The Yorkshire Dales is home to outstanding scenery, great castles, abbeys and a breathtakingly peaceful atmosphere. Each of the Yorkshire Dales has a different character. The Southern Dales are less remote, yet still wildly beautiful. The Northern Dales provide wild heather moorland and valleys full of hay meadows, dry stone walls and barns.
With stunning vistas, picturesque villages and beautiful waterfalls, the Yorkshire Dales are the perfect place to own a holiday caravan or just visit for a holiday break. There are a plethora of activities and captivating historical sites, so there’s plenty to discover and keep you occupied in this area.
Skipton has a wealth of history and its name was recorded in the Domesday book of 1086. Skipton is a northern dialect form of “sheep-town”.
The first Skipton Castle was built in 1090 as a wooden motte-and-bailey, and then it was strengthened with stone in the 12th century to repel attacks from Scotland which elevated Skipton from a village to a burgh at this time. It is now one of the most complete and best preserved medieval castles in England.
Skipton is know as the “Gateway to the Dales” as it is is the nearest and largest town to a significant area of the Dales. Skipton has won many accolades including Sunday Times Best Place to Live in Britain 2014, The Independent Britain’s Happiest Place [source: Office of National Statistics 2017], the National Campaign for Courtesy awarded Skipton most Courteous Town 2016; and NABMA The Voice of Markets awarded Best Small Outdoor Market 2017 and Best Large Speciality Market 2018.
The pretty town of Grassington lies 9 miles north of Skipton, and 6 miles south of Littondale. The name Grassington derives variously from the Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon and Gothic languages, and means either the town of the grassy ings or a farmstead surrounded by grass. With a cobbled market square, fringed by independent shops, art galleries, crafts and open studios, friendly cafés, restaurants and cosy hotels, Grassington is town that feels like a village, all set amongst stunning Dales countryside.
Littondale’s first recorded use of its name as “Littundale” was in 1198. The name has the meaning “village on a roaring stream”. It comprises the main settlements of Hawkswick, Arncliffe, Litton, Foxup and Halton Gill.
Littondale is a side dale to the west of Wharfedale and follows the River Skirfare. The nature of the dale and its characteristic smooth form was the result of many ice ages, especially the one 20,000 years ago. Littondale is rich in Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, and has been a sheltered fertile valley for 5,000 years or more. Anglian cultivation terraces (lynchets) can be seen in the valley. After the Norman Conquest, the Normans turned it into a hunting chase before the land was granted to the monks of Fountains Abbey in the 13th century, and became extensively used for sheep farming.
