If you really want to enjoy a more authentic experience and wonderful stay in the Yorkshire Dales, try a bed and breakfast.

Seven reasons to stay in a bed and breakfast:

1. Staying in a bed and breakfast means you actually meet and talk to locals, so you'll have a more in-depth experience. Many of them have lived in different places and then chosen to settle in their favourite spot in the world, or lived here for several generations. They all love their area, have great stories to tell and are full of local knowledge. 

2. Many bed and breakfasts are in historic houses in beautiful locations - a great way to enjoy a special Dales experience.

3. You want to know the best pub, the best place to eat, the best walks? Ask a bed and breakfast owner - they've got all the insider knowledge and want to share it with you. 

4. Almost all bed and breakfasts are independent businesses and family run. They are more likely to buy their supplies from a local business so every penny you spend stays within the local economy, benefitting many others through the multiplier effect. Many bed and breakfasts are run by farmers who need to diversify in order to survive economically. When you stay in a bed and breakfast you support local people. Bed and breakfast owners live in the area year round so you're helping keep villages alive.

5. Bed and breakfast owners don't make a fortune. Many don't do it for the money - they do it because they love it, and enjoy sharing their lovely home. They care deeply about their visitors and enjoy making them feel at home. 

6. Many bed and breakfast owners really do go the extra mile to make sure their guests are happy and comfortable. Some offer delicious home-baked cakes and afternoon tea on arrival. Some offer evening meals and suppers. I know of some who will do guests' laundry (raising money for charity) and others who even clean guests walking boots! 

7. If your idea of a bed and breakfast is a standard room with simple service and candlewick bedspreads, think again. An increasing number offer fluffy towels and robes, spa-style toiletries, and extravagant breakfast choices. 

In yesterday's blog I mentioned some of the galleries you can find work by local artists and makers. Here's a quick round up of some fantastic artists and makers inspired by the Yorkshire Dales. 

Making an impression - print making
Print maker Hester Cox's detailed and very beautiful collographs and prints are inspired by the landscapes and nature near her Pen-y-ghent home. Helen Peyton's reduction linocuts are often based on artefacts such as those in the Craven Museum's collection. Print maker Anna Tosney’s deceptively simple work features sheep, dry stone walls and bird life. Moira McTague is a Painter/ Printmaker, primarily working as an etcher on copper. She is very much inspired by Nidderdale and wildlife to create her incredibly detailed paintings and etchings. 

Sculpture 
See sculptor Joseph Hayton at work in his King Street studio in Pateley Bridge. He works to commission, creating both figurative and abstract brass and stone sculptures. In the neighbouring King Street Workshops you’ll also find Sanders and Wallace Glassmakers, Fiona Mazza ceramics, and jewellers Moxon and Simm.
 
Emmeline Butler's wheel-thrown sculptural ceramics are greatly influenced by natural textures, with limestone pavements and tree bark reflected in the surface patterns of her unique ceramic pieces.

Creative sculptor Eric Moss finds inspiration in the plants growing near his studio beside the River Swale to create complex and beautiful abstract ceramic sculpture for the pocket, home, garden and office. Metal sculptor, Michael Kusz creates fantastical creatures and mythical beasts in his Graculus studio in Reeth. 

Paper artists
Kate Bowles uses recycled fabrics, leather, papers and assorted vintage haberdashery to bind her beautiful books.The 'Page Paper Stitch' team are three textile artists, Annwyn Dean, Joan Newall and Elizabeth Shorrock who all share a love of stitching and beautiful bookmaking. Clare Lindley uses papercutting techniques to create incredibly detailed and fine pictures inspired by the natural world.

Woollen wonders
As you’d expect, wool features strongly in the Dales. In Sedbergh at Farfield Mill you'll find lovely Laura's Loom where Laura uses high quality Yorkshire Dales wool to weave items of beauty that speak of the surrounding landscape, the Howgills and their myriad details.

Wander into Farfield Mill and you will also find  the Chrissie Day Felt Studio. Chrissie - an award winning Fibre artist - is inspired by colours in the local flora /fauna and is passionate about British wool which has provenance. Textile lovers will thoroughly enjoy browsing around Farfield Mill in Sedbergh where you can see huge looms, learn about 'the Terrible Knitters of Dent' and see the work of all of the artists and makers who are based at the Mill. There are changing exhibitions so there’s always something new to see. There are more wool creations to be found at Craftworkshop in Sedbergh, too.
 
Lone Helliwell knits flowers, birds and other creatures in British wool. Andrea Hunter displays her unique felt pictures in her Gallery, Focus on Felt in the hamlet of Hardraw. Jo Hunter makes contemporary felt pictures and vessels while felt artist Em Fountain creates incredibly life-like animal sculptures such as hares.

Louise Curnin is a feltmaker and milliner, making felt art, handbags, scarves and other wearable pieces as well as accessories for the home inspired by the colours and shapes of the surrounding landscape.  

Visual artists
Frank Gordon is a long-established landscape artist whose distinctive work is inspired by the area around his home in Giggleswick, in Ribblesdale. Harrogate artist Katherine Whitby uses water mixable oil paints on canvas to capture everything from the not so humble garden bird to the vast vistas of the Yorkshire Dales. Penny Hunt works in paint, print and ceramics and has a delightful small studio in Horton in Ribblesdale.

Artists Robert Nicholls and Judith Bromley welcome you into their home at Askrigg Studios to view their wide range of originals, prints, books and cards. They use many different paints, papers and canvases, to create a variety of images from traditional to a more exploratory approach. Contemporary landscape painter Lucia Smith simplifies the contours of the Dales using soft pastels.

Look out for work by modern artists such as Mackenzie Thorpe's square sheep in Richmond, Emerson Mayes from Nidderdale, Piers Browne in Wensleydale and Ian Scott Massie in Masham. Stacey Moore produces exquisite coloured pencil drawings of the local wildlife in her gallery in Hawes. Nolon Stacey’s Gallery also features his very detailed, pencil drawings of British wildlife, dogs and farm animals. Jo Garlick usually works in pastels to create very lifelike images of animals and the natural world. Anne Mackinnon is also inspired by local landscapes and the patterns and shapes displayed in nature. Jacquie Denby creates vivid abstracts. Dales fine artists Rebecca Wallace Jones and Pip Seymour have joined forces and produce unique ranges of oil, acrylic, watercolour, gouache, hand-made soft pastel, hand-made drawing materials, primers and painting mediums from their base in Horton in Ribblesdale.
 
More artists who live in and near the Yorkshire Dales and who are inspired by the local landscape include painter Margaret Uttley, David and Heather Cook in Malhamdale, Malham's Katharine Holmes, portrait painter Sam Dalby, creative landscape painter David Knight in Settle, Lynn Ward and Denise Burden in Leyburn, Judi Allinson in Scorton, mosaic artist Ruth Wilkinson and Sarah Garforth who works in her Ramsgill Studio in Nidderdale. 

The Yorkshire Dales have fired the imagination of artists and writers for generations. Today's creative folk are excellent ambassadors for the Dales. When you buy from them, you get to see the area through different eyes, to take a bit of the Dales home with you and remember special times every time you look at the works of art made here. Here's a selection of great galleries and shops where you can buy locally made art and craft.  

Masham Gallery is full of carefully selected and beautifully displayed work by artists and makers from the Yorkshire Dales and beyond.

The Shop at The Station in Richmond prides itself on offering exceptional design from a variety of artists, and there is usually an exhibition on the first floor of the former station building.

​With two floors of art and crafts, and regular exhibitions, discover the best regional and UK artists and makers at The Old School Muker, situated in magical Upper Swaledale.

Fleece in Reeth is a small shop and gallery formed through a co-operative of over 20 local artists crafting unique handmade pieces. The shop at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes has a small selection of locally made products while the nearby Herriot Gallery houses a constantly changing selection of paintings and other artwork by artists such as Peter Brook, Moira Metcalfe and Piers Browne.
​
At the Stonegate Glass & Gallery in Ingleton you'll find a range of fused glass designs and custom-made items as well as work by other local makers and artists.
 
​The Studio Vault in Settle is small but beautiful, featuring work by owner and jeweller Emily Knight, with changing displays of work by other makers. Gavagan Art is nearby, filled with beautiful high quality art, ceramics and glasswork. Beautiful special gifts. Lime Gallery is located within the Courtyard near Settle, a collection of re-furbished former farm buildings, now housing businesses such as Dalesbred and Abraham Moon. Town Head Farm Shop near Airton has a good range of gifts and products made in the Yorkshire Dales. The Just Makers Gallery is just outside the Yorkshire Dales in Ripley and features makers from the local area.

Which galleries have I missed? Let me know in the comments below. Future blogs will feature some of the artists whose work you can find in these galleries. ​

Can you imagine the excitement in 1837 after a severe flood when James Farrer realised there was a whole wonderland of sculpted passages and cave formations within what we now call Ingleborough Cave?

Ingleborough Cave has delighted visitors ever since that time. They do offer pre-bookable 'Adventure Caving' for more intrepid visitors, but if that doesn't appeal you can enjoy a more comfortable experience along a well lit path, led by expert guides as you learn about the cave's 450 million year old history. 

There are some great stories associated with the Ingleborough Estate and Farrer family. Reginald Farrer was a famous plant collector, author, writer and artist who once stood on a rowing boat in the lake and shot plant seeds from a shotgun in the hope that they would find the fertile resting place that he was otherwise unable to reach.

The entrance to the Cave comes after a beautiful walk along the Nature Trail which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Cave is open daily from February to November and is a great place to visit when the weather isn't great since the temperature is at a constant level through out the year. It's best to wear comfortable walking shoes and take a coat. 

They also run some special events such as '450 Millions Years of Geology', a guided walk led by an expert local caver and writer who will take you to sites of significant geological interest, the Craven Fault system, Ingleborough Cave, Trow Gill gorge, Gaping Gill and other fascinating lesser known features.

The cave attracts many visitors who come to take photographs of the unusual formations and passageways. They're now putting on special evening sessions just for photographers, and organising tutorials with local photographer Stephen Knowles to develop photography skills. See Ingleborough Cave for more details. 

When you've slogged to the top of a hill in the Yorkshire Dales, or you just want to treat yourself, I think it's perfectly natural to reach for chocolate. Wanting to support local businesses rather than mass-producing-multinationals, I decided to do a little "research" into the delights of locally-made-and-sold sweet treats.

Mocha Chocolate Shop in Richmond not only makes a wonderful selection of fine chocolates, including vegan versions and offer Golden Tickets for chocolate-making and tasting sessions! Their small shop also has a little which always seems to be full of loyal locals.

Not far away is Inspired Chocolate in Leyburn, who make chocolates on the premises, including chocolate shoes, and also run chocolate-making workshops and parties.

Chocolates and Truffles in Skipton make and sell high quality chocolate, including dairy-free and other free from ranges. Walkers on the Coast to Coast route surely deserve as many treats as they can carry from Kennedy's Chocolate Shop at Orton. 

Masham has two popular sweet shops. Joneva have a great selection of chocolates, sweet treats and home made fudge while Bah Humbugs offers you the chance to "step inside & be a child again" with all their retro favourites. If retro's your thing, visit The Oldest Sweet Shop in England in Pateley Bridge, houses in a 1661 building and continuously trading since 1827. 

This blog is meant to be all about the Yorkshire Dales. Today you'll need to bear with me a little until I get to that. 

Several years ago I went to Carcassonne with my husband, but couldn't see anything. In a silly triple whammy I forgot to take my contact lenses, my glasses broke while I was travelling and I had an infection in my eyes.

​My eyesight is really poor so all this meant I pathetically clung to my husband to avoid falling, plaintively asking "what can you see?" The answer was usually "it's a lovely view", so I didn't come away with a very clear vision of Carcassonne.

A little while after, I heard about a company offering really interesting tours of Lisbon. Visitors were blind-folded and then led around the city by blind tour leaders. It's a genius way to convey what it feels like to be blind, but also to give a very different impression of Lisbon. Participants were taken to the custard tart bakery where they smelt and tasted the local delicacy, then they listened to traditional music and felt the bark of the cork trees. It sounds like a much more memorable way to really discover a place than sitting passively on a tour bus with a recorded commentary. 

I was reminded of all this when I recently watched two programmes featuring my secret crush Amar Latif (OK not so secret now...) The first was about the River Nidd and the second (watch it now) Travellling Blind, when Amar visited Turkey led by comedian Sara Pascoe. Amar is an incredibly positive person. His blindness certainly hasn’t stopped him from travelling or having adventures. As he points out, it’s really all about having different sensory experiences to help understand a place. Sara gradually 'saw' a different version of Turkey as she engaged in tactile, smelly and auditory experiences. I think she'd agree that her eyes were well and truly opened. 

Why am I telling you all about Carcassonne, Lisbon and Turkey in a blog about the Yorkshire Dales? Well, the idea was to come up with 365 Different Ways to Discover the Dales. Most of the time I write about specific places or things to do but today my suggestion is for a different way to experience the Yorkshire Dales. 

I normally spend a lot of time talking about beautiful views, lovely things to see, but perhaps that means missing something important? Instead we could try sitting quietly and closing our eyes for a little while. Places are really about layers - layers of history, of story, of feelings so why don't we focus more on different senses? 

There are always smells on the air, whether it's the smell of new Spring blossom, first shoots of wild garlic or muck-spreading. We love the sound of the curlew and new born lambs and listen out for them but there's so much more besides - right now I'm listening to the wind whirling around and the rush of the river Ure. Running your fingers over the textures of moss on the dry stone walls, the very different barks on each tree, and sheep's wool are just three obvious ways to feel the Dales. As for tasting the Dales, who wouldn't enjoy that part, with so many fine cheeses, beers, and other local flavours? 

So a big thank you to Amar Latif for helping me see in a completely different way. 

West Burton Falls by Paul Harris

​Thank you rain. Seriously. It makes the grass greener, and the waterfalls even more dramatic. It's such a wonderful sensory experience to stand close (safely...) to a waterfalls after a rain storm, to feel the spray, hear the thunder and be mesmerised by the ever-flowing water tumbling over centuries-old stones. Which are your favourite waterfalls in the Dales? 

One of the most popular is the triple waterfalls at Aysgarth Falls. They're quite easy to get to and featured in the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves film. Janet's Foss by Malham is another well-known spot, also popular for wild swimming. 

Cautley Spout tumbles down the Howgills above Sedbergh. It's close to the Pub with No Beer...Hardraw Force is also close to a pub - you access England's highest single drop waterfall via the Green Dragon pub near Hawes! Nearby is Cotter Force which has a good accessible footpath. 

The Ingleton Waterfalls Trail takes you close to the edge of two rivers, with spectacular views of several waterfalls (fee payable). Catrigg Force is more hidden - it's in a secluded spot within a wooded gorge a short distance from Stainforth near Settle. Nearby is Stainforth Force where salmon gather each Autumn and leap the falls on their way upstream to spawn.

Linton Falls on the River Wharfe form part of a very enjoyable walk from Grassington to the pretty village of Linton. West Burton falls are just behind the village green. The waterfall tumbles down into a large plunge pool and is accessible from different angles, making for some good images like the ones above by Paul Harris. 

Dent is a beautiful village high in the hills of the North West of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, instantly recognisable for its whitewashed cottages. It's now very calm and quiet but wasn't always that way. Until the 19th century, Dent would have resounded with the clickety clack of hundreds of knitting needles! So famous were the astoundingly quick knitters of Dent, people still talk about the "terrible knitters of Dent".

Knitting was once a constant activity for women, men and children in the Upper Dales villages. Whether from farming or lead-mining families, most Dales inhabitants were poor and needed to supplement their income. The solution was to knit at every opportunity. Children were sent to live with cottagers in Dent so they could learn the trade, in an early kind of sweat shop, being cajoled or whipped to knit as quickly as possible. Women knitted as soon as their housework was done. Men knitted on their way to and from work. The Dales knitters were known for their incredible dexterity. 

They used a simple tool called a 'knitting stick', a wooden stick that was tucked into a waist belt, which anchored needles and enabled knitters to knit with just one hand. This meant that knitters could do two things at once, perhaps churning butter as they knitted. 

The Dales Countryside Museum has a great collection of knitting sticks. Some of them are quite plain, whereas others are more decorative and probably made as gifts for sweethearts. 

The Dent Heritage Centre and Farfield Mill also have displays about the terrible knitters. 

Groups of people would often gather in one cottage to save fuel for fires and light, knitting and telling stories or singing as they worked. 

Knitters were brought yarn by merchants who also collected the socks, stockings, mittens, hats and jackets they knitted and took them off to market.

​Each Dale would have had their own distinctive patterns, a bit like Fair Isle where complex patterns were handed down from family to family. Some of these patterns have been saved and can be seen in the museums or publications such as "The Old Hand-Knitters of the Dales by Marie Hartley and Joan Ingilby. ​

The Buttertubs Pass is one of the Yorkshire Dales' most iconic roads: twisting, turning, rising and suddenly dipping for just over 5 miles between Hawes and Thwaite.

It's not a long journey but is one you want take slowly, so you can enjoy the views, and of course avoid ending up in one of the steep valleys below.


Jeremy Clarkson declared it, "England’s only truly spectacular road”. I don't agree with him on much, but I definitely agree the Buttertubs Pass is absolutely stunning.

Last week I was passing through Hawes on my way home as the clouds parted and the sun started to shine. The lure of the Buttertubs Pass was so strong on that unexpectedly sunny day, that I took a 45 minute diversion to get home. It was well worth it - the wonderful combination of the open vistas of the Buttertubs, followed by the gentler route by the River Swale through beautiful Muker, Gunnerside and then Reeth. 

The Buttertubs are best experienced on a sunny or clear day so you can view the surrounding scenery in all its majesty but even on a windswept misty day there's something very special about this route. There are plenty of places to stop and pull off the road so you can enjoy the limestone upland, and views of Lovely Seat and Great Shunner Fell. At its highest point it's 1,726 feet above sea level.

There's a seat by the road just before the switch-backs that take you down from Wensleydale into Swaledale - a lovely spot to watch the curlews and marvel at the Swaledale hay meadows far below. 

The Buttertubs Pass is named after the 66 feet-deep limestone potholes, the 'butter tubs', which you can see just off the road. The story goes that these curious rock structures were once used by farmers, who lowered baskets of butter into them to keep it cool on their way to market in Hawes. Some visitors see them, think they're odd and wonder what the fuss about the Buttertubs is all about. And then they do the drive, and it all becomes clear...