one side of the tarmac drops away sharply to the dale (read: valley) below.  Then add in the realization that there is no guardrail.  This, my friends, is the road over the Yorkshire Dales to the village of Oughtershaw.  It is also white-knuckle riding for those with a fear of heights (me), and the reason I don’t possess pictures of said road. I can offer plentiful shots of the village, so that will have to do!

This is the second part in my series highlighting the visit of my sister and brother-in-law to the UK.  Upon our arrival at Elm Cottage, we treated them to another fine British tradition – the summer barbecue, in which the food is cooked outside but can’t possibly be consumed outside because it’s 1) raining, 2) windy, 3) freezing, or 4) all of the above. 


Nevermind, while the cooking was underway, I kept myself warm by walking about the cottage and snapping pix.  



After our meal, we were ready to stretch our legs, and the four of us headed out for a meander while my in-laws (such kind souls) did the washing up (read: washed the dishes).

It was a misty evening, and brought to mind scenes from Wuthering Heights  and The Hound of the Baskervilles.  
Nevertheless, there were no sightings of Heathcliff, or a hound, or a car.  Good thing, too, since the roads did not get any wider in the village!

 

Instead, we got some of the classics: drooping tree branches coated with moss, sheep that are at once skittish and curious, and a plethora of plants making their residence on cottages and the ubiquitous dry stone walls.  And this was just the start of our Yorkshire adventure. (A relieved note of gratitude to Spousal Unit for his driving - not only was he maneuvering through the narrow lanes, he did it in a manual car!)








Linking to Our World Tuesday

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10 comments:

  1. Lovely village! But urk - that road sounds terrifying.

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  2. Hello, the village is so pretty. I love the flowers, sheep and the views. The meal looks yummy too. Great collection of photos. Enjoy your day and the week ahead!

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  3. The road does sound a bit scary but your writing style adds enough charm to take the alarm out of the trip. :)

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  4. Wow - what a trip. Those kinds of roads scare me too - but the scenery that you shared is gorgeous and we thank you for taking the scary trip for us.

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  5. How beautiful and green the photos are. I laughed at the BBQ meal cooked outdoors and eaten indoors. We've had a few of those, too.

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  6. Hi! Your photos are very beautiful.
    I like your mosaic photo very much. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Oh, yes, I thought "Wuthering Heights" as well! I enjoyed this trek through the dales very much.
    Kay
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  8. The UK countryside sure is beautiful. And the mist just makes everything even more lovely. :) I've been on some scary, skinny roads before, notably Nepal during the rainy season which I don't really recommend. :/ And my drive up to Pikes Peak when a freak snowstorm hit and everything went dark. It was the most scariest moment of my driving experience ever. All I could see was the line on the side of the road and hoped I made it to the top. Thankfully we did, but then were stuck for several hours. I was never so happy to make it down to the bottom where everything was green and I was able to get a beer to calm my nerves. Ha!

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  9. Wonderful to look at the British countryside... I would love to go back to England and explore more outside of London. .... the roads sound like a challenge!

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  10. Oh those narrow lanes. Yorkshire is beautiful. Cracking up at your description of a summer bbq in England...

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