The Lemon Fool

We're heading to the Yorkshire Dales for a short holiday in a few week's time. We'll be about 10 miles west of Richmond. Any recommendations on things to do, places to eat, places to visit?

Thanks
Clariman

Lovely part of the country! Depending on how far you want to travel, and what modes of transport you have available to you (although there is quite a good and cheap network of local Dales buses for tourists and walkers (possibly summer only?)):

Richmond itself has quite an impressive castle (and when I passed through there a few years ago on a cycling long weekend with some friends, at least one good curryhouse that made a great 'refueling' stop).

South of there is Wensleydale, with the Wensleydale Heritage Railway, and I think there is at least one Wensleydale Cheese Dairy that you can visit and sample. Near there is Middleham, which also has a fairly interesting castle.

Plenty of good leisurely back roads up the dales and across the hills (although some are bloody steep in places if cycling). You'll find somewhere interesting to walk almost anywhere (if you are a keen hillwalker, there is apparently a Three Peaks walk you can do). North of Hellifield is the village of Malham, with a nice country pub, and various limestone rock formations, including Malham Cove. West of Malham you have the Settle and Carlisle railway (National Rail), which is quite a scenic journey. A little further west, you have Ingleton and just to the east of it White Scar Cave, which is an impressive cave system with guided tours.

Most of the small villages in the dales are quite pretty in themselves, with lots of old stone built houses. Grassington, north of Skipton, is perhaps a good example if you are passing near there.

Just south of the dales proper, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal goes east - west, good for walking or cycling, and I think there are canal boat trips in places, or available for hire. At Keighley, you have the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which has some lovingly restored stations and steam trains, and calls at the very pretty hillside village of Haworth, where the Brontë sisters lived. Further east along the canal is Saltaire (west of Shipley), with Salt's Mill (now used as an art gallery, also featuring works by David Hockney) and its planned village for the millworkers, and a nice civic park with bandstand (and occasional bands) just over the river. And should you want to walk over Ilkley Moor (with or without hat), there are the local landmarks of the "Cow and Calf" rocks (and you can get the train back to Shipley, or stations along the line to Keighley, from Ilkley afterwards).

Tourist information centres, or some appropriate web searches, will give more information about all of these. Hope you have a nice holiday!

Clariman wrote:We're heading to the Yorkshire Dales for a short holiday in a few week's time. We'll be about 10 miles west of Richmond. Any recommendations on things to do, places to eat, places to visit?

Thanks
Clariman

Barnard Castle?

(Sorry, couldn't resist )

Adrian

My stag night, some 64 years ago, was a pub crawl of Wensleydale, starting in Otley. You could do it the other way round. I suspect not all the pubs which we visited that night are still operational. My best man fell off his motorbike on the east lancs Road, heading back to Liverpool, so I had to field as a substitute the other participant on the event, who lived in Bradford.

This was long before breathalysers, of course, when the ability to touch your nose or walk in a straight line was the criterion of sobriety. An afternoon tea crawl might be better these days.

TJH

Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon.

dave559 wrote:Lovely part of the country! Depending on how far you want to travel, and what modes of transport you have available to you (although there is quite a good and cheap network of local Dales buses for tourists and walkers (possibly summer only?)):
(snip)

I live in Settle, and was tempted to post about many of the things that dave559 mentions. I decided not to post becuase (a) Richmond isn't very local to me and I don't know that area very well, and (b) there's quite a lot of driving involved. To give you an idea, it would take me about 90 minutes to drive from Settle to Richmond. If you're happy with that, all well and good, but factor in that the roads in the Dales can be quite slow and narrow. There is quite a lot to see in and around Richmond without driving all the way over this side of the Dales. Richmond is also in easy reach of Thirsk (e..g. James Herriot), Harrogate, York (if you like towns) and the North York Moors.

Wensleydale creamery.

If you are happy with a 1 1/2 hour drive, a trip to Whitby, if only for the fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas). It's also a nice drive over the North Yorkshire Moors plus Whitby is a nice place although it can be pretty busy nowadays.

niord wrote:If you are happy with a 1 1/2 hour drive, a trip to Whitby, if only for the fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas). It's also a nice drive over the North Yorkshire Moors plus Whitby is a nice place although it can be pretty busy nowadays.

Whitby is great....but then you're adding vampires to the mix!
https://www.visitwhitby.com/blog/dracula-and-whitby/

Crikey, it looks like they still run the Goth weekend! (That was always a messy bus back to Glasgow)

-sd

Drive over the Buttertubs Pass from Swaledale to Wensleydale.
Should be a good time for waterfalls so Hardraw Force with its single 100 foot drop. And Aysgarth Falls, scene of the Robin Hood / Little John fight in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. We liked Jervaux Abbey in Wensleydale which is not National Trust nor English Heritage so not so tidied up.

Tonight (Mon 14th) on BBC4 7:00pm there's a walk in Wensleydale from Leyburn to Bolton Castle. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000brwb

servodude wrote:

niord wrote:If you are happy with a 1 1/2 hour drive, a trip to Whitby, if only for the fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas). It's also a nice drive over the North Yorkshire Moors plus Whitby is a nice place although it can be pretty busy nowadays.

Whitby is great....but then you're adding vampires to the mix!
https://www.visitwhitby.com/blog/dracula-and-whitby/

Crikey, it looks like they still run the Goth weekend! (That was always a messy bus back to Glasgow)

-sd

They have just had the steampunk weekend as well, it baffles me!

Actually I forget to mention Pickering if steam railways are the thing. It should be running for half term they have I think four trains a day to Whitby and its a very senic journey.

Betty's in Thirsk, worth a visit for tea or lunch. Unfortunately, sometimes have to queue outside to get in.

Nice food at the Wensleydale Heifer.

Excellent coffee and chocolates at Mocha, Richmond.

A new set of boots? Get measured up at Altberg in Richmond.

niord wrote:If you are happy with a 1 1/2 hour drive, a trip to Whitby, if only for the fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas). It's also a nice drive over the North Yorkshire Moors plus Whitby is a nice place although it can be pretty busy nowadays.

Its a few years since we have been visitors - but we will be back to Pickering again this year. The last time, we took the steam train from Pickering to Whitby, and as it entered Whitby, we passed the large car park with lots of cars running round looking desperately for a space. The train ticket collector said that it had been full since 10am. So yes - in peak season Whitby is busy, but is well worth visiting. If you are looking for a scenic village , then Hutton le Hole is worth a visit. And if you are present in Spring time, a walk up Farndale among the wild daffodils is attractive - indeed a walk up the the valleys at any time of the year is very pleasant.
As to driving in the North York Moors, there are lots of minor roads with stretches of very steep gradients. There is also one major road - at Sutton Bank which is not for the faint hearted - below is an extract from https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sutton-bank

The A170 is a single carriageway carrying traffic between Thirsk and Scarborough. At Sutton Bank, travelling eastbound towards Scarborough, the A170 climbs 160 metres from the Vale of York to the top of the North York Moors in under one mile.
The bank has three sections of steep 1:4 (25%) inclines along its length. Just over half way up is a left hand hairpin bend. Near the top, there is a final short steep section before the main road bends sharply right.

I still remember the first time I came across it (many years ago), and I pulled into the car park at the top to let the radiator cool down Its not so bad in a modern car. We have had many enjoyable holidays in the area, but its a few years from our last visit, so I can't help with references to eating places, apart from saying that we were never disappointed in the wide choice available.

scotia wrote:

niord wrote:If you are happy with a 1 1/2 hour drive, a trip to Whitby, if only for the fish and chips with Yorkshire caviar (mushy peas). It's also a nice drive over the North Yorkshire Moors plus Whitby is a nice place although it can be pretty busy nowadays.

Its a few years since we have been visitors - but we will be back to Pickering again this year. The last time, we took the steam train from Pickering to Whitby, and as it entered Whitby, we passed the large car park with lots of cars running round looking desperately for a space. The train ticket collector said that it had been full since 10am. So yes - in peak season Whitby is busy, but is well worth visiting. If you are looking for a scenic village , then Hutton le Hole is worth a visit. And if you are present in Spring time, a walk up Farndale among the wild daffodils is attractive - indeed a walk up the the valleys at any time of the year is very pleasant.
As to driving in the North York Moors, there are lots of minor roads with stretches of very steep gradients. There is also one major road - at Sutton Bank which is not for the faint hearted - below is an extract from https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/sutton-bank

The A170 is a single carriageway carrying traffic between Thirsk and Scarborough. At Sutton Bank, travelling eastbound towards Scarborough, the A170 climbs 160 metres from the Vale of York to the top of the North York Moors in under one mile.
The bank has three sections of steep 1:4 (25%) inclines along its length. Just over half way up is a left hand hairpin bend. Near the top, there is a final short steep section before the main road bends sharply right.

I still remember the first time I came across it (many years ago), and I pulled into the car park at the top to let the radiator cool down Its not so bad in a modern car. We have had many enjoyable holidays in the area, but its a few years from our last visit, so I can't help with references to eating places, apart from saying that we were never disappointed in the wide choice available.

Whitby has a park and ride service now as well as the big car park by the Coop, but it still gets full. The bus from Pickering to Whitby is a highly scenic journey, and it goes over the moors and through Goathland, get on the top deck. The first one is about 9.30. The best time is late summer, when the moors are in flower, but any time is good. So parking in Pickering is an option. If you do go walking on the moors, we had a lot of ticks last year, so long trousers are a good option if going through the bracken, although staying on the paths should be OK.

Clariman's going to the Dales, too many are recommending leaving that National Park and going to an entirely different one, the North York Moors.

The Dales has much to offer, the previously mentioned Malham Cove, with the limestone pavements above, is spectacular. Can be incorporated into a walk including Gordale Scar.

Many more, including good ones in Swaledale near Richmond.

Scott.