Yorkshire Dales Information Portal

Wensleydale

2009-03-13T07:43:00.002-07:00

Wensleydale near Hawes.Wensleydale is the valley or dale of the River Ure lying on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England.

Wensleydale lies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and is the only valley in the Dales not currently named after its principal river, Wensley is in fact a small village, but its older name, "Yoredale", can still be seen on some maps.

Wensleydale was home to of one of Yorkshire's most famous clans, the Metcalfes, after they arrived from Dentdale. The Metcalfe Society hold records dating back, showing Metcalfes living in the area during the 14th century. They were one of the most predominant families in Yorkshire for over five centuries. Sir James Metcalfe, 1389-1472, was born and lived in Wensleydale, and was a captain in the army which fought with King Henry V in the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Metcalfe is still one of the most common surnames to be found in Yorkshire.

Bolton Castle in the village of Castle Bolton is a well known local historic site. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here and the story goes that she escaped and made her way towards Leyburn only to lose her shawl on the way, hence the name 'The Shawl' given to the cliff edge that runs westward out of Leyburn and is a well-known spot for easy walks with splendid views.

Wenleydale's main settlements are Hawes and Leyburn with Aysgarth, Bainbridge and Middleham other well-known villages. The shortest river in England, the river Bain, links Semer Water to the Ure, at Bainbridge, the home of an Ancient Roman fort, part of the Roman road is still walkable, up Wether Fell. Hardraw Force, the tallest unbroken waterfall in England can be found at Hardraw, near Hawes. Aysgarth Falls, High, Middle and Low are rightly famous and people come from a long way to see them - they are splendid in their beauty, enough so to feature in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves and also Kevin Costner took a nude bathe in the plunge pool of Hardraw Force. Other notable waterfalls can be found at West Burton, and Whitfield Gill Force, near Askrigg.

Wensleydale lies between Wharfedale, in the south, and the quieter Swaledale, in the north, via the Buttertubs Pass. The lesser known Coverdale is a branch of Wensleydale.

Beneath Wensleydale, the Ure flows east and south, becoming navigable and changing its name to the River Ouse, passing through York, becoming the Humber estuary, flowing under the Humber Bridge past Hull, Immingham and Grimsby and finally meetin the North Sea off Spurn Head. On its way it collects the waters of the River Swale, River Nidd, River Wharfe, River Aire, River Derwent and River Trent.

Wensleydale is a very popular destination in its own right, enhanced by its central location between two other well-known tourist dales of Wharfedale and Swaledale.

Wensleydale is a common destination for tourists who like walking on mountains, moorland, dales and valley bottoms. A high moorland lake named Semer Water is popular for boating, water-skiing and fishing. Hawes and Leyburn are famous because of their age, location and facilities, pubs, shops, teashops and hotels. Hawes is the home of the rope-makers, Outhwaites, where visitors can watch the manufacturing process.

The Wensleydale Railway operates in Wensleydale and currently runs between Leeming Bar, the A1 and Redmire, near Castle Bolton. The railway's long-term plan is to run the whole length of the valley and connect with the National Rail network at both ends, at Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle Railway in the west and Northallerton on the East Coast Main Line. It is hoped this will relieve some of the current traffic congestion that the valley suffers from during the peak tourist months.

Some people visit for the Richard III connection, he was raised in Middleham Castle, of which sufficient ruins remain to be well worth a visit. Middleham itself is a pleasant village with pubs and horse racing connections, with several stables based there. In the market place stands a stone carving, thought to be a boar's head, signifying where the animal market was during the 15th century.

Yorkshire Three Peaks

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The mountains of Whernside (736 m/2,415 ft), Ingleborough (723 m/2,372 ft) and Pen-y-ghent (694 m/2,277 ft) are collectively known as the Yorkshire Three Peaks and form part of the Pennine range, encircling the head of the valley of the River Ribble, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the North of England.

The three peaks are composed primarily of limestone and millstone grit in alternating strata which give Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent a distinctive, stepped appearance. Ingleborough has impressive areas of limestone pavement, and is riddled with caves, such as the White Scar Caves, and potholes which attract cavers from all over the UK. It is home to England's tallest waterfall at Gaping Gill, where the Fell Beck falls 110 m (361 ft) vertically down a pothole, into Britain's second largest cavern. The beck re-emerges further down the mountain at Ingleborough Cave, where tourists can take a guided tour of a floodlit part of the cave system. Whernside, being much more rounded, is visually less imposing than its neighbours, but its summit happens to be the highest point in Yorkshire.

The area is rich in historical interest and the summit of Ingleborough has the remains of a huge Iron Age hill fort, while the Settle-Carlisle Railway runs between the mountains, crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct at the base of Whernside.

The Pennine Way visits Horton and traverses the summit of Pen-y-ghent whilst the Ribble Way follows the River Ribble from its source near the bottom of Whernside to its mouth near Preston.

In "The 3 Peaks Challenge" walkers and hikers aim to complete a gruelling 37.5 km (23.3 mi) to 42 km (26.1 mi), depending on route, circuit of all three peaks with nearly 1,600 m (5,249 ft) of climb and descent within 12 hours, starting and finishing at the same point, as detailed by Alfred Wainwright in his 1971 guide to Walks in Limestone Country. The route most walkers take varies from the fell race in that most traverse the 'nose' of Pen-y-ghent from Brackenbottom Moor and do not climb directly from the Pennine Way. In addition, Whernside is generally traversed along the right of way to the east following the railway line, all of which add's extra milage to the route. The traditional route starts in the village of Horton in Ribblesdale at the Pen-y-ghent Cafe which runs a 'logging' service where walkers can be timed in and out. Those successful become eligible for membership of the Cafe's 'Three Peaks of Yorkshire Club'. The challenge is also very popular with charity sponsored walks and Saturdays in early summer can see several hundred walkers making their way around the route.

The circuit is also the scene of a fell race held in late April and in 2008 this hosted the World Long Distance Mountain Challenge. The Three Peaks cycle-cross race takes a longer, 61 km (38 mi), route across the peaks.

Skipton

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Skipton, also known as Skipton-in-Craven, is an historic market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located less than a mile from the town centre, being Skipton railway station and a further 16 miles to Leeds Bradford International Airport. The main road passing through the town is the A6069, connecting Skipton to the A59, A6131 and the A65. The town has a population of 14,313 according to the census carried out in 2001.

The historic Yorkshire town of Skipton is a popular visitor destination, attracting tourists with its museum, castle, golf course and the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway in the immediate area. Also close is Barden Tower, the Yorkshire Dales Lead Mining Museum and the Pennine Way. Skipton lies alongside the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Skipton is the administrative headquarters of the Craven district and as such is its centre for tourism, commerce, business and industry. It has a high street market which is held on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays.

The town's main local employer is the Skipton Building Society and its subsidiary companies and branches.

The town of Skipton has been in existence since 1085 as it is listed in the Domesday Book. It played roles in history during the English Civil War and also as the site of a POW camp during World War I.

Skipton is located within the Parliamentary Constituency of Skipton and Ripon, which was created in 1983. The constituency has returned a Conservative MP since its inception and the seat is currently held by David Curry MP.

Skipton forms part of Craven District, considered a non-metropolitan district, and is home of the offices of Craven District Council. In March, 2007 there were proposals to make North Yorkshire County Council a unitary authority, removing the level of government represented by Craven District, but these plans were rejected by the Government in July, 2007 on the grounds that it would cover too large an area.

The railway station is next door to a Tesco and a Morrisons and there is a bus station with taxi ranks in the town centre.

Skipton has two theatres serving the town and wider community. The first is Skipton Little Theatre theatre which is located not far from both the railway station and the town centre and the second, The Mart Theatre, is an unusual and unique venue. The Mart Theatre opened in October, 2005 with funds from the European Regional Development Fund, Yorkshire Forward, Craven District Council and from the Arts Council of England, and is aimed to provide a unique rural theatre, events and other facilities within a functioning Auction Mart. The theatre delivers an artistic programme designed to address local cultural and economic needs. A new non-traditional theatre space it is the only theatre situated in a working auction mart in the UK. The Mart Theatre lies on the outskirts of Skipton town centre and is located at Skipton Auction Mart, just off the A59/A65 roundabout. Just follow the signs for the Auction Mart found on all the majn roads leading to Skipton.

There is a Little Chef, Burger King and Travelodge at the roundabout where the A59, A65 and A629 merge and a McDonald's lies to the south of the centre.

Skipton has numerous pubs, the largest being the Black Horse, a former coaching inn and The Devonshire, now owned by J. D. Witherspoon. There are two nightclubs, Strata, in the town centre, right opposite the bus station and Rooder, at the Rendezvous Hotel to the south of town. A wide range of restaurants offer everything from traditional fish and chips to high quality French cuisine, taking in modern British, Mexican, Thai, Indian, Chinese and Italian also.

Fresh Radio, the local radio station for the Yorkshire Dales, broadcasts programmes from its studios located in Skipton.

Skipton railway station gives access southbound to regular services for Leeds and Bradford on the Airedale Line; northbound services connect to Lancaster, Morecambe and Carlisle; the latter route running along the Settle-Carlisle Railway, and crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct. Towns and villages nearby include Bolton Abbey, Bradley, Kildwick, Stirton, Carleton, Gargrave, Embsay, Cononley, Lothersdale and Farnhill. The northern section, A65 & A59, of the £16.4m Skipton Bypass opened in December 1981 withthe rest of the six-mile road, A629, opened in October 1982, greatly reducing journey times to the Dales. Skipton Bus Station is the centre for local bus services, and is due to be redeveloped in the near future. Burnley, Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby are served on an hourly basis by the 215 Pennine bus service. Hourly services also operate to Settle, Grassington and Keighley with less frequent services to Malham, Clitheroe, Preston and Harrogate.

Skipton has the Bavarian town of Simbach as its international partner or twin.

The first visit to Skipton in 1981 of councillors from Simbach included Herr Josef Strasser. They were welcomed by the council and then mayor Judith Hollings. This was followed on the 28 March 1982 by the first group of school pupils from Simbach. The group was from the Realschule and led by Frl Andrea Weber-Hohengrund and Herrn Toni Ott. In Skipton the party was hosted by pupils from the local Aireville School.

In July 1982 the first group of pupils from Skipton, Aireville School made the return journey to Simbach. The group was under the control of Aireville's Deputy Headmaster, John Tomlinson and teachers Muriel Hunter and John Phillip. On September 11, 1982 a charter was signed in Skipton Town Hall by Herr Strasser, acting on behalf of the Burgermeister, Hans Murauer, and Skipton's Mayor, Bernard O'Neil. In 1983 Skipton's new mayor, Brian Phillip, led a delegation to Simbach to sign the charter in the Rathaus, town hall.

Now every year schools, including Skipton Girls' High School, Ermysted's Grammar School and the Gymnasium in Simbach, from the two towns embark on a student exchange programme, as in fact do the locally elected officials.

In December 2007, Brian Phillip was presented with a special medal by the retiring Burgermeister, Richard Findl, for his support of twinning between the two towns over the last twenty years.

There are a wide variety of schools in the area, 11 at the last count, together with Craven College.

Skipton is home to Skipton Town A.F.C., Skipton Bulldogs and Skipton LMS, all local football clubs; Skipton CC and Skipton CI, both cricket clubs; and Skipton R.F.C., a rugby union club. The Coulthurst Craven Sports Centre, next to the rugby club, has many facilities including all-weather football pitches and squash courts. There are also several other gyms in the town in addition to a public swimming pool.

Ribblehead Viaduct

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Ribblehead Viaduct is a railway viaduct located across the valley of the River Ribble in North Yorkshire, northern England.

It is the longest, but not the tallest - Smardale viaduct near Crosby Garrett at 131 ft and Arten Gill at 117 ft are both higher, and most famous viaduct on the Settle-Carlisle Railway, a rail line passing through some stunning British scenery. Ribblehead railway station is situated less than a half mile to the south of the viaduct.

It was designed by the civil engineer John Sydney Crossley and the first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. It is 104 feet (32 m) high, has a span of 440 yards (402 m) and is is made up of 24 arches. It is located at the base of the mountain of Whernside.

The viaduct is curved, and as such can be seen by passengers on the train. The train journey from Settle to Carlisle is short enough to allow the Yorkshire Dales tourist to make a return day trip, steam-hauled, in the tourist season, additionally spending a few hours in the border town of Carlisle.

Approximately two thousand navvies building the viaduct established shanty towns on the moors, which were named after victories of the Crimean War, sarcastically for posh districts of London, and biblical names. There were so many smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents that the churchyard at Chapel-le-Dale had to be extended.

The Settle & Carlisle line is one of three north-south main lines, the others are respectively the west and east coast lines through Penrith and Newcastle. British Rail attempted to close the line in the 1980s, claiming the reason to be that the viaduct was unsafe and would be expensive to repair. A partial solution to this was to have only a single line across the viaduct, preventing two trains from crossing simultaneously. Subsequently, the viaduct, along with the rest of the line, was maintained and there are no plans to close it.

The viaduct is Grade II listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Settle-Carlisle Railway

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The Settle–Carlisle Railway (S&C) is a 72-mile (116 km) long main railway line in northern England also known as the Settle and Carlisle and is a part of the National Rail network and was constructed in the 1870s. Apart from non permanent diversions,such as due to the closure of the West Coast Main Line, all passenger trains are operated by Northern Rail.

The line runs through remote and inaccessible regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, and is considered to be the most scenic railway in England. The drama of its history and construction mean that it is generally regarded as one of the symbols of Victorian enterprise and engineering.

The line runs from close to the town of Settle, starting at a junction with the line from Leeds to Morecambe, extending to the city of Carlisle close to the England/Scotland border. On the way the line passes through the town of Appleby-in-Westmorland together with a number of other small communities.

The S&C had its origins in railway politics; the expansion-minded Midland Railway company being locked in dispute with the rival London and North Western Railway over access rights to the latter’s tracks to Scotland.

The Midland board decided that the only solution was to start their own route to Scotland. Surveying started in 1865, and in June 1866, Parliamentary approval was given to the Midland’s plan. Soon after, however, the Overend-Gurney banking failure sparked a financial crisis in the UK, with interest rates rising sharply and several railways went bankrupt and the Midland's board, prompted by a shareholders' revolt, began to have second thoughts about a venture where the estimated cost was £2.3m. Resultantly, in April 1869, with no work yet started, the company petitioned Parliament to abandon the scheme it had earlier fought for. However Parliament, under pressure from other railways which would benefit from the scheme but which would cost them nothing, refused, and construction started in November of that year.

The line was built by over 6,000 navvies, mechanical diggers had not yet been invented, who toiled in some of the worst weather conditions England can provide. Huge camps were established to house the navvies, many of whom were Irish. The Midland Railway helped pay for scripture readers to balance the effect of drunken violence in isolated neighbourhoods. The camps were complete townships with post offices and schools and had names such as Inkerman, Sebastapol and Jericho. The remains of one of these camps, Batty Green, where over 2,000 navvies lived and worked, can be seen at nearby Ribblehead.

A plaque in the church at nearby Chapel-le-Dale records the workers who died both from disease and accidents, constructing the railway. The death toll is not actually known but 80 people died at Batty Green alone following a smallpox epidemic.

A memorial stone was laid in 1997 in the churchyard of St Mary's Church, Mallerstang to commemorate the 25 railway builders and their families who died during the building of this section of the line, and who were laid to rest there in unmarked graves.

The chief engineer for the project was John Crossley, a Leicestershire man who was a veteran of many other major Midland schemes.

The terrain crossed is some of the bleakest and wildest in England, and building was halted for months at a time due to frozen ground, snowdrifts and flooding of the works. One contractor had to give up as a result of completely underestimating the terrain and the weather, Dent Head for example has almost four times the rainfall of London.

The line was engineered to express standards throughout, local traffic was of secondary importance and many stations were miles from the villages they purported to serve. It peaks at a summit of 1,169 feet (356 m) at Ais Gill, north of Garsdale. To keep the gradients down to no steeper 1 in 100 (1%), a requirement for fast running using steam traction, massive engineering works were required and even then the terrain imposed a 16-mile (26 km) climb from Settle to Blea Moor, almost all of it at 1 in 100, and known to enginemen all over as ‘the long drag.’.

Even then, 14 tunnels and 22 viaducts were required, the most notable being the 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct which is 104 ft (32 m) high and 440 yards (402 m) long. The swampy ground meant that the piers had to be sunk 25 ft (8 m) below the peat and set in concrete in order to ensure a suitable foundation was provided.

Soon after the crossing of the viaduct, the line enters Blea Moor tunnel, 2,629 yd (2,404 m) long and 500 ft (152 m) below the moor, before emerging in to the open again on to Dent Head viaduct. The summit at Ais Gill is still the highest point reached by main line trains anywhere in England.

To maintain speed requirements, water troughs were laid between the tracks at Garsdale so that steam engines could take water without reducing speed.

The line was opened for freight traffic in August 1875 with the first passenger trains starting in April 1876. The cost of the line at the end was £3.6 million, 50 per cent over budget and a huge sum for the time.

For a period of time the Midland set the pace for London-Glasgow traffic, actually providing more daytime trains than its rival. But in 1923 The Midland was merged with the London Midland & Scottish Railway, with the LNWR also forming part of the new company. In the consolidated company, the disadvantages of the Midland’s route were clear, its steeper gradients and greater length meant it could not compete on a speed basis from London to Glasgow, especially as Midland route trains had to make more stops to serve major cities in the Midlands and Yorkshire.

The Midland had long competed on the extra comfort it provided its passengers but this advantage became lost in the newly merged company.

After nationalisation of the railways in 1948, the pace of rundown quickened. It was regarded as a duplicate line, and control over the London-Glasgow route was split over several regions which made it hard to properly plan popular through services. Mining subsidence also severely disrupted speeds through the East Midlands and Yorkshire. In 1962, for example, the Thames-Clyde Express travelling via the S&C took almost nine hours from London to Glasgow, compared to the West Coast main Line where the journey length was 7 hours 20 minutes.

In the 1963 Beeching Report into the restructuring of British Rail it was recommended that all passenger services from the line be withdrawn. Some smaller stations had in fact already closed in the 1950s. The Beeching recommendations for the line were shelved, but in May 1970 all stations except for Settle and Appleby West were shut, and its passenger service cut to just two a day in each direction, leaving only freight.

A mere handful of express passenger services continued to operate, The Waverley from London St Pancras to Edinburgh Waverley via Nottingham ended in 1968, while the more important Thames-Clyde Express from London to Glasgow Central via Leicester, lasted until 1975. Night sleepers from London to Glasgow continued on until 1976 however. After that a residual service from Glasgow , cut back at Nottingham with three trains each way and survived until May 1982.

All through the 1970s, the S&C suffered a blight of investment, and most freight traffic was diverted onto the West Coast Main Line which had been electrified, to Glasgow in 1975. Because of the lack of investment the condition of many of the viaducts and tunnels on the line deteriorated. The only positive news came from the Dalesrail services operating to closed stations on summer weekends since 1974. These were marketed by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to encourage ramblers to arrive in the area by train.

In the early 80s, the S&C was carrying only a handful of trains per day, and British Rail decided that the cost of renewing the viaducts and tunnels would be prohibitively expensive, given the small amount of traffic generated on the line. In 1981 a protest group, the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line (FoSCL), was established, and this group campaigned extensively against the line's closure even before it was officially announced.

In 1984 closure notices were erected at the S&C's remaining stations. However, local authorities and rail enthusiasts alike joined together and started a campaign to save the S&C, pointing out that British Rail was ignoring the S&C's potential for tourism, ignoring the need to a diversionary route to the West Coast main line and in addition failing to promote through traffic from the Midlands and Yorkshire to Scotland.

There was outrage over the closure plan, critics pointing out that this was a main line, not a small branch railway. The campaign uncovered compelling evidence that British Rail had mounted a dirty tricks campaign against the line, exaggerating the cost of repairs, £6 million for Ribblehead Viaduct alone and deliberately diverting traffic from the line in order to justify its closure plans, a process referred to as closure by stealth.

Ironically, the publicity over British Rail's tactics succeeded in a massive increase in traffic. Journeys per year were 93,000 in 1983 when the campaign to save the line began and rose to 450,000 by 1989. As a result of the campaign, the Government finally refused consent to close the line in 1989, and British Rail began the repair of the deteriorating tunnels and viaducts.

As a result the S&C is probably busier now than at any time in its history. In recent years, due to congestion on the West Coast Main Line, much freight traffic is reverting to the S&C once again, especially coal from the Hunterston coal terminal in Scotland travelling to power stations in Yorkshire. Major engineering work has been needed to bring the line up to the standards required for such heavy freight traffic and further investment is needed to reduce the length between signal boxes. Local passenger traffic has increased, with eight of the minor stations closed in 1970 being re-opened in 1986. Ribblehead station has a special visitor centre. The line continues as an important diversionary route from the West Coast Main Line during engineering works, though as it is unelectrified, unlike the West Coast Main Line, electric trains such as Pendolinos need to be pulled by a diesel locomotive along that section.

Anglo-Scottish expresses have not been fully restored however. The former regional franchisee Arriva Trains Northern initiated a twice daily Leeds to Glasgow Central service in 1999, calling at Settle, Appleby, Carlisle, Lockerbie and Motherwell, but this was withdrawn at the request of the Strategic Rail Authority in 2003, and there remains no link from Yorkshire or the East Midlands to Glasgow over the line, and the link from Lancashire operates on Sunday only for the benefit of ramblers under the DalesRail brand.

Settle

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Settle is a small market town situated within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located less than a mile from the town centre at Settle railway station and 29 miles further on to Leeds Bradford International Airport. The main road running through Settle is the B6480, which links to the A65, linking Settle to Skipton. The town had a population of 2,421 in 2001 according to the Census of that year.

Settle is a popular Yorkshire tourist destination attracting many visitors from around the world each year.

Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and located in Ribblesdale, the town lies at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales, a few miles from the Three Peaks and is perhaps best known for its railway station which can be found at the southern end of the scenic Settle to Carlisle Railway.

Settle's market is held weekly, each Tuesday, in the market place in the centre of the town, which is surrounded by local businesses, most of which are family-owned, with some offering items for sale unique to the local area.

The district includes numerous caves where prehistoric remains have been found, the most notable being Victoria Cave, so called because the inner chamber was discovered on Queen Victoria's accession day in 1837. Victoria Cave contained remains of mammoth, bear, reindeer and, suprisingly, hippopotamus as well as stones, flint, bone and other implements and ornaments. The discovery of flint is especially noteworthy since it is not a substance that is found naturally in the area and would probably have been used for arrowheads.

Other nearby points of interest are Malham Cove and tarn, the Clapham and Weathercote caves, the chasm of Hell Pot and the waterfall of Stainforth Force, pronounced in the local dialect as 'Stainforth Foss', the ravine of Gordale Scar, the cliffs of Attermire, Giggleswick Scar and Castleberg, which is the largest outcrop of limestone in Britain, standing immediately above Settle itself.

Settle itself has three schools, and works on a middle school principle, with Settle Primary School, Settle Middle School, and Settle College. To the west of the town is Giggleswick School, one of the main public schools in the north of England, founded in 1512. The museum at Giggleswick contains many of the artifacts discovered at Victoria Cave.

Settle is twinned with the French mediterranean seaside resort of Banyuls-sur-Mer.

Sedbergh

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Sedbergh, pronounced Sedber or even, by the locals, Sebber, is a small town in Cumbria, England, lying about 7 miles (11.3 km) east of Kendal and about 10 miles (16.1 km) north of Kirkby Lonsdale. The town is just in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is found at the foot of the Howgill Fells on the north bank of the River Rawthey which joins the River Lune about 2 miles (3.2 km) below Sedbergh.

Historically a part of West Riding, Yorkshire, Sedbergh has a narrow high street lined with shops. From all angles you can see the hills rising beyond the houses. Until the coming of the railway in 1861, these were remote places that it was possible to reach only by trudging over some fairly steep hills. The railway to Sedbergh was eventually closed in 1965.

George Fox, a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, more commonly known as the Quakers, spoke in St. Andrew's Church, which he called a "steeple house" and on nearby Firbank Fell during his travels in the North of England in 1652. The Briggflatts Meeting House nearby was constructed in 1675 and is the namesake of Basil Bunting's lauded long poem, Briggflatts, 1966. Sedbergh School is a co-educational boarding school located in the town.

Sedbergh's parish church, St Andrew's, dates from the 12th century, although has been restored periodically since then. There is at least one house dating from the 14th century, and there are also the remains of a motte and bailey castle believed to date back to Saxon times.

Sedbergh's main industries for many years were Sedbergh School, founded 1525, farming and the production of various woollen garments.

Wool sheared from the extensive stocks of sheep was taken to local mills where it was turned into yarn from which people in their homes would knit clothing, including hats and socks. The garments were then sold by local merchants to, amongst other places, the coal miners in the north east of England. This trade has long since gone but is remembered at Farfield Mill, just outside the town, where there is an exhibition of weaving equipment, and workshops for a number of artists and crafts workers. There are still numerous sheep in the surrounding fields some of which are now raised primarily to protect the breed, notably the Rough Fell sheep.

Income now comes from a variety of sources: the schools are still the main employer in the town, but Sedbergh has recently become known as England's book town with six independent bookshops and many more dealers who operate from the Dales and Lakes Book Centre. It is also possible that the turnover of small to medium manufacturing and wholesale companies matches or exceeds that of the schools - a changing feature of the economy. Other major sources of income are farming, retail and, of course, tourism. It is envisaged that tourism will increase after the efforts of Sedbergh to find a twin town were featured in a BBC documentary, The Town That Wants A Twin, in January 2005 and subsequently the town was twinned with Zrece in north eastern Slovenia.

There is another school in Montebello, Quebec, Canada named Sedbergh School. One of its founders, Frank Duxbury, attended Sedbergh School, U.K. and was a 3 timer winner of the Wilson Run.

Sedbergh resident, Sam Rusling was filmed as a contestant on the TV quiz show, the Weakest Link in 2006 but the episode was never broadcast after he allegedly called the host, Anne Robinson, "dog breath", whilst she was reading a question.

Gordale Scar

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Gordale Scar is a dramatic limestone ravine near to Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It is home to two waterfalls and has overhanging cliffs of limestone over 100 metres high. The gorge was formed by water from melting glaciers . Gordale Scar is one of the main highlights of any visit to Malham. The stream flowing through the scar is Gordale Beck, which unites with Malham Beck 2 miles downstream to form the River Aire. A right of way leads up the gorge, but needs some mild scrambling over tufa at the lower waterfall.

William Wordsworth wrote a sonnet about this vast gorge with its impressive waterfalls and James Ward created a large and imaginative painting of it that can be seen in the Tate Gallery in London.

Malham Cove

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Malham Cove is a natural limestone formation, regarded as a national beauty spot, near Malham, North Yorkshire, England. It comprises a huge, curved limestone cliff at the top of a valley, with a fine area of limestone pavement at the top.

Adam Walker described the cove like this in 1779:

"This beautiful rock is like the age-tinted wall of a prodigious castle; the stone is very white, and from the ledges hang various shrubs and vegetables, which with the tints given it by the bog water gives it a variety that I never before saw so pleasing in a plain rock".

Originally, a large waterfall cascaded over the cove as a glacier melted above it. The remnants of a stream which once dropped over the cliff flows out of the small lake of Malham Tarn, on the moors above the cove. The stream now disappears under the ground at the appropriately named 'Water Sinks', several kilometres before its valley reaches the top of the cove. A stream of similar size emerges from a cave at the bottom of the cove, and it was for many years assumed that the two streams were in fact one and the same. However, experiments with dyes have now shown that this is not actually the case. Rather two streams go underground at different points, cross paths without mixing behind the cliff, and reappear many miles apart. That this is possible testifies to the complexity of the system of caves behind the cliff, which are thought to date back around 50,000 years.

The lip of the cove has been subject to more erosion than the sides, creating a curved shape. A colossal amount of water used to plummet over this waterfall, which measures 80 m high and over 300 m wide and some experts say that the flow would have been about the same as that of the Niagara Falls today. However, the limestone does not get sufficiently saturated for the fall to become active nowadays. The last record of water flowing over the fall in any kind of volume goes back to the early 19th century after a period of heavy precipitation.

The Cove and nearby Gordale Scar, were featured on the TV programme "Seven Natural Wonders" as one of the main wonders of Yorkshire.

The valley formed at the end of the last Ice Age when the ground was frozen and the normally porous limestone was made impermeable. The frozen ground meant that meltwater from the melting ice sheet formed a large river flowing over the surface and this in turn eroded the valley that we see today. The water from this river cascaded over Malham Cove to form a huge waterfall. When the climate became warmer, around 12,000 years ago the ground thawed and the river in the valley disappeared underground leaving the valley dry as we see it today.

Swaledale

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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.

Kisdon Force

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Kisdon Force is a series of waterfalls, located on the River Swale in Swaledale, northern England. The falls are situated within the Yorkshire Dales National Park in the county of North Yorkshire, approximately 500 metres downstream from the small village of Keld. Kisdon Force is one of several waterfalls on the Swale in and around the Keld area, the others being East Gill Force, Catrake Force and Wain Wath Force. All occur where the river swathes a gorge through the carboniferous limestone between the hills of Kisdon and Rogan's Seat. The falls in this area are called forces after the Norse word Fors or Foss, which means waterfall.

The falls plummet ten metres over two cascades and are surrounded by mixed broad-leaved woodland with the trees of ash, wych elm and rowan dominating. In the spring primula vulgaris grows profusely in the area. The falls can be easily visited by a riverside path from Keld; however, but care should be taken as the stones around the falls are fequently wet and slippery. Tourist numbers to the falls are swelled by Pennine Way walkers, as the long-distance footpath passes by the falls on its way north.

Horton in Ribblesdale

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Horton in Ribblesdale is a small village, situated in Ribblesdale in the county of North Yorkshire, on the Settle/Carlisle Railway to the west of Pen-y-ghent.

Horton in Ribblesdale was historically a part of Ewcross wapentake located in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It became a parish town early in the 12th Century when the church of St. Oswald was established and this church in turn was historically associated with the Deanery of Chester, and part of the Diocese of York although, today it is part of the Diocese of Bradford with records dating back to 1556.

In the 13th Century the village and parish were ruled by rival monastic orders at nearby Jervaulx Abbey and Fountains Abbey. Their dispute started from a 1220 transfer of property here by William de Mowbray to the Fountains monks, which challenged the primacy of an earlier grant by Henry III to Jervaulx's predecessors at Fors Abbey. It was not until 1315 that this dispute was firmly settled, when Edward II confirmed the Abbot of Jervaulx as Lord of Horton in Ribblesdale.

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the monks' interests at Horton in Ribblesdale was deemed to have an annual income of 32 pounds, 5 shillings; and was given to the Earl of Lennox. He, in turn, disposed of the manor lands about 1569 or 1570 to a syndicate comprising of John Lennard, Ralph Scrope, Ralph Rokebie, Sampson Lennard, William Forest, Robert Cloughe, and Henry Dyxon.

It appears the manor lands were eventually held solely by the family of John Lennard, the first named member of the syndicate. His daughter Lady Anne Lennard married Sir Leonard Bosville of Bradburne in Kent, and together they sold their interests at Horton in Ribblesdale during the reign of Charles II to a syndicate consisting of Lawrence Burton, Richard Wigglesworth, and Francis Howson.

In 1597 Horton in Ribblesdale, like much of northern England, was struck by the killer plague. This is confirmed by the parish burial register, which shows 74 deaths that year compared to just 17 deaths during the preceding and succeeding years. Those lost to this pandemic amounted to approximately one-eighth of the parish's population.

In 1725, the local squire, John Armistead left an endowment to construct a free grammar school here.

Horton in Ribblesdale is the traditional starting, and indeed finishing, point for the Three Peaks walk. The Pennine Way and Ribble Way long-distance footpaths both pass through the village.

The region is well known for caving and potholing, with Alum Pot and the Long Churn cave system just to the north of the village, and Hull Pot and Hunt Pot on the western side of Pen-y-ghent in England.

The Three Peaks walk is a recognised endurance challenge of some 26 miles distance, which includes some 5,000 feet of ascent and descent of the mountains of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, all of which to be completed in under 12 hours and attracts thousands of walkers each year.

The circuit is also used for a well established fell race in April, while the gruelling Three Peaks cyclo-cross race also visits the three summits in the course of a longer 38-mile route on the last Sunday in September each year. Participants in both the running and cycling race regularly achieve winning times of around three hours, and it is not unknown for both races in the year to be won by the same competitor.

The village has two pubs, The Crown Hotel and The Golden Lion, a village store as well as a cafe and various tea rooms. The village Post Office that was previously located in the village store is now situated in The Crown Hotel and only open Monday afternoon pm and Thursday morning.

The village church is dedicated to St Oswald and has a complete Norman nave, south door and tub-font and is the most complete of the Norman churches built in the Yorkshire dales after the Norman conquest and the Harrying of the North that followed. The square tower was added later and the lychgates to enter the churchyard are roofed with huge slabs of Horton slate.

Other buildings in Horton are very typical of the area. Seventeenth-century yeomens' farmhouses can be found towards the edge of the village, and later cottages can be seen nearer the centre. In the 1870s the new railway resulted in the building of Victorian terraced housing and later the local quarrying of limestone led to the building of housing for the quarrymen.

Hardrew Force

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Hardrew Force is a waterfall found on the Hardraw Beck in a wooded ravine outside the hamlet of Hardraw at the base of Buttertubs Pass and the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. The Pennine Way long distance footpath passes very close to it.

Comprising a single drop of 100 feet from a rocky overhang, Hardraw Force is thought to be England's highest unbroken waterfall, at least discounting underground falls. The underground waterfall inside nearby Gaping Gill on the western flank of Ingleborough does in fact have an unbroken fall of over 300 feet.

The falls were used as a location in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in the scene where Maid Marian finds Robin Hood bathing under the waterfall.

Access behind the falls is no longer allowed. Public viewing of Hardraw Force is rather strange to say the least, as the visitor has to go through the bar of the Green Dragon Inn public house in Hardraw to reach the falls; an entrance fee being payable on the way through the pub, which is currently £2 per adult.

Hardraw Force is the setting for a brass band competition held each year on the second Sunday in September. The competition was first held in the falls' natural amphitheatre in 1884 when six bands took part; and having lapsed in 1927 was revived in 1976 and has gone from strength to strength since. In recent years two other musical events have also started up at the falls: the Hawdraw Bash is a Folk Rock concert in early July and the Hardraw Gathering a three-day festival of traditional music around the end of July.

Gaping Gill

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Gaping Gill, often known as Gaping Ghyll, is one of the unmistakable landmarks on the mountain of Ingleborough in North Yorkshire, being a 105 metre deep pothole with the stream Fell Beck flowing into it. After falling through one of the largest known underground chambers in Britain, the water disappears into the bouldery floor and finally resurges out of Ingleborough Cave.

The first recorded attempted descent was by J. Birkbeck in 1842 who managed to reach a ledge approximately 55 metres (180 ft) down the shaft which now bears his name. The first completed descent was made by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1895.

As a result of the number of entrances which connect into the cave, many different routes through and around the system are possible. Other entrances include the interestingly named Disappointment Pot, Stream Passage Pot, Bar Pot, Hensler's Pot, Corky's Pot, and Flood Entrance Pot. In 1983 members of the Cave Diving Group were able to make the underwater connection into Ingleborough Cave.

The Bradford Pothole Club, around Whitsun May Bank Holiday and the Craven Pothole Club, around August Bank Holiday each set up a winch above the shaft to provide rides to the bottom and back out again for any member of the public who buys a ticket.

An extreme rock-climb is possible up the main shaft which needs very dry conditions. It was first pioneered in 1972 with ten help points, and the first free ascent was made in 1988.

The shaft was thought for a long time to be the largest in Britain, until the existence of Titan in Derbyshire was publicised in 2006 after its discovery in 1999. Gaping Gill still retains the record for the tallest unbroken waterfall in England and the largest underground chamber which is naturally open to the surface.

Cautley Spout

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Cautley Spout is generally thought to be England's highest waterfall above ground. The broken cascade of falls tumbles 580 feet (175 m) down a cliff face at the head of a wild and bleak glacial valley that descends from a high plateau called The Calf. It is found in the Howgill Fells, traditionally in the West Riding of Yorkshire but now in Cumbria on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The waterfall lies just north of the small town of Sedbergh and is one of the few cascade falls in England, most being tiered or plunge falls.

Famou visitors include the cricketer Alfred Kelly, who described the scene: "A picture could not portray this beauty, even if the picture was indeed perfect, for this perfection can only be seen firsthand".

Clapham

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Clapham is a village situated in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England and was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It lies within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, roughly 6 miles north west of Settle, off the A65.

St. James Church in Clapham was founded in Norman times, and was originally dedicated to St. Michael. It is also in recorded in receords dating back to 1160. Regretfully , it and the rest of the village were burned during a Scottish raid following the Battle of Bannockburn in the early 14th-century. The church tower was thought to have been erected following this incident, but the rest of the church only dates from the 19th-century.

In the 14th century John de Clapham, whose surname derived from the village, was a supporter of the earl of Warwick and lived at Clapdale Castle. His ancestors also fought in the Wars of the Roses, albeit on the side of the House of Lancaster.

Since the 18th century Clapham has been home to the Farrer family who established the Ingleborough estate there. The family owns and maintains much of the land, walls, woods, fields and moors of the village, surrounding countryside and farms.

Electricity has been generated on the Ingleborough estate as far back as 1893. There is still an operational water turbine-powered generator at the top of the village near to the waterfall which was installed in 1948 and originally supplied the church, Ingleborough Hall, Home Farm and 13 street lights. There is another turbine in the sawmill which is also still in use although it is now assisted by an electric motor when the larger saw is in use.

Clapham is located at the base of Ingleborough mountain, one of Yorkshire's famous "Three Peaks" of Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-ghent, and is a well known starting point for its climb.

Clapham Beck runs through the village which is fed from Fell Beck starting on the slopes of Ingleborough and sinking into Gaping Gill, England's highest waterfall, where Fell Beck drops 110 metres vertically down a pothole, and exits from Ingleborough Cave into Clapham Beck. The beck then runs into the River Lune via the River Wenning. The beck is crossed by a total of four bridges in the village, two footbridges: Brokken Bridge and Mafeking Bridge, and two road bridges.

Directly above the village is a man-made lake built and expanded in the 19th century, which provided pressure for the water turbines and the drinking water supply, while the outflow fed an artificial waterfall at the top of the village.

Clapham lies just below the Craven fault which is a geological fault marking the division of the sandstone rocks of the Bowland area and the limestone of the Ingleborough area. The presence of the Craven fault means that the soil is acidic not alkaline which is beneficial to the nearby species of rhododendron which tend to suffer in alkaline soils.

The well known modern playwright Alan Bennett has a country cottage in the village and the notable botanist Reginald Farrer was born and lived in Clapham. He collected many new species of rhododendrons, shrubs and alpines in China, Tibet and Upper Burma early in the 20th century which in turn were planted on the Estate by Farrer. In certain places he fired seeds at cliff faces from a shotgun, to try and give a ‘natural’ spread to his rock plants.

Rhododendrons planted by Reginald Farrer can still be seen growing in the woods above the village.

The village contains Clapham CE Primary School, a village hall, one pub, the New Inn, a local shop and post office, and a few businesses, B&Bs and guest houses, including Brookhouse Guest House, located next to Clapham Beck itself.

Being within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the car park is under their ownership with fees going directly to them.

Based in the village is the Cave Rescue Organisation which serves people and animals above and below ground across the wider area of the Dales. They also set up a winch down Gaping Gill together with local caving clubs, on Spring and August bank holidays each year, which are open to the general public.

The village is served by Clapham railway station which is located one mile away.

Bolton Castle

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Bolton Castle can be found in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales. The nearby settlement, Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle which is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

It was built between 1378 and 1399 by Richard le Scrope, Lord Chancellor, and is a fine example of a quadrangular castle. The castle is still owned by descendants of the Scrope family and is a major tourist attraction. The castle, although damaged in the English Civil War, still retains much of the original structure. Mary, Queen of Scots, was held captive for six months in the castle.

The castle was reputed to cost 18000 Marks and the licence to build it was granted in July 1379. A contract with the stonemason Johan Lewyn was made in September 1378. Leland described 'An Astronomical Clock' in the courtyard and also described how smoke was conveyed from the hearth in the hall through the tunnels. Bolton Castle was noted by Sir Francis Knollys as having 'The highest walls of any house he had seen'.

Several films and television productions have had the site as a location including Ivanhoe, Elizabeth, Heartbeat, and All Creatures Great and Small.

As well as the castle there is a garden and a vineyard on the site.

Reeth

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Reeth is a small town in the Yorkshire Dales located in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England and principal settlement of Swaledale. It can be found at the meeting point of the two most northerly of the Yorkshire Dales, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale.

In Saxon times Reeth was merely a settlement on the forest edge, but by the time of the Norman Conquest it had grown sufficiently in importance to be recorded in the Domesday Book.

It later became a centre for hand-knitting and the local lead industry was run from here, but it was always known mainly as a market town for the local farming community. Its eighteenth-century houses, hotels and buildings are clustered around a triangular green. The town has three pubs situated on the green, being the Black Bull, the Kings Arms and the Buck Hotel and is overlooked by the fells of Fremington Edge and Calver Hill.

In May and June each year, Reeth becomes the centre of the Swaledale Festival, a two-week celebration of small-scale music and guided walks.

Malham

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Malham is a quaint, scenic village in Craven, North Yorkshire, England, in the Yorkshire Dales. The population is a mere 120. The surrounding countryside is well known for its limestone pavements and other limestone scenery. The main attractions for tourism are Malham Tarn, Malham Cove, and the Watlowes valley. The village hosts an annual agricultural and horticultural show on August Bank holiday Saturday each year.

The rise in visitor levels over Malham's history has led to a deterioration of the areas surrounding paths as tourists stray off the path and cause erosion. This process is known as footpath erosion. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority conduct regular maintenance work onthese footpaths and Malham remains a favourite walkers' destination.

There is a National Park Information Centre and large car park in the village, which attracts many visitors. The long-distance path, the Pennine Way, runs through the village and it is close to the natural landmarks of Malham Cove, Malham Tarn, Gordale Scar and Janet's Foss. In addition, Cawden looms over the village at 301 ft (92 m), and the Malham Show Fell Race runs over it as part of the course.

In May 2006, it was reported that a covert listening device was discovered hidden in the local parish hall, leaving the villagers gobsmacked by its discovery. The electronic transmitter was found in a wall socket during a routine inspection at Malham village hall.

In the 1950s the village awarded its name to a Ham class minesweeper, HMS Malham.

Hawes

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Hawes is a small market town situated in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Located at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, the River Ure runs through the town and the dale which is one of the primary tourist attractions of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The parish of Hawes also includes the nearby hamlet of Gayle. The hill of Great Shunner Fell towers over the town.

The town is particularly famous as being the home of Wensleydale cheese at the Hawes Creamery. Other local attractions for visitors include the Dales Countryside Museum, based in the old Hawes railway station of the Wensleydale Railway; nearby Hardraw Force waterfall; and the Buttertubs Pass, which links Wensleydale to Swaledale. Further down the dale one can find Aysgarth Falls.

As well as its regular market, there are also many shops, pubs and tearooms. The Hawes Promotion/Relegation party for fans of Sunderland AFC is held there every summer. It is well attended and organised, and increases year on year.

Hawes is at the hub of great walking country and The Pennine Way (the UK's first National Trail) passes through it.

Grassington

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Grassington is a pretty picturesque village in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. The village is about 9 miles from Bolton Abbey and is surrounded by limestone scenery. Nearby, one can find the villages of Linton, Threshfield, Hebden, Conistone and Kilnsey.

Frequently described by local people as a village, it is really a small town, as indicated by its name and the fact that it was granted a charter for a market and fair in 1282, which were held regularly until around 1860. A change in land use from the early 17th century, when lead mining began to assume importance, brought a modicum of prosperity, but Grassington's heyday arrived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The opening of the Yorkshire Dales Railway to Threshfield in 1901 brought many new visitors, alot of whom settled, some finding work in Skipton or in the developing limestone quarries.

Today Grassington is the main residential and tourist town in upper Wharfedale. Centred around its small cobbled square is a selection of shops providing food, clothing and gifts, alongside quaint cafes, restaurants and hotels.

One of the most popular and award winning hostelries in the village is the Devonshire Hotel, found in the main square of the village. The head chef, Christophe Gettoute brings a wealth of experience and a taste of his French background into the fine cuisine.

Grassington is frequently referred to as 'G-town' by the locals.

The residents are particulary proud of their local fire brigade service, made up of the friendly local men and women of Grassington, who, with their rapid response and years of experience keep this little village safe. Meeting every Tuesday evening and working as a well disciplined unit, they train hard, practising for every possible situation.

Three miles north, out of Grassington at Kilnsey is the dramatic, glacially carved overhang known as Kilnsey Crag.

Grass Woods, a large area of ancient woodland including an Iron-Age fort, can be found just over one mile north-west of Grassington.

Aysgarth Falls

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The Aysgarth Falls are a triple flight of waterfalls, carved out by the River Ure over a virtual one-mile stretch on its drop to mid-Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales of England. The falls are quite spectacular, especially during wet weather, as thousands of gallons of water cascade over the series of broad limestone steps.

Aysgarth Falls have attracted visitors for over 200 years and Ruskin, Turner and Wordsworth all visited, enthusing about the falls’ outstanding natural beauty. The upper fall was actually featured in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

As well as the falls, there are many walks which wind through the wooded valley, offering superb views of the river and falls. Wild flowers adorn the area in spring and summer, and wild birds, squirrels and deer can also be seen. Close by is St Andrew's church, which has a large churchyard, reputed to be the biggest in England. The church has a medieval painted wooden screen saved from the destroyed Jervaulx Abbey.

The name derives from old Norse, meaning open space in the oak trees.

It was featured on the television programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the many wonders of the North.

Yorkshire Dales

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The Yorkshire Dales, known also as "The Dales", is the name given to an area of upland, in the North of England.

It was in 1954 that an area of 1,770 km² was designated the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Most of the National Park is located in North Yorkshire, though some lies within Cumbria. The park is 50 miles (80 km) north east of Manchester, with Leeds and Bradford lying to the south, Kendal to the west and Darlington to the east.

There are over 20,000 residents living and working in the park, which attracts over eight million visitors every year. The area as such has a large collection of activities for visitors. Many visitors come to the "Dales" for walking or exercise. The National Park is traversed by several long-distance routes including the Pennine Way, the Dales Way, the Coast to Coast Path and the latest national trail, known as the Pennine Bridleway. Cycling is also popular and there are several routes for cyclists.

The Park has its own museum, the Dales Countryside Museum, housed in a conversion of the Hawes railway station in Wensleydale which is loacated in the north of the Park. The park has 5 visitor centres located in important destinations in the park.

Many of the upland areas consist of heather moorland, used for grouse shooting in the months following August 12 each year, when the season opens.

The Dales is a collection of river valleys and hills in between them, rising from the Vale of York westwards to the hilltops of the main Pennine watershed.

"Dale" is deriven from a Nordic/Germanic word for valley, and occurs in valley names across Yorkshire, and northern England generally, but since the creation of the Yorkshire Dales National park, the name "Yorkshire Dales" has come to refer specifically to the western dales.

Most of the dales in the Yorkshire Dales are named after their respective river or stream, eg Arkengarthdale, formed by Arkle Beck. The well-known exception to this rule is Wensleydale, which is named after the town of Wensley rather than the River Ure, although an older name for the dale is Yoredale.

In fact, valleys all over Yorkshire are named in such a way but only the more northern Yorkshire valleys and only the upper, rural, reaches are included in the term "The Dales". For example, the southern border area lies in Wharfedale and Airedale. The lower reaches of these valleys are not usually included in the area, and Calderdale much further south, would rarely be referred to as part of "The Dales" even though it is a dale, is in Yorkshire, and the upper reaches are as scenic and rural as many valleys further north.