Yorkshire Dales
|
A village in the Yorkshire Dales |
The
Yorkshire Dales lie in an area of high ground in
North Yorkshire,
West Yorkshire, and
Cumbria,
England.
Although many
valleys all over
Yorkshire are called "(name of river)+
dale", such as
Airedale or
Calderdale, the Yorkshire Dales are usually deemed to be those valleys north of the
Wharfe. Exceptions to the naming rule are
Wensleydale, which is named after the town of Wensley rather than the River Ure, and Arkengarthdale, which was formed by Arkle Beck.
|
Sheep in the Yorkshire Dales |
The characteristic scenery is green upland pastures separated by
dry-stone walls and grazed by
sheep and
cattle. The
dales themselves are 'U' and 'V' shaped valleys, which were enlarged and shaped by
glaciers, mainly in the most recent,
Devensian ice age. The underlying rock is principally
Carboniferous limestone (which results in a number of areas of
limestone pavement) in places interspersed with
shale and
sandstone and topped with
millstone grit. However, to the north of the Dent fault, the hills are principally older
Silurian and
Ordovician rocks, which make up the
Howgill Fells.
Many of the upland areas consist of
heather moorland, used for
grouse shooting in the months following
August 12 each year (the '
Glorious Twelfth').
In
1954 an area of
1,770 km² was designated the
Yorkshire Dales National Park. Most of the
National Park is in
North Yorkshire, but thanks to local government reforms in
1974 a small part now lies in
Cumbria. Over 20,000 residents live and work in the park, which attracts over eight million visitors every year.
Places and sights within the National Park include:
*
Aysgarth Falls*
Clapham*
Cautley Spout waterfall
*
Gaping Gill*
Grassington*
Hardraw Force*
Hawes*
Horton in Ribblesdale*
Kisdon Force waterfall in
Swaledale*
Malham*
Reeth*
Sedbergh*
Settle* The
Yorkshire three peaksJames Herriot's veterinary books are set in the Dales, as is the TV
soap opera Emmerdale. The acclaimed American travel writer
Bill Bryson lived in and is an admirer of the Yorkshire Dales. He describes the dales in his book on Britain,
Notes from a Small Island.
The Yorkshire Dales is served by its own radio station,
Fresh Radio, which broadcasts programmes from studio bases in
Skipton and
Richmond, North Yorkshire.
*
Arkengarthdale*
Birk dale*
Bishopdale*
Coverdale*
Dentdale*
Garsdale*
Langstrothdale*
Littondale*
Malhamdale*
Nidderdale*
Ribblesdale*
Swaledale*
Wensleydale*
Wharfedale*
Bolton Castle*
Skipton*
Settle and Carlisle Railway*
List of peaks in the Yorkshire Dales*
Travel Information for the Yorkshire Dales*
Yorkshire Dales Socierty*
Cycle the Dales Web Site*
Mountain Bike the Dales Web Site*
Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority*
Daelnet - '...the internet gateway for the Yorkshire Dales'*
Yorkshire Dales at YorkshireNet*
Yorkshire Dales website*
Fresh Radio (radio station broadcasting to the Yorkshire Dales)*
Photographs of the Yorkshire Dales
