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29-490: Bedale Beck is a river that flows through the eastern end of Wensleydale and passes through Crakehall , Bedale and Leeming before entering the River Swale at a point between Morton-on-Swale and Gatenby . Between source and mouth its length is 25.7 miles (41 km). The beck begins at Constable Burton with the confluence of three becks (Bellerby and Burton, Whipperdale and a third unnamed beck), all of which rise in

58-639: A 'level floodplain') in comparison to the rest of the beck's course. Wensleydale Wensleydale is a valley in North Yorkshire , England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales , which are part of the Pennines . The dale is named after the village of Wensley , formerly the valley's market town . The principal river of the valley is the Ure , which is the source of the alternative name Yoredale . The majority of

87-622: A spot on "The Shawl" called "Queen's Gap". By 1846 the railway had reached Wensleydale, on a line between Northallerton and Bedale; it was extended in 1856, to carry passengers from Leeming Bar to Bedale. Wensley railway station opened in 1877; by 1878, there were also stations in Northallerton, Leeming Bar, Bedale, Leyburn, Hawes and Garsdale. Wensleydale's principal settlements are Hawes and Leyburn ; Aysgarth , Bainbridge , and Middleham are well-known villages. The shortest river in England,

116-631: Is eventually to run the whole length of the valley and connect again with the National Rail network at both ends: at Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle Railway in the west and Northallerton on the East Coast Main Line in the east. It is hoped this may help relieve some of the current traffic congestion that the valley suffers from during the busiest months. Some visitors come to Wensleydale due to its connection with Richard III , who

145-665: Is the home of rope maker (Outhwaites), where visitors can see the manufacturing process. Hawes is also home to the Wensleydale Creamery, the Dales Countryside Museum, shops and many of places to eat. Part of Bolton Castle is a ruin but the other section has been restored. The Wensleydale Railway operates in Wensleydale. It currently runs between Leeming Bar, the A1 and Redmire, near Castle Bolton. The railway's long-term plan

174-644: The North Sea off Spurn Head . On the way it collects the waters of the River Swale , River Nidd , River Wharfe , River Aire , River Derwent and River Trent . Wensleydale is a very popular destination in its own right, enhanced by its central location between two other well-known tourist dales: Wharfedale and the quieter Swaledale . Wensleydale is a common destination for visitors who like walking on mountains, moorland, dale-sides, and valley bottoms. Hawes and Leyburn are popular because of their age, location and facilities (pubs, shops, teashops, and hotels). Hawes

203-569: The River Bain , links Semerwater to the River Ure, at Bainbridge, the home to an Ancient Roman fort (part of the Roman road is walkable, up Wether Fell). Hardraw Force , the highest above-ground unbroken waterfall in England, is located at Hardraw, near Hawes. Aysgarth Falls (High, Middle, Low) are famous for their beauty (rather than their height), attracting far-off visitors; they were also featured in

232-479: The brachiopod fauna usually associated with it. The main limestone of Weardale is full of corals , including Lonsdaleia floriformis, Dibunophyllum sp., Cyclophyllum pachyendothecum , etc., and has a typical Visean fauna; it would therefore correspond, palaeontologically , with the upper part of the Carboniferous Limestone of Derbyshire. On Ingleborough the limestone is not very fossiliferous , but

261-421: The limestones into well-defined beds. These limestone beds have received various names of local significance ( Hardraw Scar , Simonstone , Middle, Underset, Main and many others), and owing to the country being little disturbed by faulting and being much cut up by the streams, they stand out as escarpments on either side of the valleys. The first indication of the intercalation of thick detrital deposits within

290-460: The Bedale area by 1297. The most famous is the mill that still exists at Crakehall, which was renovated in 1980 and again in the new millennium and grinds corn on special open days. Both of the mills at Aiskew and Crakehall had millraces. Crakehall's is still there and transports water. Aiskew Mill had closed but was reopened in 2010 as a community bakery. In the 18th century an attempt was made to make

319-816: The Main Limestone contains small corals of a zaphrentoid type and an upper Visean fauna. Posidonomya Becheri occurs fairly low down in the series in the Shale above the Hardraw Scar and Gayle limestones, but it is not accompanied by any of the goniatites or other cephalopods and lamellibranchs which characterize the Posidonomya Becheri beds of the Pendleside Series, the faunas of the Yoredale and Pendleside phases being very distinct. The Red Bed Limestone of Leyburn,

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348-551: The River Swale in Hambleton, Bedale Beck has been identified as having poor ecological quality and having too much sediment entering the water, which damages the habitat for fish, raises phosphate levels and contributes to flooding. Both Bedale and Leeming have been identified as being the main receptors of flooding along the beck owing to their low-lying and flat nature (especially between Bedale and Leeming, which has been described as

377-509: The Yoredale strata, even in the shale above the Hardraw Scar limestone. In the Derbyshire area and farther north these corals would indicate the uppermost beds of the limestone series of those districts, and their early appearance in the Yoredale area is probably entirely due to conditions of environment. Attempts have been made to correlate rocks in a number of widely separated areas with the Yoredale strata, but on wholly insufficient grounds. It

406-581: The beck navigable from Bedale to the River Swale. The plan was abandoned owing to a lack of investment and in 1855 the railway was opened, which superseded the plans for a canal. The area below the weir and the sluice gate are still known as 'The Harbour'. The scheme was part of a grander plan to convert the Swale into a navigation from the River Ure up to Bedale, which involved installing a lock just west of Leeming village, known as Leeming Lock. The lock survived until it

435-543: The dale is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park ; the part below East Witton is within the national landscape of Nidderdale . Addlebrough , at 481 metres (1,578 feet), dominates the landscape of the upper dale, and Penhill , at 526 metres (1,726 feet), is prominent in the lower dale. The dale lends its name to the Yoredale Group of Carboniferous rocks. The dale is famous for its cheese , with

464-596: The edge of Leyburn for the Wensleydale Agricultural Show. 54°18′20″N 2°10′00″W  /  54.3056°N 2.16667°W  / 54.3056; -2.16667 Yoredale Series In the Yorkshire Dales the Carboniferous rocks assume an aspect very different from that which obtains in the South. Beds of detrital sediment , sandstones , shales and occasional ironstones and thin coals separate

493-537: The film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . Some scenes from the 1992 film Wuthering Heights were also filmed at the falls. Other notable waterfalls are at Wensley (Harmby Falls), West Burton , and Whitfield Gill Force, near Askrigg . Wensleydale stretches some 25 miles (40 km) from west to east. It lies between Wharfedale (to the south), and the quieter Swaledale (to the north, via Buttertubs Pass ). Several lesser-known dales are branches of Wensleydale: on

522-489: The main commercial production at Hawes . At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Wensley included two berewicks [a portion of farmland], "one of 4 and another of 3 carucates [units of land area], each attached to Count Alan's manor of East Witton". The Count's entire holding in the area included only 11 villagers, 2 smallholders and 18 ploughlands. By 1199, Wensley Church, under the patronship of "Niel son of Alexander",

551-549: The massive limestone is seen in Ingleborough and Penyghent ; but as the rocks are traced north the detrital matter increases in quantity and the limestones diminish, until in Northumberland the whole Carboniferous series assumes the Yoredale phase, and consists of alternations of detrital and calcareous beds, no massive limestone being seen. The Yoredale limestones are characterized by the presence of Productus giganteus and

580-522: The new A684 bypass and into the town of Bedale, where it forms the boundary between the civil parishes of Aiskew and Bedale. After Bedale it flows east then north, going under the A6055 road and the A1(M) before changing direction and going east along the northern edge of RAF Leeming . It joins the River Swale between Morton-on-Swale and Gatenby. The beck was the location of water mills, at least two being recorded in

609-585: The north side Cotterdale , Fossdale and Apedale and on the south side, from west to east, Widdale , Sleddale , Raydale , Bishopdale , Waldendale and Coverdale . Below Wensleydale, the River Ure flows east and south, becomes navigable, changes its name to the River Ouse , passes through York , becomes the Humber Estuary, flows under the Humber Bridge past Hull , Immingham , and Grimsby , and meets

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638-490: The plague reached this area; residents of Wensely who survived settled in Leyburn; "Wensley never fully recovered from that tragedy" and by 1686, Leyburn had become the main settlement and the valley's market town. Bolton Castle , in the village of Castle Bolton , is a notable local historic site. Building of the structure was begun by Richard le Scrope, Lord Treasurer and Lord Chancellor to Richard II , in 1378. The building

667-447: The upland north of Leyburn , with Bellerby Beck spilling off the moor above the village of Bellerby . At Constable Burton it flows under the A684 road and between there and Patrick Brompton it is shown on maps as Burton Beck, Leeming Beck and Newton Beck. At Crakehall it is also named Crakehall Beck. It takes on the name Bedale Beck proper just east of Crakehall before it flows south under

696-436: The uppermost limestone of the series, is very rich in fish remains, which are identical in many cases with those found in the topmost beds of the massive Carboniferous Limestone at Bolt Edge quarry in Derbyshire. The shales between the limestones are rich in fossils and contain abundant single corals referable to Zaphrentis enniskilleni , Cyclophyllum pachyendothecum , and others; these, though high-zonal forms, occur low down in

725-509: Was blown up in the Second World War , though no-one knows if it was deliberate or accidental. The plan also meant diverting the watercourse that flows past Floodbridge Farm and now joins Bedale Beck further downstream than previously. Flooding on the beck has led to problems. In 1900 floodwaters undermined the trackbed of the railway line west of Bedale, causing a locomotive to derail and killing its fireman. Along with others that feed into

754-513: Was born and lived in Wensleydale, was a captain in the army which fought with King Henry V in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. A fortified manor, Nappa Hall near Askrigg , was built by his son Sir Thomas Metcalfe. During the 16th and 17th century, the primary industries were lead and coal works but limeworks were also common. A 1914 report stated that "old smelting-mills, quarries and limekilns abound; freestone and lime are still worked". In 1563,

783-553: Was brought up in Middleham Castle . It has the largest castle keep in the North of England. Middleham itself is a market town with pubs and horse-racing connections (several stables). In the market place stands a stone carving, believed to be a boar's head, signifying where the animal market was during the 15th century as well as representing Richard's personal standard, the white boar. Each August, visitors and local people gather at

812-452: Was finally completed in c.1399; the total cost was approximately 18,000 marks. Mary, Queen of Scots , was imprisoned there for six months, ending in January 1569, under head keeper Sir Francis Knollys , housed in the apartment of Henry Scrope; she was allowed a retinue of 51, with 30 housed in the castle. The story goes that she once escaped and made her way towards Leyburn but was captured at

841-604: Was in operation. Wensley became the primary village of the valley, receiving its Royal Charter in 1202; that allowed for the creation of a market. Wensleydale was the home of one of Yorkshire 's most famous clans, the Metcalfes, after they emigrated from Dentdale . The Metcalfe Society hold records dating back to Metcalfes living in the area during the 14th century. They were one of the most prominent families in Yorkshire for more than five centuries. Sir James Metcalfe (1389–1472), who

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