Fryup Dale

Or more strictly, Great Fryup Dale, since the dale is generally said to comprise two parallel steep sided u-shaped valleys: Little and Great Fryup Dale,  connected by a col, Fairy Cross Plain.

Both dales are broad and flat with steep rims of scrub and patches of ancient deciduous woodland.

In searching the history of the dale I came across this report in the York Herald dated 1st April 1826¹‘To Correspondents.’ | York Herald | Saturday 01 April 1826 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2022. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000498/18260401/008/0003> [accessed 18 September 2022]:

Mr. William Breckon of Fryup, has in his possession a cow which has had six calves within the last two years, viz. two calves about Lady Day 1824, another in March 1825, and three more on the 3rd March last, all living.

I thought at first this must be an April Fools joke but a cow having triplets is not unknown, even with modern breeds and farming methods; apparently the odds are one-in-700,000²Turner, Rachael. 2019. ‘Somerset Cow Gives Birth to Triplets, Defying 1-In-100,000 Odds’, Country Life (Country Life) <https://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/somerset-cow-gives-birth-triplets-defying-1-100000-odds-202680> [accessed 18 September 2022].

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  ‘To Correspondents.’ | York Herald | Saturday 01 April 1826 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2022. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000498/18260401/008/0003> [accessed 18 September 2022]
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  Turner, Rachael. 2019. ‘Somerset Cow Gives Birth to Triplets, Defying 1-In-100,000 Odds’, Country Life (Country Life) <https://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/somerset-cow-gives-birth-triplets-defying-1-100000-odds-202680> [accessed 18 September 2022]