River Ure, Garsdale Head, North Yorkshire, England

Generally, I don't believe in taking photos while the weather is in a mood to test waterproof clothing and that's how my Garsdale hike started. That's not to say that rain puts a stop to me completely and any sunny interludes like that captured above are received with gratitude whenever they come. In a glorious evenings do follow damp starts so there can be a reward for getting a little wet.

For those inclined to compartmentalise things, it's too easy to see places as islands but it's when you see the names of landscape features that you realise that a change of mind is in order. For instance, the hills round about Garsdale girth rise to rivers like the Ure that goes through Wensleydale or the Eden that passes dramatic North Pennine countryside that includes High Cup Gill as it goes down the valley to which the river gives its name. The old name for Garsdale station was Hawes Junction and a now removed railway line continued from here to Hawes and then to Northallerton; a campaign to restore the Wensleydale line is in progress with part of it already in use a preserved railway. It's amazing how even history can stop putting things in their own self-contained boxes.