What a great way to spend a sunny afternoon! A friend and I met at Berry’s Farm Shop and Cafe  at Swinithwaite and enjoyed the Meadow Walk created by the Thornton-Berry family. This walk passes through their farmland to Redmire Falls.  At the beginning there was a feeling of “follow the yellow brick road” – while a Swaledale sheep kept watch on us.

Looking back later we had a splendid view of Penhill – before carefully negotiating the steps down to Redmire Falls, where we saw some early primroses.

Above – Towards Redmire.

And then we realised we were being stalked! This dandy fellow decided he wasn’t going to let us out of his sight!

After a while he even decided it was his job to make sure we stayed on the footpath.

But as we drew closer to Swinithwaite Hall and the cafe (below) he got fed up with us and withdrew his attentions.

If you want to know more about how Adrian and Bridget Thornton-Berry transformed old barns into an award-winning farm shop and cafe see their website. We spent an enjoyable hour in the very restful, welcoming cafe enjoying afternoon tea and plan to return very soon after spotting some interesting items on the menu.

It is a gentle, half a mile walk from the Cafe to the scar above the river. The steps make it much easier to access the Falls. The uphill walk back to the Cafe is not difficult – and, of course, there are good facilities and good food at the end.