We spent the day in Malhamdale, visiting the notorious sites of Malham Cove and Malham Tarn. The day involved a strenuous 5+ mile hike. Extended photo coverage is posted at http://www.flickr.com/photos/middles. Please note that the flickr photo-spread has a photo of Gordon healthily eating (and drinking) at the pub afterwards, thus I did indeed return him safe and sound. Mostly.
This is Malham Cove. During glacial periods it is the highest waterfall in the UK. Currently it is just masquerading as a really impressive and high geological feature. Actually, an impressive river does miraculously emerge at the bottom of the cliff face (we're in karst country after all) thus in my estimation making it Britain's tallest "water rise".
And here is the aforementioned "water rise" and strangely high and vertical cliff. Water rises make significantly less noise than water falls. and much less well-thought of than their better known cousins. The term "water rise" is largely unique to this blog, as is the term "hoofpath" which we will introduce shortly.
Here we are above Malham Cove on the limestone pavement. I figured one could not go wrong by taking a geologist to karst scenery that includes England's best limestone pavement. And I was not wrong. Limestone pavement is made up of large limestone blocks (clints) and fissures (grykes). Grykes are named because, if you fall in one as Gordon is demonstrating, you say "oh grykey". If that is not true, then it should be.
This is Gordon standing in front of a very-3D set of clints. He is smiling as though he's an avid geologist in the middle of a really exciting geological field site. Which, rather conveniently, he is. One of the latest Harry Potter films had a scene on top of Malham's limestone pavement. Or at least I hope it did because that is what I told my wife while we watched it. And Gordon clearly, if he knew that factoid, might have said, "if it's good enough for Harry then it's good enough for me". Having visited Malham once again, I am a little skeptical that I am as right as I thought I was... though I do think I am in the "margin of error". Oh well.
This is "Herman's Wall". Herman was Hadrian's older-but-dimmer brother. A number of yers before Hadrian, Herman was tasked with building a war to keep out the undesirables north of the border. His wall is significantly less known than his older brother's due to the fact (a) he built in completely the wrong place and (b) he left a significant hole in the wall that a band of undesirable marauding sheep marauded through (as I am demonstrating - it was a little cold to fully maraud) and herded poor Norman to his death over Malham Cove.
Here is Gordon posing in front of the "water sink". And I didn't even make up that term. Honest, guv'nor. This is where an entire river sinks (disappears) into the ground in a most distinguished and unexciting manner. Since a river miraculously appears about a mile away at the base of Malham Cover, and this river flows in that direction down (below) a dry valley, it is a straightforward and safe to assume that this is indeed one and the same river. Straightforward and, apparently, utterly and completely wrong. Karst, as geologists don't-but-should say, is a mysterious and unforgiving beast.
This is Gordon on a moor. He really, really wanted to know the difference between British geographical features and so I proceeded to give him a lecture about the difference between wolds, down, dales, moors, and bryns. He no longer cares or asks me any questions of any merit. If you were wondering, the classic film "An American Werewolf in London" involved an American man in an alarmingly brightly colored down jacket being mauled and turned into an American werewolf (do werewolves have nationalities?) while inappropriately walking on the Yorkshire moors. I haven't told Gordon this yet. Under strenuous circumstances, I suppose it's not unheard of for the translator to eat his companion in his sleep.
Gordon said he'd really like to visit Bath on this trip. In lieu of probably not actually going to visit the word-famous Roman city of Bath, I decided instead to demonstrate how to use the not-world-famous "Malham Tub". Yorkshire men are tough, and so would often walk many miles just to use a bath without any water.
This is a tree. You may have noticed a certain lack of trees up on the moors. But I have visual evidence that they do exist and can actually be rather visually pleasing. This one is a "pioneer tree". It's a pioneer waiting for other trees to come join it. It has been a long and lonely wait.
This is Malham Cove. During glacial periods it is the highest waterfall in the UK. Currently it is just masquerading as a really impressive and high geological feature. Actually, an impressive river does miraculously emerge at the bottom of the cliff face (we're in karst country after all) thus in my estimation making it Britain's tallest "water rise".
And here is the aforementioned "water rise" and strangely high and vertical cliff. Water rises make significantly less noise than water falls. and much less well-thought of than their better known cousins. The term "water rise" is largely unique to this blog, as is the term "hoofpath" which we will introduce shortly.
Here we are above Malham Cove on the limestone pavement. I figured one could not go wrong by taking a geologist to karst scenery that includes England's best limestone pavement. And I was not wrong. Limestone pavement is made up of large limestone blocks (clints) and fissures (grykes). Grykes are named because, if you fall in one as Gordon is demonstrating, you say "oh grykey". If that is not true, then it should be.
This is Gordon standing in front of a very-3D set of clints. He is smiling as though he's an avid geologist in the middle of a really exciting geological field site. Which, rather conveniently, he is. One of the latest Harry Potter films had a scene on top of Malham's limestone pavement. Or at least I hope it did because that is what I told my wife while we watched it. And Gordon clearly, if he knew that factoid, might have said, "if it's good enough for Harry then it's good enough for me". Having visited Malham once again, I am a little skeptical that I am as right as I thought I was... though I do think I am in the "margin of error". Oh well.
This is "Herman's Wall". Herman was Hadrian's older-but-dimmer brother. A number of yers before Hadrian, Herman was tasked with building a war to keep out the undesirables north of the border. His wall is significantly less known than his older brother's due to the fact (a) he built in completely the wrong place and (b) he left a significant hole in the wall that a band of undesirable marauding sheep marauded through (as I am demonstrating - it was a little cold to fully maraud) and herded poor Norman to his death over Malham Cove.
Here is Gordon posing in front of the "water sink". And I didn't even make up that term. Honest, guv'nor. This is where an entire river sinks (disappears) into the ground in a most distinguished and unexciting manner. Since a river miraculously appears about a mile away at the base of Malham Cover, and this river flows in that direction down (below) a dry valley, it is a straightforward and safe to assume that this is indeed one and the same river. Straightforward and, apparently, utterly and completely wrong. Karst, as geologists don't-but-should say, is a mysterious and unforgiving beast.
This is Gordon on a moor. He really, really wanted to know the difference between British geographical features and so I proceeded to give him a lecture about the difference between wolds, down, dales, moors, and bryns. He no longer cares or asks me any questions of any merit. If you were wondering, the classic film "An American Werewolf in London" involved an American man in an alarmingly brightly colored down jacket being mauled and turned into an American werewolf (do werewolves have nationalities?) while inappropriately walking on the Yorkshire moors. I haven't told Gordon this yet. Under strenuous circumstances, I suppose it's not unheard of for the translator to eat his companion in his sleep.
Gordon said he'd really like to visit Bath on this trip. In lieu of probably not actually going to visit the word-famous Roman city of Bath, I decided instead to demonstrate how to use the not-world-famous "Malham Tub". Yorkshire men are tough, and so would often walk many miles just to use a bath without any water.
This is a tree. You may have noticed a certain lack of trees up on the moors. But I have visual evidence that they do exist and can actually be rather visually pleasing. This one is a "pioneer tree". It's a pioneer waiting for other trees to come join it. It has been a long and lonely wait.
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