Stories of the Past

If you had to choose Seven Wonders of the Yorkshire Dales, what would they be?

My suggestions change all the time. At the moment they’re:

1. The Swaledale hay meadows

2. Gordale Scar and the limestone pavements

3. Settle to Carlisle Railway and Ribblehead Viaduct

4. The miles and miles of dry stone walls and field barns - can't decide on my favourite location but Littondale, Arkengarthdale and Wensleydale all come close

5. Jervaulx Abbey

6. The Middleham to Kettlewell road, and countless spots along …

You can tell a lot about the history of places in the Yorkshire Dales from their name. Ham, ley, ton, pen, foss... all give clues to the past.

First came the Celtic tribe of Brigantes, who gave us places with 'pen' in the name, meaning ‘hill’. For example, Penhill, (so good they named it twice?!) and Pen-y-ghent.

Anglo Saxons were the next influence. Look out for names ending in ham or ton (eventually leading to town) which meant a farmstead. The name before –ton or –ham was often either the name…

Kirkby Malham lies on the River Aire, a short distance from Malham. It's so small that most people simply pass through on their way to better known beauty spots, and yet despite its size, Kirkby Malham has a cornucopia of  interesting connections and curiosities. 

Bill Bryson, the American author of the best-selling Notes from A Small Island lived in Kirkby Malham for several years. Many years earlier another literary great, Charles Kingsley, stayed in the hamlet, and immortalised the church bell…

You could easily drive through Kilnsey in Wharfedale and barely realise you've been to the village, but you're very unlikely to miss its most distinctive feature. Kilnsey Crag is 170 feet high with a dramatic 40 ft overhang. Look closely and you're likely to see climbers tackling the challenge.

​As you'd expect, the views from the top of the crag are stunning. J.M.W. Turner enjoyed visiting in 1816, recording his view in a sketch. The Tennants Arms pub sits in the shadow of the crag.

Close by is t…

Carperby isn’t a very well-known place but it’s certainly got more than its fair share of stories and interesting connections.

If you wander into the Wheatsheaf Inn in this small Wensleydale village, you may spot a letter on the wall. It's from James Herriot, or more accurately the writer, Alf Wight, and tells his parents of his wedding, including the moment the vicar asked him if he took "this woman to be your lawful wedded husband"...

It seems like the right kind of setting for a down-to-earth…

If you'd like to entice someone who says they don't like walking to join you on a gentle amble, you could intrigue them with the promise of showing them a rocket ship, a giant pepper pot and what could be (from a distance) a guillotine, all standing proud on a limestone outcrop in the Yorkshire Dales countryside.

Once you've climbed a small hill to get closer to them, and perhaps even 'boarded' the rocket ship, there's the additional reward of fine views towards Bolton Castle. As you've probably …

Why are we still so fascinated by stories of smugglers? Maybe it's the secrecy, the tax dodging tactics or simply a childlike desire to play hide-and-seek. In Robin Hood's Bay on the Yorkshire coast on a misty day, you can sense the ghosts of the past, imagining a fleeting glimpse of a smuggler disappearing round a dark corner. 

Robin Hood's Bay was said to be the busiest smuggling village on the east coast in the 18th century. A bale of silk could supposedly pass from the bottom of the village t…

Have you heard how two brothers in the tiny hamlet of Thwaite inspired Sir David Attenborough?

Thwaite in Swaledale is a small hamlet, popular thanks to its location on the Coast to Coast, Pennine Way and Herriot Way. Thwaite is a norse name meaning a clearing: this area was once more densely wooded. It's thought that people may have lived here since the Iron Age (600 BC!) as there's an earthwork bank and ditch just outside Thwaite.

Few of today's visitors know about some of Thwaite's most famous …