We planned a few days away in the Yorkshire Dales but the trip began rather badly when we woke on day of departure to grey leaden skies that hung like a wet army blanket and heavy persistent rain that stubbornly refused to move on.
The weather was quite simply appalling and the first part of the journey north on the A1 was spoilt by continuous stair-rod rain that meant any plans that we might have had just had to be abandoned. I don’t mind getting wet but I draw the line at getting drenched. These days I won’t even play golf in the rain.
As we approached the elegant town of Harrogate there were some breaks in the weather so with a little optimism we diverted from our planned route and made our way to the Brimham Rocks which is a geological feature left over from three hundred and twenty five million years ago (that is an awfully long time, even older than Mick Jagger) and with subsequent erosion have assumed twisted and contorted surreal sculptures with grotesque and unusual shapes.
The Brimham Rocks is a National Trust Site and the National Trust sure know how to charge. The minimum rate in the car park was £6 which is completely outrageous. It isn’t even a proper car park, no tarmac, just a muddy puddled field. My blogging pal John Knifton has this to say about the National Trust…
“It’s quite amazing how much they dare charge. The last time we went to Godrevy in Cornwall, it was £7 to park in a field and that was nine years ago. Again, very little to maintain. The cars kept the grass down.”
I was once a member of the National Trust but in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic and the national lock-down when nothing was open to visit they invited me to renew my membership for the full price without any discount. Without any discount. I turned down their obscenely less than generous offer. Thanks to Covid I have now saved two years membership fees.
There are car parking charges everywhere now, it is a giant rip off, I read recently that after Council Tax the biggest revenue streams for English councils is car parking charges. The National Trust slavishly follows their example.
There was no way in the world that I was going to pay £6 especially as the weather was looking rather dodgy again so we took a risk that the car park warden was on lunch break and walked a short way into the rocks for twenty minutes or so which was enough really and then we returned to the car, satisfied ourselves that there was no parking offence ticket attached to the windscreen and continued our journey.
The Brimham Rocks was almost like being in Jurassic Park and reminded me in a way of Arches National Park in Utah USA which I visited in 1995. Clearly there is no need to fly four thousand miles to see rock sculptures.
I will go back again when the weather is better.
This wasn’t at all difficult but there was some considerable weather improvement as we drove further west but because of the change of plans we arrived far too early in the village of Clapham where we were staying at The New Inn so we drove a few miles further to the town of Ingleton.
Ingleton has a very fine railway viaduct which is now disused but continues to dominate the landscape and a circular walk which features a number of waterfalls.
I was shocked to find that there was a charge to take the walk of £8 each and there was no way that I was going to pay that especially as the weather continued to look decidedly unreliable so we abandoned that idea and with the savings that we had made today we bought a bottle of wine and some beer from the local Co-op and then made our way to Clapham.
In a complete transformation from earlier in the day the sun was shining now so after checking in and approving our accommodation we took a short stroll through the impeccable village which was perfect in an Emmerdale Farm sort of way.
More about waterfalls…
This is Hawdraw Force in Yorkshire that I visited in 2001, claimed to be the highest unbroken single drop waterfall in England. I don’t know how much it cost to visit in 2001 but it is £4 now.
This is Aysgarth Falls near Leyburn in Yorkshire where car parking charges are £2.30 for two hours.
This is a the Gullfoss Waterfall in Iceland that I visited in 2007 and has no charge but there was a long drive to get there…
So, let me tell you, I didn’t feel as though I had badly missed out by not seeing the Ingleby Waterfalls.
Perhaps the remedy is to get an Ordnance Survey map for the area, and to work out a nice walk along public footpaths. There’s no possible charge there, and the chances are that you’ll be parking at the roadside as well.
I could never work out why people fought each other to pay the entrance money for Lands End, when there’s hundreds of miles of beautiful clifftop walks all completely free.
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That is the perfect solution John.
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But not hundreds of places to park a car John. And by parking on the roadside in the narrow lanes in Cornwall drivers cause huge safety problems for other drivers as well as Emergency vehicles to get past.
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Good point.
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Excellent photographs of rocks and waterfalls. I think the worst rip-off parking charges are hospitals – especially given why people have to go to them.
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I entirely agree Derrick.
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I’m with you on this. I resent paying extortionate parking fees.
Bolton Abbey was free to visit and park the car for as long as I could remember, but these days it’s £10.00 per car.
Harrogate used to have two hours free parking on the city centre streets all we needed was to display one of those blue cardboard clock things to show the time of arrival, sadly those days are gone.
Ripley Castle has a large free car park, and that’s one place I could visit over and over.
I’m sorry your visit up here was such a washout.
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You can still park for two – or even three (e.g. South Parade behind Waitrose) – hours in a few places in Harrogate which are very central, but admittedly you have to know where to look.
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My hairdresser has just begun renting a chair at a different salon on Kings Road and I’m going with her. She tells me there’s plenty of free parking.
Thank you, Margaret I will look out for the ones you mentioned.
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I’ll be hustling you to get into that space you thought you’d found 😉
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Do you get up early? 😂 I’ve booked my first appointment with her for first thing in the morning in the hope I can park easily. At this moment in time, I can’t walk very far so I hope she’s right!
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Don’t worry, I have to come in from Ripon and in reality, usually use the bus. You’re safe!
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Phew! 🙂
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Car parking fees are a national scandal.
Weather was bad travelling up but settled down thereafter.
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That must have been a relief.
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I do love a good waterfall and yes, we did that walk many, many years ago and I can’t recall a charge.
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Charges have popped up all over.
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I totally agree with the outrageous car parking fees … so, let me rather concentrate on the beautiful rock formations! Love that picture of the many big rocks on one tiny rock – it almost looks like a trick! Some of our rock formations here in the Cederberg Mountains also reminds of Utah’s Arches National Park …
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Thanks for adding this.
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I used to be a car park charge refuser, but I’m not any more. I realise that the charge isn’t really about the state of the car park itself. but about maintaining and keeping in good nick an asset which quite a proportion of the public is intent on damaging, littering and despoiling. It’s a way of limiting numbers too to sites which otherwise really couldn’t cope. As jfwknifton says, choose somewhere quieter and enjoy the walk!,
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Good advice but I still resent extortionate car parking charges.
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I’m in agreement with you, Margaret….
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We too ended our long standing NT membership, and I’m pleased that we did given that an organisation which is supposed to protect our heritage, has taken on a political stance involving removing and attempting to change history. It’s a disgrace, frankly. I’ve also heard of some NT sites which are now charging car parking per person rather than per car – 4 people in the car, you pay 4 times the fee. Outrageous.
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National Trust has lost its way in my opinion. At Giant’s Causeway in Ireland they charge per person. Luckily there are convenient alternatives close by.
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Not changing history, contextualising it. A quite different thing. But I agree with your point about charging per person in the car parks.
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As John Knifton says, they can’t charge you for walking there. Another expert parking charges outfit is Yorkshire Sculpture Park – it varies by season but last time I was there it was minimum £7.50, even for the pleasant one hour walk around the lake when you’re not bothered about looking at their (mostly) ridiculous sculptures. Park in the lane round the corner and go in through the farm and into the woods.
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Free Parking Alternatives sounds like a good idea for a Martin Lewis web page.
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There’s a thought!!
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But then you’d find roads blocked by badly parked cars! Trust me I see this a lot down here!
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Improved tourist management is the solution.
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Indeed. Cornwall’s car parks are totally inadequate for the number of tourists we get here. Even before this year’s staycationers. I’m sure this applies in places like the Lake District and other tourist hotspots too.
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I don’t object to paying parking charges if they are reasonable i.e. by the hour, but it is annoying when there is a flat fee (usually at a private beach) of £5 for the day when you only want to stop off for half an hour. I don’t resent my NT membership even though we haven’t used it so much these last 18 months, but they did actually offer a discount on this year’s price if you applied for it, which I did. A couple of visits to large gardens probably covers the cost and then we can park for free in a lot of the coastal areas.
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Thanks for adding your thoughts on this.
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One of the smaller towns here on the Isle of Wight had a trial of no yellow lines and much reduced car-parking charges a few years ago to see how it worked. It worked brilliantly, people parked for shopping and left, no one got frazzled or had to leave because of no spaces and we all thought ‘How wonderful Now they’ll roll it out across the whole of the island”. Hah! Did they hell! The Council promptly re-imposed the yellow lines in the town in question put the parking charges up and now the town is losing out again to the supermarkets with large free car parks. Sometimes I despair.
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Too much loss of revenue I expect.
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Often, when we visit places, we have to make the decision whether to pay something to see something or just enjoy the scenery for free. Most often, it’s the latter.
It’s not that we can’t afford it; it’s that invariably it feels like a rip-off based on the displays and our eleven of interest in them.
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Excellent points, thanks for adding them.
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. . . that should have been ‘level’ not ‘eleven’.
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I guessed that.
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Some stunning pictures and enjoyed this read. True say car parking charges have gone through the roof and they hurt to pay!!
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They certainly do.
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