Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales loacated in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Northern England. It is the dale, or valley, of the River Swale on the eastern side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire.
Swaledale starts to the east of Nine Standards Rigg, which is a prominent ridge with nine ancient tall cairns on the Cumbria/Yorkshire boundary, and the main East/West Watershed of Northern England.
The moors on the eastern side of the Rigg's moorland become more and more concave as they descend, to become the narrow valley sides of upper Swaledale at the small hamlet of Keld. From there, the valley runs south for a short distance and then turns east at Thwaite to widen progressively as it passes Muker, Gunnerside and Reeth. The Pennine valley ends at the market town of Richmond, where a prominent medieval castle still watches over the important ford from the top of a cliff. Below Richmond, the valley sides flatten out and the Swale flows across lowland farmland to unite with the river Ure just east of Boroughbridge at a point known as Swale Nab. The Ure, in turn becomes the Ouse, and eventually, on merging with the Trent, the river Humber.
From the North, Arkengarthdale and its river the Arkle Beck merge with Swaledale at Reeth. Southwards, Wensleydale, famous for its cheese, runs parallel with Swaledale, separated by a ridge including Great Shunner Fell and joined by the road over Buttertubs Pass.
In many ways, Swaledale is a typical limestone Yorkshire dale, with its narrow valley-bottom road, green meadows and fellside fields. Sheep and white stone walls are a feature of the glacier-formed valley sides, and darker moorland skyline. However, upper Swaledale is even more visually stunning, because of its large old limestone field barns and its profusion of wild flowers. Only partially visible from the valley bottom road are the healing fellside scars of the 18th and 19th century lead mining industry: the ruined stone mine buildings themselves becoming attractions in their own right now, mysterious ruins, the same colours as the landscape into which they are crumbling.
Sheep have always been important in Swaledale, which is probably best-known for lending its name to a breed of round-horned sheep. Traditional Swaledale products are woollens and Swaledale cheese; which used to be made from ewe’s milk, but is now manufactured from cow’s milk. During the 19th century, another major industry in the area was lead mining.
Today, tourism has become increasingly important, and Swaledale attracts thousands of visitors a year, though it is often considered to be less spoiled than the busier southern dales such as Wensleydale, with the large settlements of Hawes and Thirsk and the connection with James Herriot, or Wharfedale, further south still and more accessible from the West Yorkshire metropolis. It is very popular with walkers, mainly because the Coast to Coast Walk passes along it. In May and June every year, Swaledale hosts the two-week long Swaledale Festival, which combines a celebration of small scale music with a comprehensive programme of guided walks.
