Settle and Ribblehead

One of the main inspirations for my photography is mans interaction with the environment – landscapes, but landscapes showing the fight between permanence and ephemerality of man’s impact on the earth.  I love the way in which structures both scar the landscape, yet also decay, often creating parafunctional spaces as they do.

I had been meaning to get out to Settle and the surrounding area for some time; it is an area I remember from my childhood on scout camps in Yorkshire, and is is actually very close to Leeds.  After the Settle to Carlisle line was closed for a year from a Landslip in February 2016, as an opening special there was a day rover ticket at £15. So we got one.

Settle is a beautiful town in it’s own right, with a good selection of charity shops, craft shops and bookshops to look round and some great Yorkshire architecture. We had a wander about and then hit the road up to Scaleber Force.

Scaleber Force is on the road from Settle to Airton about a mile and a half from Settle – it’s a bit of a trek up the hills, but worth it. The falls come down a number of terraces to a deep pool. Of course my glamorous assistant was happy to pose!

Something else I have been desperate to visit since I stumbled across it on the Internet (what did we do without it) is the Hoffmann Lime Kilns which are situated between Langcliffe and Stainforth. These are about 2 and a half miles out of settle, and can be walked to along the B6479, but there is also a nicer route which cuts out much of the road, through the (very picturesque) village of Langcliffe.

The Lime Kilns are pretty epic – a massive oval tunnel built in 1873 – all in all a great place to look round and take some fun images. You can find out more about the site here: https://www.visitsettle.co.uk/craven-lime-works.html.

The other place I wanted to visit was the viaduct at Ribblehead. I have been over this many times but never seen if from the bottom. By now my glamorous assistant was complaining about her feet (as we had walked a good 8 miles in total) so shortly after this we ended up in the pub, but it was good to get there and the scale of the structure from beneath is awe inspiring.