Easter Day 3 - North England TET

After a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Sandra, she began to tell me about her single daughter who was 40 with no children.  Perhaps i exude an air of lonely wistfulness that the love of a good woman could fix? (please apply within)   Whilst listening to Sandra, and keen to not spread KTM debris over the dales, i checked the bike over for loose bits.  We were all good.

Knowing we had to head south later in the day, so Jason could return home, we took the roads north from Harrogate and joined the TET.

There's something about travelling around your home county that makes you feel proud.  The sensation is quickly felt by two Yorkshire lads in a Gods Country.   
We stopped at a tea shop as that's the done thing up north.

The TET up here runs parallel to a Military firing range, and you don't want to be going off piste if the signs are to be believed.  Military Debris May Explode and Kill You. Odd then that the field was also full of sheep, one can only assume that an exploding sheep is acceptable collateral damage.

Lanes and skys that last forever.

We got separated when i found the shelter below and explored the immediate area. Jason came back into comms range at little later chuntering profanities, so i thought i'd better be on my way.

In the middle of nowhere, and in stark relief to the ferns, this old chimney protrudes high above the land.  A skeleton from the past, the last remnant of some long forgotten mine or factory where man and boy once told.

The views from around the old chimney...


The weather was amazing, but it has just one drawback.  Every flying insect seems drawn to your moving helmet and invariably finds it way straight into your ear.  Jason removing fly 100.

Bolting between lanes on the roads we noticed this castle in the distance and so went for a closer peak.

Looking like a scene from Game of Thrones, Bolton Castle dominates the local landscape.

To be a King or Duke back in the day must have been incredible, unfortunately my family would have almost certainly been porpers and enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in warm pig shit.

The rest of the afternoon passed as the morning had, lanes over open Dales landscapes. Lovely stuff.

Jason was running low on fuel as the Freeride has a 5l tank, so we headed for the nearest station in Pately Bridge.   It was a nerve racking ride, we both wondered if the diminutive freeride would make it.

Seeking lunch in a country pub setting, and whilst succeeding in that mission, we planned a route back to Hipperholme.   Shortly thereafter and zipping down the B-roads we left the Dales behind.  There's so much more to see here, we will be back.