Category: Yorkshire Dales

  • Bolton Castle

    Bolton Castle

    A 14th-century castle in Wensleydale and built by Richard le Scrope, the 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton. Perhaps its most famous resident was Mary, Queen of Scots who was imprisoned there for six months in 1568. Mary has had such a bad press. She certainly upset Elizabeth I who, of course, had her beheaded but during…

  • Blakethwaite Smelt Mill

    Blakethwaite Smelt Mill

    The name Gunnerside, in the Yorkshire Dales, derives from two elements: ‘Gunnarr‘ a Norse personal name and ‘saetr‘ meaning a summer pasture. Through the village flows Gunnerside Gill which was once a hive of industrial activity with several leads mines operating along the narrow dale. The Blakethwaite Mine began in 1806 operated by Thomas Chippindale…

  • Grinton Lead Smelting Mill

    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…

  • Webder Wood

    Webder Wood

    A magical place. The lush green was spellbinding. Goredale Beck sprawls out over the dale bottom. Ash dominates its steep, verdant sides. Apparently home to two rare molluscs. A potential site for John Lambert’s mill which smelted lead ore mined high on Malham Moor in the 17th-century. Lambert lived with his family in Janet’s Cave,…

  • Malham Cove

    Malham Cove

    To Malham for the night. Not much sign of folks self-isolating; with the car park and roadside parking full, a farmer had opened up a field to capitalise on the tourists. And it’s only March. In the village, the Buck and several cafes all seemed to be doing a busy trade. In fact, the only…

  • Aysgarth High Falls

    Aysgarth High Falls

    The River Ure tumbling over Aysgarth Falls, perhaps Wensleydale’s most famous beauty spot. Tumbling swiftly, it could be said. The name, Ure, is toponymically very old, coming from the Celtic language ‘isura’ means swift-flowing. That’s the Celts, before the Danes, before the Anglo-Saxons, who put up with the Roman occupiers. The written records that survive…

  • Tan Hill Inn

    Tan Hill Inn

    The famous Tan Hill Inn, highest in Britain at 1,732 feet above sea level. A relentless climb up Arkengarthdale. On reaching the watershed there is still another 2 to 3 km of rolling moorland to go. Into the westerly wind. I didn’t stop, so no chance to inspect the double glazing. You have to be…

  • Faggergill, Near Whaw

    Faggergill, Near Whaw

    A disturbing day yesterday. I was in Arkengarthdale helping the local authority assess the immediate needs and deliver food and supplies to the more vulnerable residents of the dale following the flooding last Tuesday night. Roads and tracks washed out prevented many, especially those living in the remote parts of the dale, from getting out.…

  • River Ribble

    River Ribble

    Swollen from overnight rains a radged River Ribble, born in Yorkshire, flows on its 75 mile journey to the Irish Sea. It officially begins at Selside just a mile upstream but its main tributary, Gayle Beck, makes a significant contribution, draining Gayle Moor and half of Blea Moor and Cam Fell. Open Space Web-Map builder…

  • Rathmell Beck

    Rathmell Beck

    A lovely little footbridge over a lovely little stream, a tributary of the River Ribble in the Yorkshire district of Craven. The name Rathmell probably drives from the Old Norse rauðr meaning red and melr meaning a sandbank. No doubt referring to a sandbank which once existed on the floodplain of the Ribble between the…