The Yorkshire Dales (stone villages & waterfalls)
The Yorkshire Dales is home to many stone-built villages and dramatic waterfalls, amid heather moorland that stretches into Lancashire and Cumbria.
It’s home to 100 species of nesting birds, 30 species of mammals, 25 species of butterflies, 1000 species of moth and a unique moss not found elsewhere. Here also lives the brown long-eared bat (his ears much longer than his body!)
If out walking, always follow the Countryside Code, to keep all creatures safe. If at the coast, read our post on keeping dogs safe by the seaside.
The Dales has complex cave systems including Gaping Gill, which features the highest unbroken underground waterfall. Here you’ll also find the famed Settle-to-Carlisle Railway and its 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct.
The word ‘dale’ is from the 12th century Old English/Norse ford for ‘valley’.
Alas today over 20% of the 13,000 plus buildings in the National Park are holiday homes, which prices local people out of buying their own homes, if they are on lower incomes than second home owners.
