Bridestone in North York Moors National Park (Jan. 2012).
The Bridestones
Rick Steves’ Great Britian describes the North York Moors as a lonesome, high, and desolate-feeling plateau where sheep seem to outnumber people. If you know Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, then you are already familiar with this haunting landscape.
The Moors sounded like just the kind of place I’d like to visit, so I did some more research and found this web page: Walks in North Yorkshire – Bridestones from Dalby Forest. The Bridestones did not exactly match my image of the misty, mysterious moorlands, but with beautiful photos and a walking trail map to boot, I was sold.
The Bridestones are large, weathered sandstone outcrops conveniently situated beside a 1.5-mile nature trail. The Bridestones Nature Reserve is within the North York Moors National Park, but our sat nav, set to the Bridestones’ coordinates, directed us to a private drive with a sign informing us that we were the victims of a sat nav error. After a lot of backtracking and rebacktracking, we entered Dalby Forest by following the signs from Thornton Le Dale, then found the Bridestones Nature Reserve without further problem.
Rather than provide commentary for rock formations and vistas, I’ll leave you to enjoy the solitude of the North York Moors.
Sat Nav and Cider 
Neat rock formations! I was with a friend from Canada in Brugge and the woman asked if she knew who Rick Steves was. To us it sounded funny (because I didn’t know who he was), but my friend answered “Yes!” She had been on 2 of his tours. The chocolate shop owner was all happy and showed us the Christmas cards she had received from him.
How funny. It’s wonderful how common ground, when found, can bring people together no matter where they’re from.
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