Ten members of OFS made their various ways to Skipton for a Ramblers Holiday weekend of walking in the Yorkshire Dales. We were staying at the Rendezvous Hotel just 1 mile south of Skipton on the Keighley road. The rooms were spacious and well equipped. The Leeds/Liverpool canal passes close to the hotel restaurant so on arrival some of us set off along the canal towpath to walk into Skipton. We had to hurry back for a meeting with our RH Leader, Ray, who briefed us on arrangements and details of the walk for Saturday then introduced us to the other seven walkers on this weekend.
We set off in a minibus at 9.30 am to drive to Grassington from where we started our circular walk in Wharfedale. We crossed the river by Linton Falls then visited the church before entering the village for a 'coffee' stop on the village green. We carried on down Wharfedale, over many stone stiles, to the lovely village of Burnsall where we ate our lunch on the river bank, quite crowded on a warm Saturday. The afternoon stretch took us higher up the fells, through an area of ancient mines, as we headed back to Grassington.
The walk on Sunday was done at a higher level on the fells starting from Arncliffe Cote, climbing up and heading south west to Malham Tarn where we had our lunch break. This was very different from Saturday in much more open and rugged territory with a steep descent as we headed back to our starting point.
Despite the slightly longer journey this was a very good weekend, beautiful weather, good food, pleasant company and not too expensive. It involved much less work for the OFS organiser with all the walks planned and led by a qualified RH leader. Those who hadn't visited Yorkshire before had the opportunity to make a quick visit to places such as Bolton Abbey, Skipton Castle, Saltaire and the Bronte Parsonage, to name just a few.