To See The Huntress

Introduction

This has to be a non-fiction story and has come about as a result of something unrelated to The Huntress, apart from the location.

So this is essentially how most of my early Decembers are spent, which qualifies as a "Ritual of Winter"

The music is "Winter Time" by The Steve Miller Band

My Ritual Of Winter

Many years ago, I was holidaying in Orton in the Lake District, and an American friend shared a picture of The Huntress of Skipton Castle Woods on Facebook. This was a time when it was still practical to drive, and I realised that The Huntress was only a seventy-mile drive away. I suggested to Fiona that we go and visit, and on the way, we passed Settle, and Fiona suggested we maybe holiday in Settle.

I documented it with links in this story:

Settle turned out to be a wonderful place to stay, and I feel I could almost live there. This is one of the pieces about my feelings about Settle.

Here is a driving reason why every December I go to visit The Huntress. In Settle, there is a great pub called The Talbot Arms:

And they serve this, but only in December, so we now book our Settle holidays so we can have the Turkey and Pigs In Blankets Pie:

It is so good that I wrote a poem about it. Because we can only get this in December, that means that my visit to see The Huntress will always happen in December. If I am in the location any other time of year, I will also visit, but December, and therefore winter, is set in stone.

Ever since I first visited The Huntress, I have felt that I get a great benefit from visiting her. I spend time with her, feeling close to nature and appreciating true female power.

Most people are impressed, and maybe I take it a bit further, but visiting her has become a Winter Ritual for me.

To be with her in Nature is very fulfilling, and it then sets me up for all the other things that I can do in the area.

Skipton Castle Woods contain many other willow sculptures, and I do try to take those in as well, but The Huntress is the one that I come for. I do feel a definite connection, although I have never met the sculptress yet.

Spending time with her sets me up for the other explorations on the holiday.

Walking along the River Ribble, which is often swollen with runoff water, and that powers an Archimedes Screw in Settle.

My Winter Ritual is a holiday in Settle, and The Huntress of Skipton Castle is the main focal point.

I climb Castlebergh Crag and walk the distance to Scaleber Force Waterfall, Ingleton Waterfalls, and find time to visit The Hoffman Lime Kiln.

And at the centre of all this is The Huntress.

You may think that this is almost a religious experience, but it is something very special.

I have never felt like that about something, apart from maybe some standing stones and stone circles that I come into contact with.

For some, the Winter Ritual might be Christmas and New Year, or maybe a birthday or two, but The Huntress is the centre of the one for me.

I may one day discover something that has as much pull on me as The Huntress, but that has not revealed itself, and at this moment, I am fine with the situation as it is.

In two months or so, I will be back there and finding something else to write about.