Nature

How do you feel about ghosts and shadows of the past? Have you heard of witches' marks or apotropaic marks? We didn't realise it when we bought our house, but in theory our house is protected by one of them...

I'm not sure I entirely believe in ghosts or witches, but a few experiences have shown me how the past can echo down the years. Many years ago we stayed near the Bolton Abbey Estate, in Beamsley Hospital, a beautiful 16th/17th century Landmark Trust property, once home to impoverished gentl…

Hawthorn trees are associated with May Day and many ancient customs. Blossoming hawthorn trees are one of the signs that Spring is really here, and known as the May Tree. Heard the expression: "ne'er cast a clout till May be out"? It doesn't mean don't take off any clothes ('clout'- old word for clothes) such as your wool vest, until the end of May. Rather it means that Spring hasn't properly arrived until the May tree flowers are out.

Hawthorn's associated with another saying: "to hold a torch f…

Do you have a favourite waterfall? We should almost be grateful to the rain, since it makes them so spectacular... Here are a few waterfalls you may already love? Which others do you like to visit?

- Stainforth Foss/Force: a picturesque waterfall where Atlantic salmon gather each Autumn and leap the falls on their way upstream to spawn

- Janet’s Foss: a small and pretty waterfall near Malham

- Ingleton waterfalls: a trail takes in a series of lovely waterfalls

- Catrigg Force: a hidden gem located i…

You may recognise this place? It's a tiny hamlet packed with interest, right in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales. Perhaps you've seen it on TV, or walked through it?

It's Yockenthwaite, which features as Helen Alderson's family home in the TV series of James Herriot's All Creatures Great & Small. It's by the river Wharfe in lovely Langstrothdale.

There are some beautiful walks through Yockenthwaite, including the Dales Way, and other shorter routes towards Cray or onwards to the historic and very…

I quite often tell visitors this fact and they don't believe me, until they start to look closer... we have some of the greenest grass here in the Yorkshire Dales... ​It's thanks to a unique combination of soil, limestone, the light, wind, rain, sheep droppings and other Yorkshire Dales magic.

Large swathes of land remain relatively undisturbed so they're rarely crushed and trampled underfoot. None of the grass is mown too low - usually, it's the sheep doing the mowing.

Dales grass stays green alm…

You would think that in an area known as the 'Yorkshire Dales', where the dales themselves are the main attraction, that some one would be able to tell you exactly how many dales there are? It's not quite so simple...

The word 'dale' is old English, probably originating from the German word Tal or Nordic Dal, and essentially means a valley. Most of the Yorkshire Dales are named after their river e.g. River Swale = Swaledale. There are a few exceptions such as Wensleydale named after Wensley, once…

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 …

How are you feeling? Fresh-faced and motivated, or maybe in need of a little cobweb-brushing? Amanda Brown suggests a walk to the summit of Buckden Pike…

At 702 metres high, Buckden Pike in Upper Wharfedale isn’t the loftiest hill in the Yorkshire Dales but a 6.5-mile loop via the summit offers views that are every bit as rewarding as you look out across to Yorkshire’s Three Peaks and a great feeling of being out in the wilds.

Follow a 6-mile loop from Buckden and those views open up as you st…

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 …