CROOKLAND B&B, MALHAM COVE, LIMESTONE PAVEMENTS

Thursday July 5th 2012
One of the bonuses of staying at B&Bs are their gardens. Crooklands had just the kind of garden I love not just for the stunning views in every direction but for the patio paving with plants growing in nooks and crannies. The limestone landscape provides beautiful rustic stones to compliment the style of this very old farmhouse.

The owners delightful little Jack Russell terrier keeps watch over the garden.

Little pebbles are used to break up the stonework and add further interest.

The garden is broken up by several levels and the native fieldstone has been used one again to form steps and walls.


Even a place to perch on dry days.

Mosses and small plants find a niche among the rocks. I wish it were so easy in Texas to grow plants int he walls. As yet I have had no success, even with succulents.

Here is a deeply sunken patio which would be a perfect sun trap on a sunny day.

On one wall a mossy covered, Roman bust, water feature from which trickles the overflow from the natural spring which serves the water supply to the house.

We were taking a day off from gardens to do a little hiking in the area. As you can see we started off in the rain. We never travel anywhere without our waterproofs.

 Under cloudy skies we headed off up the trail to Malham Cove and the limestone pavements.

Along the somewhat slippery and treacherous trail up the the cove we encountered several logs and branches in which people had placed coins. Reminiscent of the wishing well and dating back to the 1700s, trees were thought to have special powers of healing. These trees became know as wishing trees and hammering a coin into the bark was supposed to take illness away. There are some incredible examples of coin studded trees in this part of the world.

At the scar water flows from under the cliff face having reached the river by a by vast underground cave  formations.
Climbing the over 400 rough stone steps up to the top we find ourselves on the limestone pavement created during the melting of the last great ice age.

The sun is out and I have stripped off two layers. Always a good thing in England to wear layers!

Hart's Tongue fern finds a home in one of the deep grykes.

There was a time when areas of limestone like this were removed for landscaping purposes. Today these areas are protected by law and a reminder on the top never ever to buy worn limestone boulders for the garden.

How lucky we are to have our own limestone to use in the garden. The view of the surroundings fields shows a patchwork quilt of fields with drystone walls. Before the Enclosure Act this would just have been open common land.

We learn it is not easy to get stubborn cows off the road.

My jacket is back on again by the time we reach Malham Tarn.

Yorkshire view from the roadside

It's time to head back to our B&B for dinner.

And one last night before we head to our home town for a couple of nights with friends.