Discover Swaledale in Summer

Terry Fletcher reveals why this beautiful, unspoilt valley is the perfect place to enjoy a slice of summer tranquility

Where to stay | Where to drink | Walk Swaledale | Your Swaledale tips

For serious walkers there is a stretch of hallowed ground at the top of Swaledale. For a few hundred yards the Pennine Way, our first official National Trail, joins forces with the country’s most popular long distance path, Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast walk. After this brief meeting, Pennine Wayfarers swing north over the high moors, headed for Scotland, but Coast to Coasters have an infinitely more tempting prospect. At their feet lie the 20-odd glorious miles of Swaledale, the most northerly and most majestic of all the Yorkshire Dales.
Each of these valleys has its own personality and Upper Swaledale’s bare, scarred slopes often invite words like ‘imposing’, ‘rugged’ and even ‘bleak’.
It is a raw landscape that is often beautiful though rarely pretty and never, ever twee. Alfred Wainwright chose well when he picked this steep-sided cleft for his route out of the Pennines and the capricious, dancing Swale, said to be England’s fastest river with its many delightful waterfalls, as his companion.
It’s a valley that suits lovers of solitude and seekers of secrets, rather than those who prefer their leisure neatly packaged. Because while it offers a warm welcome to visitors, Swaledale remains seductively undeveloped. Brown-signposted attractions are so few and far between that the local tourist offices have to stuff their racks with leaflets advertising the delights abounding over the hill in neighbouring Wensleydale. And that suits Upper Swaledale’s devotees just fine, because that is precisely what makes the valley stand out from its sisters and attracts those that are looking for an authentic Yorkshire Dales experience.
James Alfred Wight, better known as James Herriot, wrote: “This high country is too bleak for some people, but it is up there on the empty moors, with the curlews crying, that I have been able to find peace and tranquillity. It is a land of pure air, rocky streams and hidden waterfalls.”
It also appealed to the Norse invaders, who made their homes here and left their mark in the short, sharp names of places like Keld and Thwaite at the head of the valley. The slopes are grazed by the local Swaledale breed of sheep, small, shaggy creatures capable of withstanding the harsh conditions and even surviving being buried under snowdrifts. So essential are they to farming in the area that the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s emblem is a Swaledale tup (male sheep).

Springing into life
But that’s enough talk of bleakness. In winter the highest roads may sometimes be impassable and inhabitants of gentler valleys joke that Swaledale’s climate is “nine months of winter and three months of back end (autumn)”, but on a sunny day in late spring and early summer there is no finer or gentler place on earth.
This is when Swaledale literally blooms with miles of beautiful flower-filled hay meadows. From a distance they look like yellow carpets rolled out between the spider’s web of dry stone walls that knit the Dale together. Closer inspection, however, reveals that as well as the ubiquitous buttercups, the meadows are blessed with a dazzling variety of plants, such as sweet vernal-grass, pignut, red fescue, Yorkshire fog, common sorrel and lady’s mantle. You may also pick out the common spotted-orchid, bistort, melancholy thistle and globeflower. Botanical surveys here have shown up to 30 different species in a single square metre.

Unspoilt beauty
Elsewhere throughout Britain, agricultural changes have led to centuries-old meadows being ploughed up, seeded with modern grasses and doused with herbicides until they present a pristine monoculture, to be cut for silage before flowers have a chance to grow or set seed. But in Swaledale traditional methods still reign.
Livestock is moved out of the meadows in May and the green spaces are then left to grow until late June or July when, depending on the weather, they are cut for hay. Many are crossed by footpaths providing easy, enchanting walking, but when you use them please stay in single file – this is an essential crop for traditional farmers. Swaledale has one of the greatest concentrations of surviving hay meadows in the country and more are being recreated by the Haytime Project, which collects seed from existing meadows to sow in nearby fields and aims eventually to restore more than 500 acres across the national park.

Unique vistas
The other much-used reminders of the Dale’s farming traditions are the bewildering number of barns scattered across the landscape. Almost every field has its own small, squat stone building tucked into a corner, like houses dotted across a Monopoly board. These charming buildings both add beauty to the landscape and provided a practical use for the local farmers. Unlike other areas, where livestock was brought into the main farmstead for winter, Swaledale farmers kept a handful of animals in each outlying barn. It may have meant a long round for the herdsman each day, but once the barns were in place it was a remarkably efficient system. Hay never left the field where it grew and once it had been fed to the animals, the resulting muck could be used to manure the same field.
Not that Swaledale was ever entirely rural. Lead was mined here before written history and the Romans knew of the seams. The heyday of the mines came in the 16th and 17th centuries, when Swaledale lead-covered cathedral and castle roofs all over the country. This boom explains why small hamlets today boast large Nonconformist chapels that are too big for their modern populations.
In 1829 lead prices collapsed in the face of cheap imports and the mines began to close. Families were forced out, some to the Durham coalfield or the factories and mills of the booming industrial cities, but others to mines as far away as South America, where Dales names like Alderson still survive.

Explore and enjoy
Today all that remains of their endeavours are ghostly ruins in places like Gunnerside Gill and the miles of tracks that are now enjoyed by walkers and mountain bikers. Walking is, of course, king in Swaledale, and the stunning scenery is best enjoyed on foot, but there are also plenty of superb mountain biking opportunities, and many of the scenic yet often physically demanding tracks are the legacy of the valley’s mining history. Fishing is also a good way to soak up the surroundings, and the upper Swale around Gunnerside is a great place to cast a fly for wild brown trout. Day tickets are available from Reeth post office or the Black Bull on the village green. To find out more about the area’s history, particularly its mining past, check out the Swaledale Museum, in Reeth. This homely, volunteer-run collection, housed in the old Methodist school room, tells the story of the rise and death of local industries and also reveals more about farming in the area.
If you have children in tow, head for Hazel Brow Farm, an award-winning 220-acre family-run working organic farm where children can get close up to the animals, including the traditional Swaledale sheep. There is also a café, guided walks and nature trails to enjoy here, as well wet weather activities to keep the children entertained when
the British summer weather decides to revert to type. If the weather is on your side, make sure you visit the watersplash, just a mile away, and recreate the scene from the title sequence of the TV series All Creatures Great and Small, when Siegfried’s car splashes through the stream. This beautiful spot, which sits in a dip in the moors beside the minor road from Low Row to Arkengarthdale, is the perfect place to relax and take in the scenery while you enjoy a picnic.

Village life
Below the village of Thwaite the valley broadens and the river is tamer as it flows past picturesque Muker, straggling Low Row and into the comfortable village of Reeth, with its collection of pubs and cafés overlooking the large, sloping village green.
Across the river stands Grinton and St Andrew’s church, so large that it is known as the Cathedral of the Dales. Grinton was once one of the largest parishes in England, stretching for 20 miles, and the church served the entire upper Dale. The dead had to be carried here in wicker caskets on mourners’ shoulders along the old Corpse Way for burial in consecrated ground. The grim processions ended only when a church was built at Muker in 1580.
Beyond Grinton the fells shrink and, after passing through a wooded gorge, the Dale ends abruptly at Richmond, dominated by its forbidding square keep castle.

Rich heritage
The castle’s outer walls have suffered the crumbling fate of many others but the 30m (100ft) high keep remains intact and is well worth a visit. Even to a modern eye used to tall buildings, it is impressive. This great stone fist had a single purpose – to terrify any unruly Saxons and leave them in no doubt that their new masters were in compete control.
Despite this Norman fortress, Richmond is a Georgian rather than medieval town and it is the only town in Swaledale. At its heart is the vast sloping cobbled market place, surrounded by tall Georgian buildings, though for the most part the ground floors are taken up with the workaday shops of a town keen to get on with its own life rather than visitor knick-knackery. There is also a popular market on Saturdays.
The castle is well worth a visit to view the cells used for conscientious objectors during the First World War, as well as for the superb view from the battlements. More modern military history is on display at the Green Howards Museum (www.greenhowards.org.uk), which celebrates the historic Yorkshire regiment. Down a side street you’ll find the Richmondshire Museum, which has a prominent nod to James Herriot with the set of the surgery used in the TV series. So let James have the last word. “I always have a feeling of loss at leaving Swaledale behind,” he wrote. You might just feel the same.

WHERE TO STAY IN SWALEDALE

The Charles Bathurst Inn

Arkengarthdale DL11 6EN

Tel: 01768 884567 FIND OUT MORE

From £85 per double room and breakfast

The CB, as it’s known locally, is an 18th-century coaching inn tucked away in the side valley of Arkengarthdale, which featured heavily in the BBC’s All Creatures Great And Small. Charles Bathurst was a local mine owner and the son of Oliver Cromwell’s doctor. The hotel was extensively refurbished by Dales craftsmen using local stone in 1996 and has since been extended to give a total of 19 comfortable and individually decorated rooms.
The menu, which changes daily, is written up on a mirror over the fireplace and relies heavily on local seasonal food, including game from the surrounding moors and local cheeses.
In the bar you’ll mingle with plenty of locals while supping beers from the Theakston and Black Sheep breweries, which stand almost side by side on the banks of the River Ure in Ripon. In summer you may be lucky enough to watch a highly competitive game of quoits, played with heavy iron rings – think the French game of boules, but with extra muscle – going on outside.

BUDGET STAY
Usha Gap Camp Site

Muker DL11 6DW

Tel: 01748 886214 FIND OUT MORE

Adult camping from £5 per night, caravans from £12

This well-organised, family-run site is less than ½ mile outside the village, is well positioned for exploring Swaledale and is close to the Coast to Coast path too. The pitches for tents and caravans are in the flat meadows of the Dale bottom.

BLOW OUT STAY
The Burgoyne Hotel

Reeth DL11 6SN

Tel: 01748 884292 FIND OUT MORE

From £132 per double room and breakfast, suite from £195

A completely refurbished Georgian country house overlooking the huge sloping village green, this hotel offers stunning views of the surrounding countryside from elegantly furnished rooms. It also offers everything from horse riding to trout fishing.

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Sup swaledale: 3 best pubs

Tan Hill Inn

Reeth DL11 6ED

Tel: 01833 628426 FIND OUT MORE

You’ll be ready for a bar meal and a pint of Black Sheep beer by the time you reach England’s highest pub at 528m (1,732ft) above sea level, high on the moors above Keld. And if you can’t face the walk back down after your visit, you can always take bed and breakfast in one of the pub’s seven rooms or pitch your tent and camp next door. The pub can be cut off for weeks on end in winter but is a place of pilgrimage for summer visitors. Just don’t be too surprised if a real sheep joins you at the bar.

The Bridge Inn

Grinton DL11 6HH

Tel: 01748 884224 FIND OUT MORE

A former coaching inn dating back to the 13th century right on the banks of the Swale, the Bridge Inn makes regular appearances in good pub guides. It has a reputation for fine local food and well-kept beers, including guest brews.
The open fires and beamed ceilings make this a great traditional Dales pub.

The Farmers Arms

Muker DL11 6QG

Tel: 01748 886297

This inviting Dales pub stands above the road in the heart of Muker. Featuring real ales from Theakston and Black Sheep, dogs and walkers are made most welcome. If you are here on the first Wednesday in September it’s the only place to end the annual Muker Show, as the local silver band plays hymns in the garden.

WALK SWALEDALE - 3 top walks

For beginners - Richmond Drummer Boy
Follow the route of the legendary drummer, who was sent down a newly-discovered underground passage from the castle in the 18th century. Start in the Market Square, where the Green Howards Museum will tell you the story of the drummer, and take the path along Lombard’s Wynd to the ruins of Easby Abbey. You’ll pass the Drummer Boy’s Stone, over the spot where his drumming stopped and he was never heard of again. Return alongside the River Swale and cross the former railway bridge to the old railway station, now full of small shops.
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Moderate walk - Arkengarthdale and Booze
Start from the CB Inn north of Langthwaite in Arkengarthdale and follow tracks made by lead miners. Head north up Scarhouse Lane then bear west through the remains and spoil heaps of Windegg Mine. Follow the narrow Slei Gill, where there are more reminders of the industry, then ascend to the superbly named hamlet of Booze, which has wide views down Arkengarthdale into Swaledale. Continue over the Arkle Beck and through Arkle Town, then view the Dale from the western side – northwards is the wildness of Stainmoor – before descending back to the inn and a well-earned drink.

For a challenge - Muker and Keld
Take in the gorgeous scenery on this classic circuit from the pretty village of Muker up to remote Keld. The walk begins with an easy stroll through wildflower meadows in the river valley, full of colour in early summer. Then, near Crackpot Hall, you begin to ascend the hillside, before descending by Kisdon Force into Keld. For a real challenge, head north from here over Stonesdale Moor to Tan Hill, the site of Britain’s highest pub. Or complete the circuit by taking the path round
the western edge of Kisdon Hill, which offers glorious views of Great Shunner Fell and Lovely Seat, before descending once again to Muker.

YOUR SWALEDALE

We asked you for your own tips and here are a selection

Beautiful wilderness
The area around Tan Hill is one of the few true wildernesses in England. On a clear day, high up on the moors, you can see for miles to the stunning mountains of the Lake District and border country beyond.
Tony Bevington

Industrial past
I’ve lived in the village of Reeth in Swaledale for 28 years and I love it here! There are a lot of old lead mines and workings dotted about the Dales, most notably at Grinton, Gunnerside and Surrender Bridge.
Sylvia Slavin

Hit the trail
There are ample walking paths for all abilities in Swaledale, from riverside walks to the Pennine Way, where you can walk back along to Great Shunner Fell from Thwaite, or onwards to Tan Hill and the highest pub in England.
Ian McVety

Marvellous Muker
Visit the delightful tea room in Muker for delicious homemade cakes and biscuits. Swaledale Woollens, which sells superb knitted garments, is also in the village, and there’s an excellent gift shop in the old school.
Alice Cummings

WE WANT YOUR TIPS
In future issues we will be exploring the the Howgill Fells, Shropshire and the Peak District in winter. We’d love to hear your recommendations about where to visit, eat and stay.
Each tip we print will get a fantastic Countryfile Magazine mug!

Send your tips to: Discover, Countryfile Magazine, 9th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN or click here to email tips for the Howgills, Shropshire or the Peak District.

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THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN ISSUE 22 OF COUNTRYFILE MAGAZINE. TO NEVER MISS AN ISSUE SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

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