Wednesday 27 July 2011

Summer has arrived at last

Following comments from some of my blog followers I have finally got around to adding a new posting to the site. After the poor, wet & windy weather of May & June we seem to have settled into a period of sunny and warm weather which is much appreciated by our guests (and us!).

The Three Peaks season is well under way now and hardly a weekend goes by without some of our visitors attempting the classic 25 miles, 5200 feet of ascent of the Yorkshire Three Peaks of Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. The idea is to try and get around the route inside 12 hours, a feat which a surprising number of people manage, some of whom do not even do much walking, but are being sponsored for a charitable cause.

Star performers so far this year were Jeremy Nicholson and Martin Spratt, regular Wood View visitors, who got round the course in 8 hours 37 minutes, an impressive performance by any standard. I am planning on doing the route again with a friend in August, so now Jez and Martin have thrown down the gauntlet we will have to respond accordingly!

The b&b business has been incredibly busy, obviously more people are holidaying in the UK and see a few days in Yorkshire Dales as an economic alternative to longer breaks abroad and the nightmare of airport departure lounges etc. July has been one our busiest months in the last 7 seasons and the autumn is already filling up fast, so I think we will be looking forward to a break in November.

Not that any of this has stopped me from getting out on the bike regularly and Chris & I have just finished another season of Lanequests (2 hour time limit, get as many checkpoints as you can, penalties for late return!) and recently tried our hand at a 10.3 mile time trial, which was great fun and will no doubt become a regular feature of our cycling calendar.

Austwick Village Show is being held on August 6th and as Sue is the Show Secretary she is busy taking show entries and making sure that everything is ready for the big day. The event is always well supported by the village, with about 500 entries in different classes every year and is a real community event.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Back again!

Apologies to all you avid followers of Wood View News (I know you are out there), I cant believe how long it is since I posted anything.

The business has been really busy since early April and the extra Bank Holidays meant that visitors numbers were up for the month. The weather was superb as well, but now the wind and rain has arrived with a vengeance abd doesnt seem to know how to stop, which is disappointing when the other two thirds of the country seem to be under drought conditions - one of the many joys of living in the Yorkshire Dales.
 As mentioned before, I did the Yorkshire Dales Etape on May 15th, for the 2nd year running, but unfortunately suffered from the aforementioned weather conditions - wind and rain all the way round. All the competitors were mystified as to how you could have a howling headwind for 90 miles of 110 mile circular route! Anyway, Chris, Mike and myself duly completed the course, but in a slower time than expected due to the appalling weather. Oh well, what doesnt kill you makes you stronger, so they say.
Plans are in place to alter some of our stone outbuildings at the rear of the house to make a decent sized workshop and cycle store. We currently have two small sheds, neither of which are really big enough to be of any use, so we plan to knock down the dividing wall and double the floor area to give us some useful space. The work probably wont start until later in the summer, but we hope to have everything finished before winter arrives.
This weekend we have the Austwick Cuckoo Festival in the village, with a street market on Monday. There are numerous events taking place over the next few days, children's sports, guided walks, race night and so on. The bunting has gone up and the weather forecast is actually quite good for the next few days, so hopefully the event should be successful and raise lots of money. 

Sunday 27 March 2011

Spring is here at last

The fine weather over the last week has been a welcome change after what seems to have been such a long winter. The fields around Austwick are full of new born lambs and the Curlews are back in the valley with their distinctive warbling call.
There was lots of excitement on Tuesday when we learnt that a light aircraft had crashed into the side of Ingleborough on Monday evening, both occupants miraculously escaping with a broken ankle and nose. Apparently a night navigation training flight from Blackpool to the north east had gone astray along the way and flown into the mountain in the dark. I dont think the pilot passed the test!
The mountain biking is fantastic at the moment, very dry and fast (and therefore clean!) and the trails are very busy with riders of all ages. My new road bike arrived at last, having been on order since last November, a Cannondale Carbon Synapse - very nice. Now to get some road mileage in as well in preparation for the Dales Etape in May.
Guest numbers are starting to pick up nicely and we are looking forward (if that's the word) to another busy season.

Monday 14 March 2011

Limestone Country in the Sunshine!

Finally managed to do a walk we have wanted to do for a long time. parked at Malham Tarn and followed the Pennine Way past Water Sinks and along Watlowes to the top of Malham Cove. A brilliantly sunny day, very warm, feels as though spring has finally arrived. This really is spectacular limestone scenery. Not difficult to imagine the glacial water coursing down here before pouring over the edge of the Cove like a Yorkshire Niagara Falls - magnificent!

Saturday 12 March 2011

3 Peaks

Have managed to get a trip on the road bike today, around Ribblehead, Ingleton and home. Quite a few 3 Peak walkers on the road up to the viaduct at Ribblehead, walking for the Children's Society apparently. Some of them were walking down the road from the Station Inn to the Hill Inn, meaning that they were missing out Whernside altogether! It's quite early in the year to be walking the route because of the short daylight hours, they probable decided on a change of plan to get back to Horton before dark.

Wood View guests coming back now, been to Ingleton Waterfalls, Settle to Carlisle railway and Malham. a good time had by all, at lesat the rain held off until late afternoon, as forecast

Friday 11 March 2011

The first posting!

Well, this is the start of the Wood View blog, intended to keep you all up to date with events and happenings at Wood View, Austwick and the 3 Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales. We hope to be able to update the entries on  a weekly basis, but if we are a bit slow in the very busy summer months you will have to forgive us!

So what's happening at the moment? Unfortuantely it's raining, but that is nothing new for this part of the world, it's all part of the charm of the area. We are just starting to get busy with visitors and the bookings are coming in fast for the summer.

David & Chris, his biking partner, are trying to build up the mileage in preparation for the Yorkshire Dales Etape on May 15th, but the wet and windy weather is not very conducive to cycling, off-road or otherwise. There is also the longer term ambition of riding the Tour Mont Blanc in August (David has managed to get a week off work!) which is about 100 miles and 30000 feet of climbing in 4 days, so need to get extra fit for that.

This weekend's guests have started arriving, getting out of the rain, so it's time to sit them down by the fire with a cup of tea and some of Sue's home made scones.