Distinctly Dales


What makes the Dales the Dales? Local legends, curious landscape features, village shows with age-old traditions, dialect words, local food and drink - it is the distinctive yet sometimes less obvious things that can make a place so special and that, once discovered, can also make our experience of it all the more enjoyable.


Major landmarks and famous sights can mark one place out against another but it’s not just big features that form an impression. It’s everything, little and large, natural and man-made, which combine to create a true ‘sense of place’.


Sometimes what makes an experience most thrilling is the smaller details that are easily missed, but which we love once we know about them.


So next time you visit the National Park, take it slowly, look closely, and have a distinctive experience all of your own.


There are place names in the Dales that are Anglo Saxon - Swale (‘rushing’), Ribble (‘boundary’) - but it was the Viking invaders who left the biggest mark. Gill (‘ravine’), foss (‘waterfall’) and thwaite (‘clearing’) are all down to them, as is the most common place name element by (Carperby, Thoralby) meaning ‘farm’.


Sheep creeps are holes in drystone walls which allow sheep to pass between fields - usually to get to water - but which are too small for cattle. Smaller holes were sometimes created for rabbits as it prevented them burrowing and causing the wall to collapse - often a ‘drop box’ was fitted one side to catch them.


The ancient ritual of Burning Bartle takes place every year in the village of West Witton near Leyburn. On the Saturday nearest to St. Bartholomew's Day (24 August) a larger than life figure is paraded down the village main street accompanied by repeated chants of the


Bartle doggerel.


When Bartle reaches 'his end' in Grassgill, he is set alight, accompanied by songs and cheers from the assembled masses!


Find out about other village shows on pages 15-25.


Crook Gill packhorse bridge in Wharfedale would have been an important part of an old trading route. You can often spot what might have been a packhorse bridge by its lack of side walls.


Wensleydale cheese creates a strong association with the Dales, but there are many fantastic local food and drink producers and products. Ask around for local recommendations.


Myths and legends abound in the Dales. You may be pleased to find Janet, Queen of the Faeries, at enchanting Janet’s Foss waterfall in Malham - but beware the devil dog, the Barguest, that haunts Troller’s Gill!


Copper coins have been hammered into this dead tree trunk for good luck for many years. There is also a money tree at Bolton Abbey.


Coin tree, Janet’s Foss, Malham


The stone slab in the verge by Ivelet Bridge was said to have been a coffin stone, set there for the purpose of resting the wicker baskets taken along the Corpse Way from Upper Swaledale for burial in the churchyard at Grinton. This practice continued until 1580 when Muker churchyard was consecrated.


Scattered around the moors and valleys, sheepfolds are stone enclosures for gathering sheep for treatment or transportation. Washing the sheep before taking them to market meant the price of wool would be increased, so some were built near becks and gills. The beck would be dammed to raise the water level and the sheep pushed in and under with sticks for a thorough drenching.


Local legend has it that Lady Hill in Wensleydale was named after Mary Queen of Scotts who was imprisoned at Castle Bolton. This prominent drumlin - egg-shaped ridge formed by glaciers - just to the west of the castle was planted with Scots Pine trees, perhaps to improve her view? It was also a purpose-built rabbit warren used for breeding silver haired rabbits whose skins were in particular demand in the eighteenth century.


Until the eighteenth century, two stone posts cut with sockets and grooves was a common gate design; removable wooden poles closed the gap. Originally for animals, most are too narrow for vehicles, and one post was often removed to widen access. It is now unusual to find both gateposts still in place. Some of the best examples can be seen in Coverdale.


Visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park online at www.yorkshiredales.org.uk Page 29


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