Scenic Place in York and North Yorkshire

Skipton is the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales, a market town of considerable character and historical importance at the southern edge of the Dales National Park whose combination of a fine medieval castle, a broad market street of considerable architectural quality, the canal basin of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the excellent transport connections into the surrounding Dales makes it one of the most rewarding and most used bases for exploring the national park. The town has served as a market centre for the surrounding Dales farming communities since the medieval period and retains the commercial vitality and the market tradition that give it an authentic town character. Skipton Castle, one of the most complete and best-preserved medieval castles in northern England, stands at the top of the High Street and is privately owned and open to visitors. The castle was originally built by Robert de Romille in the early twelfth century and developed subsequently by the Clifford family, who held it for over three centuries and whose rebuilding in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries created much of the fabric visible today. The castle withstood a three-year siege during the Civil War before surrendering on terms in 1645 and was subsequently repaired by the redoubtable Lady Anne Clifford, whose restoration work can be read in the yew tree she planted in the courtyard in 1659 that still grows in the same spot. The canal basin at the foot of the town provides an attractive focus for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the longest single canal in Britain, and the walking and cycling along the towpath into the Dales provides excellent access to the countryside immediately north of the town.

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.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is one of the finest heritage railways in Britain, a line of outstanding scenic character that runs for 18 miles from Pickering through the heart of the North York Moors National Park to Grosmont, where it connects with the main Esk Valley line to Whitby. The combination of exceptional moorland scenery, a well-preserved Victorian railway infrastructure and the atmospheric experience of travelling behind a steam locomotive makes it one of the most popular heritage attractions in the north of England. The railway's origins lie in the Whitby to Pickering Railway opened by George Stephenson in 1836, one of the earliest railways in the world, which originally used horse traction for much of its length before being converted to steam. The line was incorporated into the North Eastern Railway and eventually into British Railways, but declining passenger numbers and freight revenue led to its closure under the Beeching cuts in 1965. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway Preservation Society purchased and reopened the line in 1973, and it has been operated by volunteers and professional staff ever since as one of Britain's great examples of railway preservation. The route is spectacular throughout its length. Departing Pickering, a market town with a Norman castle and a good range of visitor facilities, the line climbs steadily through the Newtondale gorge, a dramatic valley carved by glacial meltwater that provides some of the finest scenery on the line. The station at Goathland, used as Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films, is one of the most visited on the line and sits within a particularly beautiful section of moorland. Continuing north the line drops to Grosmont through Newtondale before reaching the Esk Valley. The railway operates primarily with steam locomotives from its impressive collection of mainly 1920s to 1960s British steam engines, though diesel locomotives also feature on the timetable. Special event days including evening Pullman dining trains, wartime recreation weekends and Santa specials throughout December attract additional visitors throughout the year. An extension of the heritage railway service beyond Grosmont to Whitby using the Network Rail Esk Valley line has been operated seasonally, providing the opportunity to travel from Pickering all the way to the coast by heritage and Network Rail services without using a car.

Reeth is the principal village of upper Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, a handsome settlement set around a large triangular green high above the River Swale whose combination of Georgian and earlier stone buildings, the views up and down the dale from the village green and its position at the meeting of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale make it the natural centre of the northern Yorkshire Dales and one of the finest Dales villages. The village provides the services and character of a genuine rural community that also accommodates the walkers, cyclists and visitors drawn to this exceptionally beautiful section of the national park. The Swaledale landscape above and below Reeth is among the finest traditional farming landscapes in Britain, the pattern of stone-walled hay meadows and pastures on the valley sides providing in summer one of the finest botanical spectacles in the Dales, the unimproved meadow flora of yellow rattle, wood cranesbill, melancholy thistle and numerous orchid species colouring the valley in ways that have all but disappeared from the lowland English countryside. The meadows of upper Swaledale are among the best preserved examples of traditional hay meadow management in Britain. The lead mining heritage of Swaledale is visible in the landscape above Reeth, where the heather moorland is pitted with the remains of mine shafts, smelt mills and the distinctive linear scars of the hushes, channels cut in the moorland to use water flow to expose ore-bearing rock. The Swaledale Museum in Reeth provides interpretation of the mining history and the wider cultural history of this remote but distinctive dale. The Coast to Coast walk passes through Reeth and the Pennine Journey route traverses the surrounding moorland, making it an excellent walking base.

The Ribblehead Viaduct carrying the Settle to Carlisle railway across the limestone valley at the head of Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales is one of the most iconic and most photographed pieces of Victorian railway engineering in Britain, a structure of twenty-four arches spanning nearly 500 metres across the valley floor at a maximum height of 32 metres whose combination of bold engineering, Yorkshire millstone grit construction and dramatic setting below the peak of Whernside creates one of the defining images of the Dales landscape. Built between 1869 and 1875 by the Midland Railway using a workforce of over two thousand navvies who lived in temporary settlements around the construction site, the viaduct was nearly demolished in the 1980s before a campaign saved both the structure and the entire Settle to Carlisle line. The construction of the Ribblehead Viaduct and the Settle to Carlisle Railway was one of the most ambitious engineering undertakings of the Victorian period, driven by the Midland Railway's determination to reach Scotland by its own route without dependence on the competing companies whose lines provided the existing connections. The exposed and difficult terrain of the Yorkshire Dales and the Cumbrian fells required the construction of numerous tunnels, viaducts and embankments in challenging conditions, and the navvy camps established at Ribblehead during construction grew into temporary towns of several thousand people whose presence is recorded in the registers of the isolated moorland churches. The viaduct can be approached from the Ribblehead Station car park on the B6255 road, and the walk across the valley floor to the base of the piers provides close appreciation of the scale and quality of the masonry. The Three Peaks circular walk using Pen y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside as its targets passes close to the viaduct and the wide Ingleborough summit provides an aerial perspective on the structure in its landscape setting.

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.

Thornton-le-Dale near Pickering in the North Yorkshire Moors is consistently voted the most beautiful village in Yorkshire, a settlement of stone cottages along a beck fringed with daffodils in spring and lined with willows in summer. A thatched whitewashed cottage by the beck is one of the most photographed buildings in the north of England, appearing on calendars and in photographic collections of English village scenes with remarkable frequency. The village has the genuine character of a working agricultural settlement rather than a preserved tourist artefact, its residents managing working farms and ordinary village life alongside the considerable visitor interest its reputation generates. The beck flowing through the centre creates the visual element that defines the scene and provides the perpetual gentle sound of flowing water that animates any visit. The stocks on the village green and the medieval market cross provide historical focal points, and the surrounding architecture of limestone and pantile roofs reflects the characteristic building tradition of the North Yorkshire Moors. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway station at Pickering nearby and Dalby Forest to the north provide excellent complementary heritage and outdoor experiences.

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.

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.

Masham is a charming small market town in the Ure Valley of North Yorkshire celebrated throughout England as the home of two of the most acclaimed independent breweries in the country: the Theakston Brewery, whose Old Peculier beer has been produced here since 1827, and the Black Sheep Brewery established in 1992. The combination of the two brewery visitor experiences in a single market town has made Masham one of the most visited beer tourism destinations in Yorkshire. The Theakston Brewery offers tours of the Victorian brewery buildings and the cooperage where oak casks are still made by hand in one of the last working cooperages in England. The Black Sheep Brewery, established in a distinctive Victorian maltings building above the town, provides a more modern brewery tour experience with exceptional views of the Ure Valley from its elevated position. The market place of Masham, one of the largest in North Yorkshire relative to the size of the town, hosts a weekly market and provides the centre of a market town that has maintained its traditional character while developing a visitor offer based on genuine local products of exceptional quality.

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.

Few places capture the atmosphere of the surrounding landscape quite like Muker Swaledale. Visitors often find themselves spending far longer here than expected because the scenery invites slow exploration. The location works particularly well as part of a wider scenic journey through the region. Photographers often appreciate the changing light conditions, particularly during sunrise and sunset. The surrounding landscape provides a strong sense of place that helps visitors understand the character of the region. Wandering around the area reveals small details that are easily missed when simply passing through. The surrounding landscape changes beautifully with the seasons, giving the location a slightly different character throughout the year. Even during busier periods there are usually quieter corners where the scenery can be appreciated at a slower pace. The atmosphere can shift dramatically depending on the weather, with bright sunlight revealing colours and textures that are easy to miss on overcast days. Many visitors return repeatedly because each visit offers something slightly different. Local walking routes and nearby viewpoints make it a rewarding place to explore on foot. Whether visiting for a short stop or a longer walk, Muker Swaledale leaves a lasting impression.

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.

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.

Hawes is the principal market town of upper Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, a small but lively town whose combination of the famous Wensleydale Creamery, the excellent Dales Countryside Museum, the weekly Tuesday market and the superb walking available on the surrounding fells and dale makes it the most complete and most welcoming destination in the upper dale. The town provides the essential services for the walking and cycling visitors who use it as a base for the excellent accessible landscapes of upper Wensleydale and the connecting valleys. The Wensleydale Creamery in the centre of the town produces the crumbly white cheese associated with this dale since the twelfth century when the Cistercian monks of Jervaulx Abbey first made it from ewes' milk. The creamery is open to visitors and provides one of the most popular cheese-related visitor experiences in England, combining the working dairy with a shop, café and visitor interpretation in a format that has become a national model for artisan food tourism. The Hardraw Force, England's highest unbroken waterfall above ground at approximately 30 metres, is accessible through the pub garden of the Green Dragon Inn at Hardraw a short distance from Hawes, a combination of the finest waterfall in the Dales with an obligatory pub visit that appeals greatly to the walking visitor community. The combination of Hardraw and Hawes provides an excellent half-day in the upper dale.