Category: Swaledale
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Beldi Hill Smelt Mill
Following my exhausting cycle ride around Swaledale yesterday, I wisely opted not to stray far today. So instead, here is another photograph from that trip. I was aware of Swaledale’s lead mining legacy, but stumbling upon this particular site was an unexpected delight. The Beldi Hill Smelt Mill sits awkwardly wedged into the hillside, just…
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Thwaite’s Gift to the Natural World: The Lives of the Kearton Brothers
A typical Swaledale landscape: stone-built cottages in Thwaite and those endlessly fascinating dry-stone walls dissecting the surrounding fields. Many of the walls date from the 18th century, but, alas, there is the obligatory parked car ruining the scene. Otherwise, one imagines this view would be instantly familiar to Thwaite’s greatest sons, Richard and Cherry Kearton.…
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Reeth Revisited—Memories of the Aftermath of the 2019 Flood
A day in Swaledale, that picturesque valley of the Yorkshire Dales, seemed promising enough, though the weather was somewhat overcast. I climbed High Harker Hill, naturally, as one does, to gain some view of the world. But coming down, there was that undeniable charm of Reeth—a place name clinging on to its roots with a…
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Upper Swaledale
The upper reaches of Swaledale feel remote, and no doubt in the depths of winter, Keld, the last village before the road begins the climb over Lamp Moss pass to Kirby Stephen must be a contender for the remotest village in England. But at the height of summer Keld is a busy place. A stopover…
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Grinton Lead Smelting Mill
Arguably the best-preserved and most visited lead ore smelting mill in the Yorkshire Dales. Located by Cogden Beck, south of Grinton village, it probably dates from about 1820 and was saved from becoming a derelict ruin by being reused as an agricultural barn soon after smelting ceased. The two ranges remaining are the mill itself…
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Gunnerside
A lovely village in Swaledale, locating at the foot of Gunnerside Ghyll, a site of extensive lead mining activities in the 19c century. The village developed during this period to house the mining families. Low cloud, showers with a touch of sleet. Otherwise a good day out following a Duke of Edinburgh group.