Inspiration & ideas

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…

The Milk Test: for anyone who's ever thought about moving to the countryside. If you're considering a move, read this short article - and book a stay in the place you're thinking of moving to - NOW! Yes, in the depth of mid-Winter. You'll need to know what it's really like...!

The Milk Test - How do you fare?

It's seven in the morning and you need a coffee before you're properly awake but you've just realised there's no milk. Do you:

a) shrug - you're flexible and quite happy to go without somethin…

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…

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…