From here the view is across farmland below you and heather moorland above, leading up to Clougha Pike. The tower is a good point for a quick rest. You've just struggled up the hill, and the views are wide open. You also have to climb up the steps to the top of the tower too!
So now there's a long sweeping downhill run, no need to pedal. To your left is the hill of Ward's Stone, and an access path across the top lets you walk along the ridge to the huge boulders on the summit. Worth an excursion, but for now we're on the bike.
The road closes in, and shortly you are climbing up the Trough Of Bowland, a narrow gully. At the top is another point for a rest, the border between Lancashire and Yorkshire, marked with a carved milestone.
The milestone is smothered with random initials and scrawls, but my
eyes were drawn to the pointing hands that show the way:
Not much further from the Trough of Bowland is the little village of
Newton. This place is famous as the Ordnance Survey have decided that
this is the geographic center of the country. Quite exactly what they
mean by this I am not sure. It could be the geometric centroid of
England, or the UK, or just the centre of the bounding-box of England
or the UK. Whatever it is, the place is celebrated with, of all
things, a telephone box. Situated between four posts indicating the
points of the campus, and a fifth post proudly displaying the OS grid
reference, the telephone box also proclaims itself to be British
Telecom's 100,000th box.
From Newton you carry on through Yorkshire. The countryside has a wild
feeling to it. There are no large roads, not much traffic. No great
towns within sight. All in the distance are great hills, mostly
unknown to me, and looking larger for the distance. I could have
cycled off in any direction, but I had my aim - Settle, in the
Yorkshire Dales National Park. Famous for the Settle to Carlisle
railway, now hardly used, but still running occasional steam trains
for enthusiasts. Another friendly milestone told me I had 9 miles to go.
The Dales' park symbol is the Swaledale sheep. Here it is displayed on the entrance sign. From here it was a short ride into Settle, where I found a bed-and-breakfast place to stay for the night.
