Best Scenic Place in York and North Yorkshire, England - Map and Reviews

Plumpton Rocks is a landscape garden of extraordinary and improbable beauty in the West Riding of Yorkshire, a private estate near Harrogate where millstone grit outcrops of enormous size and fantastical form rise from a lake and woodland setting to create a scene of natural drama that the Romantic imagination found entirely congenial and that successive generations of visitors have found deeply surprising in its Yorkshire setting. The garden was laid out around 1755 to display the natural rock formations to their greatest advantage and has been described as one of the finest small landscape gardens in England. The millstone grit boulders that dominate the garden are examples of the weathered gritstone tors found across the southern Pennine uplands, their forms the result of millions of years of erosion working on the natural jointing patterns of the rock. At Plumpton the boulders are of exceptional scale, some rising to over ten metres, and their rounded, organic forms reflected in the lake beside them create compositions that Turner visited and painted in the 1790s, recognising in the scene the combination of sublime natural form and picturesque landscape arrangement that defined the aesthetic values of his time. The lake was created in the mid-eighteenth century to reflect the rocks and provide the still water surface that doubles the visual impact of the formations. The combination of the lake reflections, the mature woodland clothing the spaces between the rock outcrops and the paths threading through the formations at water level creates a garden experience of considerable enchantment that is entirely different from the more formal pleasure grounds of the period. Plumpton Rocks is open to visitors on weekend afternoons from March to October and retains a quality of private, unhurried charm that makes it one of the most rewarding lesser-known garden destinations in Yorkshire.

Whitby Harbour on the North Yorkshire coast is one of the most atmospheric and historically resonant of all British fishing harbours, a sheltered haven in the narrow mouth of the River Esk where fishing vessels, pleasure craft and the persistent presence of history create a townscape that has been inspiring writers, painters and visitors for centuries. The town divides between the west cliff, where the Victorian resort developed, and the old east side where the original fishing community established itself below the cliffs crowned by the ruined abbey and the ancient church of St Mary. The harbour's associations with exploration and adventure are remarkable. Captain James Cook, who made three voyages of Pacific exploration between 1768 and 1779 and charted the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and much of the Pacific, was born in the village of Marton a few miles inland and served his maritime apprenticeship in Whitby, learning seamanship and navigation on the coastal collier vessels that traded from the harbour. The Bark Endeavour, the vessel that carried Cook on his first Pacific voyage, was a Whitby-built collier, and the museum in the town dedicated to Cook's life and achievements makes clear how deeply the Whitby maritime tradition shaped one of the greatest navigators in history. Bram Stoker visited Whitby in 1890 and the harbour, the abbey ruins on the cliff above and the churchyard of St Mary's became the setting for key scenes in Dracula, published in 1897. The novel's Count arrives at Whitby harbour in the shape of a great black dog leaping from a storm-wrecked vessel, and the subsequent action in the town established Whitby permanently in Gothic literary geography. The association attracts Dracula enthusiasts and Gothic tourism from around the world, particularly during the biannual Whitby Goth Weekend which transforms the town. The fish and chip shops, the jet jewellery tradition unique to Whitby and the excellent North Sea seafood available at the harbourside restaurants complete a visitor experience of considerable richness.

Gordale Scar is one of England's most dramatic and spectacular natural features, a limestone ravine with a cascading waterfall located near the village of Malham in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The formation consists of two main waterfalls tumbling through a vast gorge where towering limestone cliffs rise to heights of approximately 100 meters on either side. The lower waterfall drops around 15 meters over tufa deposits, while a second cascade of similar height can be found further up the gorge. The scene is particularly striking due to the massive overhanging cliffs that create a cathedral-like amphitheater, with the water of Gordale Beck plunging through this narrow chasm. During periods of heavy rainfall, the waterfalls become particularly impressive, with water thundering down the rocky faces, though in drier summer months the flow can reduce to a more gentle cascade. Gordale Beck originates on the moorland above Malham, fed by springs and runoff from the limestone uplands that characterize this part of the Yorkshire Dales. The stream flows through Gordale Scar before continuing southward to eventually join the River Aire. The catchment area consists predominantly of carboniferous limestone, which creates the distinctive karst landscape of the region. The beck's flow varies considerably with rainfall, as water percolates through the porous limestone before emerging at various springs. This variability means that Gordale Scar can present dramatically different appearances depending on recent weather conditions, from a relatively modest trickle to a roaring torrent that fills the gorge with spray and sound. The geological formation of Gordale Scar is the result of a collapsed cavern system, where underground rivers once flowed through limestone caves before the roof collapsed, leaving the present-day gorge. This process occurred during and after the last ice age, when glacial meltwater and subsequent erosion carved out the dramatic landscape visible today. The limestone cliffs display clear evidence of their formation in tropical seas during the Carboniferous period around 330 million years ago, and careful observers can spot fossils embedded in the rock faces. The tufa deposits over which the water flows are formed by calcium carbonate precipitating from the lime-rich water, creating a constantly growing natural sculpture that the water cascades over. Gordale Scar has captivated visitors for centuries and became particularly celebrated during the Romantic period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The artist James Ward painted his enormous and dramatic canvas "Gordale Scar" between 1812 and 1814, now housed in Tate Britain, which captures the sublime and overwhelming nature of the scene. The painting, measuring over 4 meters wide, helped establish the location as one of Britain's most celebrated natural wonders. The poet William Wordsworth visited and wrote about the scar, as did Thomas Gray, who described it in evocative terms in his correspondence. Charles Kingsley's novel "The Water Babies" references the location, and it has continued to inspire artists, writers, and photographers ever since. Local folklore sometimes associates the dramatic landscape with supernatural forces, as such imposing natural features often attracted mystical explanations in earlier times. The landscape surrounding Gordale Scar is quintessential Yorkshire Dales scenery, with limestone pavements, dry stone walls, traditional field barns, and sheep-grazed pastures creating a pastoral setting that contrasts dramatically with the wild gorge itself. The area forms part of the Malham Tarn Estate, much of which is owned by the National Trust, and sits within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The limestone grassland supports a rich diversity of wildflowers in spring and summer, including orchids and other calcicole species adapted to the alkaline soils. The cliffs provide nesting sites for various birds including ravens, jackdaws, and occasionally peregrine falcons. The area is also home to typical upland wildlife such as red grouse on the moors above, while the beck itself supports aquatic invertebrates adapted to the calcium-rich waters. Visiting Gordale Scar requires a moderate level of fitness and sure-footedness, as the approach involves walking across fields and the route through the gorge itself requires scrambling over wet rocks and boulders. The most common approach is from Malham village, approximately 1.5 kilometers to the west, where parking is available in the village car park (charges apply). From Malham, a well-used footpath leads east across fields to Gordale Scar, clearly signposted and passing through several gates. An alternative route for the more adventurous continues up through the gorge itself, though this involves climbing up and beside the waterfalls on slippery rocks and is only suitable for those comfortable with scrambling. Many visitors combine Gordale Scar with other nearby attractions including Malham Cove and Janet's Foss waterfall, creating a circular walk of several miles. Malham village provides various facilities for visitors, including pubs, cafes, accommodation, and a National Park Information Centre. The village can become extremely busy during peak summer months and weekends, as Malham Cove and Gordale Scar together form one of the Yorkshire Dales' most popular tourist destinations. The site is accessible year-round, though winter conditions can make the approach paths muddy and the rocks within the gorge particularly treacherous when icy. The limestone can be very slippery when wet at any time of year, and appropriate footwear is essential. Access to the gorge is free as it crosses farmland with traditional rights of way, though visitors are reminded to follow the Countryside Code, close gates, and respect the working agricultural landscape. Gordale Scar has attracted rock climbers since the development of the sport, with various routes established on the impressive limestone walls, though the rock can be loose and the routes are generally considered serious undertakings. The location has also appeared in various films and television programmes seeking dramatic natural backdrops. The combination of geological significance, natural beauty, accessibility, and historical associations has made Gordale Scar one of the most photographed and visited natural features in Northern England, representing the spectacular landscape formed by limestone geology that characterizes the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Robin Hood's Bay is one of the most picturesque and most visited fishing villages on the Yorkshire coast, a steeply tiered settlement of red-roofed cottages packed into a narrow ravine that descends from the cliff top to the beach below in a composition of extraordinary visual charm that makes it one of the most photographed villages in the north of England. The village has no connection with the legendary outlaw whose name it bears, the origin of the name remaining obscure, but its character as a former fishing and smuggling community on a remote section of the North Yorkshire coast gives it a historical atmosphere that complements its natural beauty. The village descends steeply from the main road parking area to the beach below on a single, very narrow road flanked by the close-packed cottages of the fishing community, their doors, windows and small gardens creating a human-scaled streetscape of considerable intimacy. The narrowness of the space between the buildings, the steepness of the descent and the sound of the sea growing louder as you approach the beach create an experience of progressive revelation characteristic of the finest English seaside villages. At the bottom, the rocky shore opens out and the wide expanse of the bay, enclosed by the headlands of North Cheek and the cliffs toward Whitby to the north, provides a rewarding contrast to the enclosed village. The beach and the rock pools exposed at low tide provide excellent fossil hunting, the alum shales of the Yorkshire coast having produced ichthyosaur and other Jurassic marine reptile remains over many years of collecting by both professional and amateur palaeontologists. Robin Hood's Bay is the eastern terminus of the Coast to Coast walk, Alfred Wainwright's 192-mile crossing of England from St Bees in Cumbria, and arriving walkers traditionally complete their journey by dipping their boots in the sea on the beach below the village.

Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales is one of the most dramatic natural features in England, a curved limestone cliff 80 metres high and approximately 300 metres wide that was formed as a waterfall at the end of the last Ice Age when meltwater cascading over the limestone edge of the Craven fault created the massive curved face visible today. The stream that once fell over the lip of the cove now disappears underground at the top of the cliff and re-emerges at the base through the cave system within the limestone, and the dry cliff face and the limestone pavement at its summit create a landscape of stark and powerful beauty that is entirely unlike the pastoral character of the surrounding Dales. The limestone pavement at the top of the cove is one of the finest examples in Britain, its surface of large flat slabs called clints, separated by deep fissures called grykes, extending for some distance back from the cliff edge. The grykes provide a sheltered and humid microclimate in which ferns, rare limestoneloving plants and wood-land species grow in conditions quite different from the exposed pavement surface, creating a botanical diversity compressed into a small area. The pavement is a protected landscape feature and walking on it is permitted only on designated routes. The approach to Malham Cove from the village of Malham follows the dry valley of Malham Beck through classic Yorkshire Dales limestone scenery, and the cliff face itself provides a high-quality rock climbing venue whose routes include some of the finest limestone climbs in the north of England. The natural amphitheatre formed by the curved cliff concentrates sound and creates a particular acoustic quality noticeable even in moderate wind conditions. The broader Malham landscape, including Malham Tarn above and Gordale Scar nearby, provides one of the most concentrated collections of outstanding limestone features available within a single short walking circuit in Britain.

Helmsley is the finest market town in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, a stone town of considerable charm surrounding a market square that provides the principal visitor centre for the southern section of the moors. The combination of the ruined medieval castle, the walled garden, the excellent independent shops and restaurants and the access it provides to the walking of the Cleveland Way and the Tabular Hills makes Helmsley the most complete and most welcoming base for exploring the western North Yorkshire Moors. Helmsley Castle, managing by English Heritage, is a castle of considerable historical depth whose ruined towers and keep provide excellent views over the town and the surrounding countryside, and the unusual combination of the medieval fortification with the substantial domestic range that was added in the sixteenth century by the Manners family reflects the transition of this castle from a purely military function to a comfortable aristocratic residence. The earthwork defences that surround the castle are among the most complete and best-preserved of any English castle. The Helmsley Walled Garden, restored from dereliction since 1994 by a charitable trust, provides one of the finest examples of a Victorian walled garden restoration in Yorkshire, its productive beds, glasshouses and ornamental sections creating an excellent horticultural visit complementary to the castle. The Ryedale Folk Museum at nearby Hutton-le-Hole and the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey seven miles to the northwest provide excellent complementary heritage destinations for a base at Helmsley.

Grassington is the principal village and the visitor hub of upper Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a stone-built market town of considerable charm whose cobbled market square, independent shops, cafes and the excellent access it provides to the Dales landscape in every direction make it one of the most rewarding and most welcoming bases for exploring the central Yorkshire Dales. The combination of the village character, the Dales scenery immediately accessible from the village and the walking available on the surrounding limestone country creates one of the most complete small town visitor experiences in the national park. The Wharfedale landscape around Grassington provides walking of exceptional variety, from the riverside path along the Wharfe through Bolton Abbey to the south to the high limestone country of Grass Wood and the moors above Kilnsey Crag to the north. The Dales Way long-distance walking route passes through Grassington and the combination of the waymarked long-distance route and the extensive network of footpaths across the surrounding limestone plateau makes the village the starting point for an almost unlimited variety of walking excursions. The former lead mining heritage of the Grassington Moor above the village, whose extensive field systems of mine shafts, smelt mill chimneys and spoil heaps provide one of the finest examples of a Dales lead mining landscape, adds an industrial heritage dimension to what is primarily a landscape and village tourism destination.

Settle is one of the most attractive and most characterful small market towns in the Yorkshire Dales, a limestone town at the southern edge of the Dales National Park below the dramatic face of Castleberg Crag that serves as the market centre for a wide area of south Ribblesdale and the surrounding dales. The combination of the townscape of seventeenth and eighteenth-century limestone buildings, the remarkable Victorian Folly building in the market square, the dramatic cliff scenery above the town and the position on both the Settle to Carlisle Railway and the Ribble Way walking route makes Settle one of the most rewarding small towns in the national park. The market square is the heart of Settle, its market cross and the famous Folly building of 1679, a three-storey limestone house of extraordinary decorative ambition with carved stone figures in niches above the first-floor windows, creating a townscape focus of considerable character. The Folly was built by a local businessman whose financial difficulties in completing the building gave it the name by which it has been known ever since, and the building's confident eccentricity is entirely appropriate to a town whose limestone architecture and Dales character combine tradition and individuality. The Settle to Carlisle Railway, one of the most scenic and most celebrated railway lines in England, passes through Settle station as its southern terminus and provides the starting point for journeys through the Dales that take in the spectacular Ribblehead Viaduct and the high Pennine moorland before descending to the Eden Valley. The railway's survival after its proposed closure in the 1980s was secured by one of the most successful heritage railway campaigns in British history.

Hutton-le-Hole in the North Yorkshire Moors is one of the most beautiful and most photographed villages in North Yorkshire, a settlement of stone cottages scattered on both sides of the Hutton Beck across the village green whose combination of the stream, the green, the grazing sheep and the moorland visible above creates one of the most complete and most immediately appealing English village scenes available in the national park. The Ryedale Folk Museum in the village provides one of the finest open-air museums of traditional English rural life in the north of England. The Ryedale Folk Museum houses an exceptional collection of traditional buildings from across the North Yorkshire Moors that have been relocated and reconstructed on the museum site, creating an open-air village of cruck houses, thatched cottages, craft workshops and agricultural buildings that represents the rural built environment of the North Yorkshire Moors from the medieval period to the twentieth century. The working demonstrations of traditional crafts provide the most engaging interaction with the heritage on display. The village of Hutton-le-Hole itself, with its scattered cottages, the sheep grazing freely on the green and the stream dividing the village into two sections connected by bridges, provides one of the finest examples of an organic moorland village settlement in Yorkshire. The walking from the village onto the surrounding moorland provides immediate access to the North Yorkshire Moors landscape of heather and wide sky that frames the village.

Gaping Gill on the slopes of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales is the largest natural cavern in Britain, a pothole shaft approximately 110 metres deep into which the Fell Beck stream plunges in a free-falling waterfall that is the highest unbroken waterfall in England. The pothole is descended by experienced cavers using rope techniques and twice yearly, during the Whitsun and August bank holiday weekends, the Bradford Pothole Club and the Craven Pothole Club erect winch gear on the surface that allows members of the public to be lowered to the cavern floor in a bosun's chair, one of the most extraordinary adventure activities available in the Yorkshire Dales. The cavern at the base of the shaft is of enormous size, approximately 150 metres long and 30 metres wide, large enough to contain York Minster in its interior. The falls of Fell Beck entering through the shaft opening above create a spectacular light effect in the chamber during the hours when sunlight enters the shaft, the waterfall catching the light in a display of considerable drama. The stream continues underground from the cavern floor through a complex of passages to emerge eventually at the Ingleborough Cave show cave near Clapham. The winch meet experience, during which members of the public can be lowered to the cavern floor and spend a few minutes in this extraordinary underground space, is one of the most memorable and most unusual outdoor activities available in Britain, combining the height of the descent, the darkness of the cavern and the sight of the waterfall entering from above in an experience quite unlike anything available at the surface.

Staithes on the Yorkshire coast is one of the most atmospheric fishing villages in northern England, a settlement of red-roofed cottages packed into a ravine descending to a narrow harbour between the spectacular headlands of Cowbar Nab and Penny Nab. The village was the birthplace of the young James Cook's mercantile career, the future circumnavigator arriving to serve as a shopkeeper's apprentice before the sea drew him first to Whitby and then to the Royal Navy. The village descends steeply from the clifftop through a series of steps and narrow lanes to the harbour below, still used by a small fleet of fishing boats. Staithes has been a centre for artists since the late nineteenth century when a colony of painters formed the Staithes Group, recognising the quality of the light and the dramatic character of the village. The tradition of artists working here continues and several galleries and studios in the village reflect the ongoing creative response to this exceptional setting. The Cleveland Way coastal path traversing the headlands connects Staithes with Runswick Bay to the south, providing some of the finest cliff walking in Yorkshire. The combination of the village character, the fishing heritage, the Cook connection and the coastal scenery makes Staithes one of the most rewarding destinations on the northeast coast.

Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors is a village of considerable charm and historical character that has achieved a level of fame in contemporary popular culture quite disproportionate to its modest size through its use as the filming location for the television series Heartbeat, which ran for eighteen series between 1992 and 2010 and used the village as the fictional Aidensfield. The filming association has made Goathland one of the most visited villages in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and the combination of the Heartbeat heritage, the genuine moorland village character and the Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway creates a destination of considerable visitor appeal. The village green, the pub and the surrounding moorland landscape retain their character as a genuinely traditional North Yorkshire Moors moorland village, the grazing sheep and the open moorland around the village perimeter providing the authentic backdrop that made it attractive to the Heartbeat production team. The station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway heritage line, styled as Hogsmeade Station for the Harry Potter films, provides an additional cultural reference point that brings a younger demographic to complement the Heartbeat visitor base. The Mallyan Spout waterfall accessible by a short walk from the village provides an excellent natural feature complementing the village visit, the waterfall cascading approximately 20 metres into the West Beck gorge in a setting of considerable woodland beauty particularly attractive in the autumn when the surrounding deciduous trees are at their most colourful.

Muker is one of the most celebrated villages in the Yorkshire Dales, sitting at the heart of upper Swaledale in North Yorkshire. Compact, unspoiled, and possessed of a quiet dignity that makes it instantly memorable, it is the kind of place that people discover once and return to repeatedly. The village clusters around its church and a handful of stone buildings, surrounded on all sides by a landscape of meadows, limestone walls, and the broad fells of the Pennines. It is notable both as a living rural community and as one of the finest examples of a traditional Dales settlement that has changed relatively little in outward appearance over several centuries. The origins of Muker lie in Norse settlement, and the name itself is believed to derive from the Old Norse "mjór akr," meaning "narrow field" or "cultivated land," a reflection of the Norse farmers who moved into these valleys after Viking incursions in the ninth and tenth centuries. The area was later shaped by the influence of Cistercian monks from Rievaulx Abbey, who held grazing rights across much of upper Swaledale during the medieval period and helped define the pastoral farming character that persists today. The village church, St Mary the Virgin, was built in 1580 and remains one of the defining landmarks of the settlement. Before it was constructed, local parishioners had to carry their dead across the fells on what became known as the Corpse Road to Grinton, a haunting eight-mile route that still exists as a walking path today. The physical character of Muker is one of austere, grey-stone beauty. The cottages and farmhouses are built of local limestone and sandstone in the plain, functional style typical of the Dales, with thick walls that speak to centuries of hard winters and exposed moorland weather. The village green and its surroundings feel intimate and human in scale, sheltered slightly from the wider valley. The Literary Institute, a modest stone building dating from 1868, speaks to a tradition of self-improvement among the lead-mining communities of Swaledale. The smell of the place in summer is of cut hay and wildflowers, since Muker sits within one of the most significant concentrations of hay meadows in England, meadows so rich in traditional flora that they have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The surrounding landscape is simply spectacular. Swaledale at this point is wide enough to feel open but enclosed enough to feel sheltered, with the flanks of Kisdon Hill rising dramatically directly behind the village, separating Muker from the smaller hamlet of Keld to the northwest. The River Swale runs through the valley below, fast and clear over limestone, and several well-known walks pass through or near Muker, including the Coast to Coast path devised by Alfred Wainwright. The hay meadows immediately surrounding the village are among the most botanically rich in Britain, bursting with wood cranesbill, melancholy thistle, yellow rattle, and pignut in late spring and early summer, a sight that draws botanists and photographers as much as walkers. Muker has a strong literary and artistic association with the Kearton brothers, Richard and Cherry, who were born nearby in Thwaite in the late nineteenth century and became pioneering wildlife photographers and naturalists. Their work helped establish nature photography as a serious pursuit in Britain, and they are commemorated with a small plaque in the area. The village also featured in the life of Kit Calvert, a local farmer and dialect writer who almost single-handedly saved the Wensleydale cheese-making tradition in the mid-twentieth century, though his primary fame is associated with Hawes further south. Swaledale itself was historically important as a centre of lead mining, and the evidence of that industry — smelt mill flues, hushes, and spoil heaps — can be found across the surrounding fells. Visiting Muker is a straightforward and rewarding experience. The village is accessible by car via the B6270, which follows the valley of the Swale from Richmond in the east. Parking is available in a small car park just outside the village centre, and most visitors arrive by car since public transport to upper Swaledale is limited, though the Dalesbus services operate seasonally on certain routes from Richmond and Darlington. The village has a pub, the Farmer's Arms, a small café, and a craft shop known for Swaledale wool products, providing everything needed for a half-day or full-day visit. The best time to visit is late May to early July, when the hay meadows are at their most spectacular before the traditional cut, though autumn brings its own rewards in terms of quieter paths and golden fell colours. A detail that surprises many visitors is just how unchanged the core of Muker feels compared to photographs taken a century or more ago. The Dales have resisted the pressure for modernisation more successfully than almost anywhere else in rural England, and Muker stands as something of a living emblem of that resistance. The village appeared in one of Alfred Wainwright's guidebooks and continues to be a favoured stopping point on the Coast to Coast route, which brings walkers through in considerable numbers each summer. Yet even at its busiest, Muker retains a quality of genuine remoteness and self-containment, the sense that the real world operates here according to the older rhythms of farming, season, and weather, rather than anything imposed from outside.

Beningbrough Hall is an early eighteenth-century country house of the highest architectural quality standing in its own parkland beside the River Ouse in North Yorkshire, managed by the National Trust and housing an exceptional collection of portraits from the National Portrait Gallery which provides the principal focus of the interior display. The house was built between 1712 and 1716 and is one of the finest examples of early eighteenth-century English baroque architecture in the north of England, its restrained but confident exterior and richly decorated interior representing the best of the Queen Anne architectural tradition applied by a talented provincial architect. The house was built for John Bourchier and the quality of the craftsmanship throughout is remarkable for a house of this period and this region. The carved woodwork, the plasterwork ceilings, the painted staircase hall and the bold architectural mouldings of the principal rooms represent a level of execution that compares favourably with the great London houses of the same period. The central hall rising to the full height of the house and lit by a clerestory above is one of the finest baroque interior spaces in the north of England, its proportions and details carefully calibrated to produce an impression of solemnity and grandeur appropriate to the aspirations of its patron. The partnership with the National Portrait Gallery allows Beningbrough to display over one hundred seventeenth and eighteenth-century portraits within its historic rooms, providing a combination of architectural quality and picture collection that creates an unusually coherent and satisfying visitor experience. The portraits, displayed in appropriate period settings, illuminate both the history of the house and the broader history of the period they represent. The walled garden and the parkland setting by the Ouse provide good outdoor visiting, and the combination of house, garden and landscape makes Beningbrough one of the most rewarding National Trust properties in Yorkshire.

Wensleydale is the broadest and most pastoral of the Yorkshire Dales, a wide river valley of exceptional agricultural beauty running east from the high fells above Hawes to the Vale of York, its broad floor of traditional meadows and its stone-built villages creating the archetypal image of the Yorkshire Dales that has appeared on countless calendars, postcards and chocolate boxes. The dale takes its name from the village of Wensley rather than from the River Ure that flows through it, and while the dale lacks the dramatic limestone pavements and waterfalls of some of its neighbours, it compensates with a landscape of human-made beauty that reflects centuries of traditional farming practice. The meadow landscape of Wensleydale is of national ecological importance. The traditional hay meadows that have been farmed by the same methods for centuries, cut once annually after the flowers have seeded and fertilised only with farmyard manure, support plant communities of extraordinary diversity including yellow rattle, wood crane's-bill, great burnet and dozens of grass and wildflower species that have been lost from the intensively managed lowland meadows of the rest of England. The Pennine Dales Meadows Special Area of Conservation protects the finest surviving examples, and a walk through an unimproved Wensleydale meadow in June is one of the most quietly beautiful experiences the English countryside offers. The dale is equally famous for its cheese, a crumbly white cow's milk variety with a history stretching back to the Cistercian monks of Jervaulx Abbey who developed the recipe in the twelfth century. The Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes, which narrowly escaped closure in the 1990s and was saved by a management buyout, now welcomes visitors to see traditional cheese-making in action and sells its products direct from the creamery shop. Aysgarth Falls, where the River Ure descends in three broad natural steps through the dale, is the most spectacular natural feature in Wensleydale and one of the most visited sites in the Dales. The nearby castles of Bolton and Middleham add historical depth to a dale that rewards slow exploration.