The river flows on

(Thank you for all the love shown for my little Blue Tit - they are a delight to watch)

It promised to be a lovely day at last - well morning anyway. So we set off on our usual route in the Yorkshire Dales. First stop at Hawes for coffee and the best cheese scones . . . and some Wensleydale cheese of course. Then it was a lovely drive in the sunshine through the hills to Ribblehead, past the Viaduct, and following the River Ribble through Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where we last saw the river in this journal.

We arrived at Helwith Bridge, a small community built around quarrying, which was extensive, and still goes on. My first extra shows one of the quarries, with the row of quarrymen’s cottages. (I’m hoping that Gordon will do a Blip, if he remembers how to, as he knows all about the quarrying and the rocks and today he walked up to the cottages and as close to the workings as he could - he has some great photos - https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3259578555452886599 )

I was more interested in the river and the bridge. Helwith Bridge is a listed structure built in 1875 for the Settle/Carlisle Railway. I took this photo from the lovely terrace of the Helwith Bridge Inn, which was built in the 1820s as a canteen for quarry workers. The bridge has six arches - five for the river and one for the railway which is very close to the river at this point - you might just be able to glimpse the railway through the trees to the left. So there is the Ribble flowing from Horton-in-Ribblesdale towards Settle.

This is now a peaceful spot and is often a starting point for walks to Pen-y-Ghent, but it would have been a very busy place when all the quarries were in use. My second extra of the Railway Loading Facility gives an idea of what it might have been like.

Our next stop was of course Settle and fish and chips at The Fisherman. Settle’s popular flower pot festival is now in full swing - we had a brief look round, two that I liked are in extras.