When the Tour de France came to Swaledale

Our day started early with the first car arriving to park at the farm at 5 30 a.m.

 

 

Family & farming friends (six quad bikes in total!) joined us for a memorable ride over the moors to the Buttertubs Pass.

 

There were tens of thousands of people in the dale and a carnival atmosphere prevailed throughout the weekend



A parade of floats, cars and motorbikes came first .....

and then the cyclists (pelaton)

 



They simply flew past and so close together, it was all over in a flash!



 



Throughout the TdF weekend a rota of volunteers manned the Countryside & Heritage Centre in Keld.

Chris took his vintage Massey 35 as an added attraction.



Scilla demonstrated weaving on her hand loom and Majorie demonstrated hand spinning.

It was a busy time for everyone but a truly memorable one and will go down in Swaledale's history as a great success.

Looking West

From Pry House, looking west towards Sledale and the source of the Swale

Bird Watching Paradise

 

Every day dozens of different species of wild birds visit Pry House Farm; curlew, lapwing, redshank, oyster catches, starling, wagtail, house martin, barn owls are all frequent visitors but the rarest so far has been a pair of ring ouzel feeding on the home field.

 

The ring ouzel looks very similar to a blackbird but has a distinctive white bib.



Le Gran Depart was a Grand Day Out.

 

At first just Chris & I were going to take a bike and make our way across the fells to the Buttertubs Pass to watch the Tour de France cycle race .......

 



...but word got out and soon Le Gran Depart turned into a Grand Day Out!