ALWAYS HAVE AN ORDANCE SURVEY MAP WITH YOU
You will notice Red Dotted Lines which are National Cycle Routes, and Blue Dotted Lines which are Regional Routes, both of which are fine for motorcyclists, they are normally the most scenic routes to be found in the area you are visiting.

The Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales National Park has outstanding scenery, a range of wildlife habitats and a rich cultural heritage. It's a special place - a fantastic outdoor arena for recreation and peaceful relaxation and a haven for wildlife. Covering an area of 1,762 square kilometers (680 square miles), the National Park is located in the north of England, and straddles the central Pennines in the counties of North Yorkshire and Cumbria. www.yorkshiredales.org.uk

Beck Hall at Malham.
Boasting a charming stream-side setting, rustic log-fires and home-cooked food, this elegant 18th century building is an ideal retreat for both business and leisure travellers.
Beck Hall has 17 ensuite bedrooms, all of which offer Wi-Fi connection, and some which contain four-posters beds. The hotel is located in the centre of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where you can enjoy long and scenic strolls during the day. With 2 pubs nearby and the hotel's own café for residents, plus an alcohol licence, you will find plenty to eat and drink. www.beckhallmalham.com

Steve had a room in the new block complete with a steam power shower, having turned on full power to warm it up, he phoned home, next thing we knew was the fire alarm went off and we all had to vacate the hotel.

Malham Cove
Standing some 80 metres high and 300 metres wide and north of the mid craven fault, Malham Cove is a curved crag of carboniferous limestone formed after the last ice age. Meltwater, particularly from Malham Tarn, cut back the cove as it fell over the edge as a waterfall. This erosion took place more actively at the lip of the fall rather than at the sides, hence the curved shape. Water (in reduced amounts after the ice age) easily finds it way down through the many joints and fissures of the limestone and thus the saturation level never rises high enough to make Malham Cove the waterfall that it once was, although there have been reports of water flowing over the cove after heavy rainfalls in the early 19th century.

Gordale Scar-
To the north of the Mid Craven Fault in the Malham Formation is Gordale Scar, which was carved as a melt water channel beneath the Devensian icesheet. The sides of this gorge overhang to a considerable extent, suggesting that there was once a great cavern, the roof of which has subsequently collapsed.
On close observation remnants of this roof can been found to the right above the first waterfall. The left side of the cavern is noticeable for its close and intimate vertical jointing dividing the limestone into thin plates sometimes less than an inch in thickness.
The waterfalls flow over large masses of tufa, more of which can be found further downstream at a short distance south of the scar.

While we were there we found by chance The Forest of Bowland which is just to the left of the Dales, and can be summed up as follows:
Bowland is essentially upland country forming part of the Pennines, sharing many of the characteristics of other upland areas like the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales National Park but its essential landscape character is one of grandeur and isolation. The area is dominated by a central upland core of deeply incised gritstone fells with summits above 450m and vast tracts of heather-covered peat moorland.
The fells' fringe of foothills is dissected by steep-sided valleys which open out into the rich green lowlands of the Ribble, Hodder, Wyre and Lune Valleys. Well-wooded and dotted with picturesque stone farms and villages, these lower slopes, criss-crossed by dry stone walls, contrast with and complement the dramatic open sweep of the gritstone heights. On its south-eastern edge, famous Pendle Hill forms the outlier of the Forest of Bowland.
The combination of 'wild' expanses of open moorland and estate landscapes on the moorland fringe together with the transitional landscapes to the lower lying river valleys gives this area a distinctive quality of its own. The cloughs, steep sided and wooded valleys, provide a strong link between the upland and lowland landscapes.
Bowland's ecological features make it a nationally important area for nature conservation and 13 per cent is designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The moors are a major breeding ground for upland birds and the major part of the Bowland Fells is designated as a Special Protection Area under the European Birds Directive. The lowlands contain important ancient woodland habitat.
Building in Bowland uses local gritstone and has a strong vernacular style which adds to the quality of the landscape. The AONB is sparsely populated with over three-quarters living in villages, and the remainder in loosely-knit hamlets or isolated dwellings in open countryside. Traditional villages such as Slaidburn, Downham and Newton have seen very little modern development.