I wrote in my last musing about the impending extended Probus walk on June 12th – a six miler from Buckden in Upper Wharfedale that included the most fantastic panorama of the whole valley.

Well, we’ve walked it, and it was as good as advertised!

I know this isn’t guaranteed, as it’s easy to rave about a walk when the weather is wonderful on the reconnoitre – it can be a different walk if the visibility is poor and the much vaunted views have to be imagined!
We hit it lucky. All was clear as we walked up-river to the hamlet of Hubberholme. Strictly I believe that a village may have a church and a hamlet doesn’t – but Hubberholme does have a beautiful church (maybe it’s a village?). We peeked inside and spotted a few of the mice carved into the pews by the famous ‘mouseman’ Robert Thompson of Kilburn.

Then a steepish climb up a rough track lead to a pleasant level stroll along a limestone ridge. Seated on large limestone blocks, with a superb view of where we’ve been and where we’re headed, must make this the best location in Yorkshire for a coffee break!

We then made a gentle descent into the tiny hamlet of Cray (which seems to consist only of the Inn and a couple of farms), through meadows packed with wild flowers.

We crossed a beck on sturdy stepping stones, before a vigorous, but brief, climb. The last half an hour of the walk was level, with more fantastic views, ending with a gentle descent into Buckden on a former Roman road.

We then took the short drive back to Cray, and the White Lion Inn, a small and simple pub that provided us with great food, beautifully served.

Here am I, a few days later, writing about our fabulous walk while the wild winds are hammering the trees of Harrogate into submission and it’s trying to rain on us!
Lucky us!

PS I’ve been looking back at my more recent musings, and believe that I’ve slipped into a bit of a rut – the musings are mostly about the weather and the walks! Very English.

Probus offers a lot more than that (I haven’t even talked about our recent wonderful social trip to Masham’s Black Sheep Brewery!) I’ll do so…..