A Day in the Dales

The farmer's in the dale
The farmer's in the dale
Hi Ho the derry oh
The farmer's in the dale

We sang that little song and played that little game at recess in school.  For some reason I've had it going through my head.  Now I understand totally what a dale is.  And there are certainly farms there.  And old stone farm houses and stone fences and pretty creeks and sheep,  lots and lots of sheep.  On lovely green hillsides.
So a dale is quite different from a valley or even a cove.  It lies within the rolling hills and is aplenty with trees and lovely pastures.  The perfect place for  farmer to be and to take his wife and child.

We are off to Yorkshire and the Dales.  We enter the National Park and drive and drive and drive.  It is all so lovely.  This is James Harriott country.

•  James Herriot was a British veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinary surgeon to write a series of books of stories about animals and their owners. He is best known for these semi-autobiographical works, which are often referred to collectively as All Creatures Great and Small, a title used in some editions and in film and television adaptations.

Stories of a Yorkshire vet.   As many sheep as there are here, you would certainly need a vet.
From here we are on to Bolton Castle, famous for the six month imprisonment of Mary Queen of Scots

.  We are taking away with us some lovely mental images of this magical place and some great snapshots.  Pictures are above..