Horse Dale, Huggate, East Yorkshire Wolds.

The forecast was for a dry but cloudy day,  so I delayed setting off to paint.

I drove around the Wolds near South Dalton and Goodmanham and, though some views had prospects, I decided to head further afield.
Just a note here, while at Goodmanham, behind the Fiddle Drill Cafe, I saw a sparrow hawk attack a pigeon, it was only a few feet away and the pigeon escaped minus some feathers.
Eventually I stopped at a footpath sign while heading for Huggate. The Minster Way footpath cuts across the heads of some Dales, the section I was walking would take me to Cobdale Cottage. I had painted Well Dale from that end of the path and was intrigued to search for views from the other side. Immediately I came across a problem. The sun position at this later time made viewing difficult as it cast a lot of shade on any view I could paint. I needed to turn round and seek a well lit view. As I walked George along the path I met a rambler and we talked for some time, sharing views of the area and how wonderfully sunny it was now, in spite of the indifferent forecast. Earlier, when he was in the Market Weighton ? area, to the south of here, he had seen some red kite but, in particular, the Kiplingcoates Derby, which I was sad to miss. It was the 500th anniversary of the race which dates back to the reign of Henry VIII.  I walked on, to within sight of Cobdale Cottage before returning back to the car. On the way back I put George on his lead, as a beautiful horse came cantering towards us. I drove the short distance to Huggate and headed northwards on the York Lane, and spotted a wonderful view of steep sided hills, Horse Dale. I set up, though the light was changing and began to paint. As I progressed a farmer was treating the field upwind from me with copious amounts of extremely pungent liquid manure, 'ahhhh... country smells' as my father in law used to say. In the distance another farmer was spraying with a massive articulated spraying rig.
The sky was simple today, no dramatic clouds formations just a variety of subtle shades. As I painted, pheasants called, and French partridge scuttled about. I was joined by a young farmer from nearby Wold House Farm and later by two other farmers, one retired, one very much involved not just with Glebe Farm, but also another farm nearly 20 miles east of here. We had a long talk covering lots of topics, it was all rather fascinating. They recalled David Hockney visiting and painting from lower down in the Dale. At this elevation on a clear morning, large ships, off the coast, towards Flamborough, can be seen, as well as Flamborough lighthouse. Today the air was a little hazy making viewing impossible. I found out about Churchills's Secret Army and also how, during WW2 preparations, tanks practised in this area, evidenced even now, by gaps in some of the field hedges, repair work reflecting the manpower shortage of post war perhaps. We talked of how the hedges are higher now than in the past and of game belts. I was very pleased to continue to talk with the retired farmer after the younger farmer left to take charge of the refilled sprayer. He had been born and lived in this area for many years, and, after working away in Canada for twenty years returned home. I love these chance encounters with people I consider friends and hope to revisit the area again soon. I was tempted to adjust the picture at home,  as it was a little hurried but will leave it as it is, it is growing on me.