Feizor, Yorkshire Dales, Spring
I don’t explore the Yorkshire Dales enough.
After finally getting over my post-Skye mourning and depression period, it seemed like spring finally arrived in Northern England.
Aware of how busy the Lake District would be, we instead ventured east to the Yorkshire Dales. We quickly realised that we hadn’t explored the Feizor area of the Dales in a long time, like maybe 7-years or so. Time to fix that.
Feizor (pronounced “FAY-zer”) is a tiny l’al hamlet between Austwick and Settle, and easy to miss. Home to a few houses, a farm, and the famous Elaine’s Tearoom, rising high above the hamlet are the limestone fells of Pott Scar and Smearsett Scar. These were the focus of the day’s hike and exploration.
Pott Scar and Smearsett Scar were beautiful examples of limestone karst landscapes, but they also offered immense views to either the back of Ingleborough or the shapely Pen-y-ghent.
A super day.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Sony FE 28–70mm f3.5–5.6 OSS and Vivitar “Series 1” 70–210mm f2.8–4.0 zoom lenses. RAWs developed in Lightroom, then tweaked and finalised in Photoshop.
Feizor, Yorkshire Dales, Spring by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
A near-timeless scene in the heart of Feizor. Old stone buildings, dry stone walls, foliage everywhere, and the fells rising up behind.
This quaint scene, complete with old water pump, was something I couldn’t resist making a composition of.
Round the back of Pott Scar, before ascending, one can enjoy expansive views towards Pen-y-ghent, one of the Three Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales.
The squelchy slog up the fell was rewarded with beautiful views from Pott Scar towards Smearsett Scar.
Fin-like clints and grikes of limestone made for a nice leading line towards Smearsett Scar.
Nearer the edge of Pott Scar, I focus stacked these bare limestone edges as they curved off into the distance towards Smearsett Scar.
From the summit of Smearsett Scar, the full extent and shape of Pott Scar is revealed. The day was brightening up too, albeit with a haze.
The summit of Smearsett Scar offers a bounty of limestone clints and grikes that I want to make compositions of.
Another variation from the summit of Smearsett Scar, using the exposed clints and grikes as a leading line towards Pott Scar.
Back down the back of Pott Scar, drafting clouds cast dancing shadows across Moughton Scar and the back of mighty Ingleborough, another one of the Three Peaks of the Yorkshire Dales.
Plenty of teeny Swaledale lambs about, hastily retreating back to their mums as we followed the track back to Feizor.
The single road that winds its way through Feizor.
A super-zoomed in composition of the back of Ingleborough, taken from the small lane between Feizor and Buck Haw Brow, light dancing across the karst features of the land.