Reeth Swaledale
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.