Penyghent's moods and drystone walls

click photo to enlarge
Elsewhere in this blog I have posted photographs of Penyghent, my favourite among Yorkshire's "Three Peaks", a small group of mountains in the Pennine range that forms the central backbone of the north of England. Those photographs show the varying moods that time of day, weather and season can bestow on this whaleback that looms over the upper Ribble valley near Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Today's photograph shows Penyghent in a benign mood, the afternoon June sunshine that falls on its slopes lessening the effect of the dark clouds above. Anyone wondering at the perversity of a person who would build a drystone wall running up the steep slope of the mountain's "nose" should know that such walls were usually a result of the legal enclosure of common land and were required to mark the boundary of the landowner's holding.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: Penyghent Seen From Near Swarth Moor
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 47mm (94mm - 35mm equiv.) crop
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Penyghent, Stackhouse and limestone

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One of the interesting things about ageing is the perspective that it brings. As a young child I lived in Stackhouse, a small group of houses and a farm that can be barely glimpsed in the trees towards the bottom right of this photograph. Though I was small I got to know the limestone valley side behind where we lived, the cliffs, the beeches, the rowans, the bracken and the sheep that wandered over the rugged landscape. When we moved to live in Settle I continued to walk the area, and I've carried on doing so regularly ever since. As a child, even as a teenager, I wasn't aware that the valley side was slowly changing. But, as the years have passed those small changes have become more obvious.

The bracken has spread, the drystone walls are not as well maintained as they were, the sheep are not almost exclusively Swaledales and are fewer, ash saplings are multiplying in and around the outcropping limestone, and the dew pond is becoming ever more cracked and overgrown with weed. The remains of children's play - dens and the like - are no longer to be seen. Most of these changes must be a consequence of fewer sheep and an increase in the amount of time that farmers are devoting to the core business of producing meat and wool. I haven't seen children on the hills without their parents for decades; a reflection of the concerns of adults and changes in the play of youngsters. Older people can frequently be heard expressing regret at change. However, I think this frequently arises from a selfish yearning for a known past and fear of a different and constantly evolving present and future. I've found myself fascinated by the rise of "scrub" on this part of the "scar" landscape. If it doesn't take over completely the changes that it brings must enrich the wildlife that the land can support.

We recently spent a few days in the place of my upbringing. We experienced quite a bit of rain, not unusual for the area, and something that people settling there on the back of a couple of pleasant summer holidays soon have to come to terms with. However, we did have one unseasonally balmy day when the Ribble valley showed off its colourful trees, the hills could be walked in shirt sleeves and distant Penyghent could be photographed without its obscuring cap of cloud.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 37.1mm (100mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Penyghent and walking

click photo to enlarge
I've just spent a few days in the small Yorkshire Dales market town of Settle, the place in which I grew up. From the town you can look north and see, five or six miles away, the peak called Penyghent, one of the "Three Peaks". This mountain, along with Ingleborough and Whernside form a trio of summits that constitute a well-known walk. Moreover, the side of Penyghent that faces down the valley of the Ribble to Settle, also has a track that forms part of the long-distance footpath called "The Pennine Way" - named after the range of hills and mountains that the 267 mile trail follows.

Each time I go to Settle I gaze at Penyghent to see if the Pennine Way path is visible, and each year the scar that it makes grows more obvious. When I was young an enclosure-period drystone wall climbing up the slope and cliffs was all that the naked eye could see from where I lived. But, by the late 1960s, the track was succumbing to the erosion of thousands of booted feet and it was becoming ever more clear. Today it is an irregular gash many tens of yards wide in places. Repair work by the National Parks authority has not mitigated the disfigurement. I remember, in my 20s, someone asking where I came from. When I replied Settle, the person said, "Oh, you'll have done the Three Peaks Walk then". My response, that I wouldn't do that walk because of the damage it does to the area, was seen as odd, even offensive. But, it's a view I still hold today. The Three Peaks Walk, and the Pennine Way, seem to be undertaken by people who regard walking as a challenge rather than an exploration, or a literal and metaphorical path to greater understanding and appreciation of a landscape. Their physical and psychological needs seem to be superior to the needs of the environment in which they pursue their hobby, and the effect is there for all to see.

The photograph above was taken on a walk over Giggleswick Scars. The shadows of the clouds and the beautiful autumn light and colour gave the scene an attractive quality that I tried to capture. The track that so offends me, mercifully, isn't visible in this shot and this light!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 40mm (80mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.7 EV
Image Stabilisation: On