Cautley Spout

Cautley Spout is England's highest cascade above ground, a 180m ribbon tumbling off the Howgills' eastern wall — and unlike NT-owned honeypots such as Aira Force, this is open access common where a hobbyist can legally launch. Park at the roadside by the Cross Keys temperance inn, cross the footbridge and the amphitheatre of Cautley Crag opens ahead. The Howgills are smooth, grassy and almost treeless, which is a gift for aerial work: no canopy to snag, clean lines everywhere, and the falls reading beautifully against the dark crag when side-lit. A rising foreground shot up the ghyll toward the crest is the classic frame. Because the fells are so bare you get honest wind, and it funnels down the valley, so be conservative on gusty days and watch orientation as the aircraft climbs the falls. Sheep graze throughout, so keep launches and low passes clear of stock, and mind walkers on the popular path to the base. It sits in the Yorkshire Dales National Park's western Cumbrian extension; there is no controlled airspace nearby, making it one of the more relaxed waterfall shoots in the region. Spring melt or after heavy rain gives the falls real power.