POPULAR adventurer and presenter Bear Grylls visited the Dales for his latest programme Britain's Biggest Adventure.

In the second episode screened on ITV last week, Mr Grylls explored the area from the giddy heights of its craggy peaks to its tumbling torrents, meeting some remarkable creatures along the way.

His adventure started at one of the most impressive limestone formations in the world, the magnificent amphitheatre of Malham Cove.

He met geographer Dr Lynda Yorke who explained that, 350 millions years ago, the high limestone pavement was in fact under a tropical ocean, that was pushed upwards by volcanic eruptions and north by plate tectonics.

However, what really shaped the current landscape was the power of ice and water, as 20,000 years ago during the last Ice Age vast glaciers carved their way through the Dales. When the glaciers melted raging rivers ripped the limestone apart creating the valleys and mighty scars of the stunning terrain.

Dr Yorke explained: “Back in the ice age, all of this area was covered in ice, and as the ice moved across and through this valley it scraped off all the surface soil, revealing the limestone.”

Mr Grylls then abseiled down the 250-foot cove, meeting professional rock climber and Yorkshireman Steve McClure, going in the opposite direction, up the sheer cliff-face.

“Abseiling down is pretty hairy, climbing up takes true grit,” said Mr Grylls.

Back on terra firma, he discovered that it was not just technical climbers who called Malham Cove home. In the summer months, the peregrine falcon - one of the fastest, most impressive hunters on the planet - makes its nest high up on the cliff-face and Mr Grylls met one of the birds, three-year-old Moses, under the watchful eye of trainer Lloyd Buck.

It was then off Gordale Scar to see an extremely rare algae, called Rivularia, before visiting a waterfall where the salmon jump up against the current in their 75-mile marathon up river to reach their breeding pools.

There was also a trip down Long Churn Cave, where, due to non-stop rain for nearly 24-hours, weather conditions were far from ideal for the team, which faced a battle against rising water levels.

“I’m not a natural born caver," said Mr Grylls. "The thought of being trapped down here is terrifying.”

Before leaving the Dales, Mr Grylls also joined a rescue mission to try to save a native species on the brink of extinction, the white-clawed crayfish.

He helped Paul Bradley, managing director of Settle-based PBA Applied Ecology, to transport several white-clawed crayfish to a different part of a stream in the area.

The native crayfish are under threat from the bigger and more aggressive signal crayfish, a non-native species now inhabiting British waterways.

"We discussed the problem of our only native crayfish, the white-clawed crayfish," said Mr Bradley. "This species could face near extinction in our lifetime.

"We did the filming on a cold, wet afternoon last October," said Mr Bradley. "We found Bear and his crew extremely interested in the conservation work. Bear himself is quite a caring conservationist.

"The particular series has been very good because it is trying to reach out to a wider audience than those who usually watch a traditional wildlife programme. We’re very pleased with how it turned out and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback.”

PBA Applied Ecology's expertise on the plight of the white-clawed crayfish has been sought out by other TV programmes, such as BBC1's CountryFile, presented by John Craven, and BBC2's Winterwatch, presented by Chris Packham.

PBA Applied Ecology, which is based at Commercial Courtyard, on Duke Street, was established five years ago and in that time it has appeared on five television programmes.

“It’s incidental that TV has come in and approached us, but it’s an indication of the level of interest in wildlife and the people who work with wildlife.”

PBA Applied Technology hosted its first ever two-day national conference at Giggleswick School in August.

The 2015 Crayfish Conference brought together over 90 researchers, practitioners, regulators, conservationists and crayfish trappers.

However, conservation is only a small part of the work that Mr Bradley and his team of nine staff members carry out.

“Most of our work is not around one species or conservation,” he said. “We do a wide range of wildlife work, including services for large infrastructure projects to make they finish on time and within budget. We work on projects that involve crossing land and affecting wildlife.”