Yorkshire Dales

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Yorkshire Dales, lone tree

Yorkshire Dales

Where is it – England, Yorkshire and the Humber

Who looks after it –  National Park 

What is it –  Countryside, Free access, National Park 

When is it from – All or N/A

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of Britain’s fifteen national parks and was established in 1954.  It is a working environment covering 841 square miles (2,179 square kilometres) and straddles the central Pennines of Northern England in North Yorkshire, Cumbria and a small part of Lancashire.  The Dales is a place of big skies and sparse woodland.  Say ‘The Dales’ and people think of waterfalls, caves, tumbling streams, textbook limestone features, drystone walls, Wensleydale cheese and the three peaks, Ingleborough, Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent.  The highest peak is Whernside at 2415 feet (736 metres).  All of these peaks are featured on A Bit About Britain and can be tackled by anyone who is reasonably fit, but they are serious walks and should not be tackled casually, or in bad weather.

The Dales are, of course, valleys.  Each one has its own character.  The best known are Dentdale, Malhamdale, Ribblesdale, Swaledale, Wensleydale and Wharfedale.  Lesser known dales include Airedale, Coverdale, the Eden Valley and Nidderdale.  The dales house remote farmsteads and small, attractive, villages built of local stone.  Principle settlements include Grassington, Settle, Hawes and Sedbergh.  On lower levels are flowering meadows and stone barns punctuate the landscape – and sheep can be found anywhere.  There is a rich history and heritage that includes quarrying, lead mining and lime working and there is a network of ancient trackways.

Individual places in the Yorkshire Dales appear in ABAB’s Places and some are also featured in particular articles.  The links below will take you to the Yorkshire Dales website and to information about Britain’s other National Parks.

 


Address
National Park Authority, Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL 

More detail from ABAB
Useful website
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