Category: Quirky

Honesty boxes

Well-being, happiness, mental health, sense of community - we know they're all important and there are plenty of scientific ways of measuring them all, with accompanying graphs and statistics.

I think I've found a very simple way to judge the happiness, and well-being of a place - honesty boxes.

Simple boxes and piles of something for sale, whether it's eggs, books, jam, honey or surplus vegetables - they're all displayed by the side of the road, with a hastily made sign and old tin to collect the money.

They rely on the honesty of visitors and generosity of the people who put them there, and tell a tale of a more carefree way of living, where there's plenty for everyone, and even when there isn't, there's always something that can be shared.

I know of one stretch of road in the Dales where you can buy honey, jam, books, eggs and plants, all within about two miles of each other. It's a simple way to enjoy a taste of the Dales and to put some money into the local economy, making everyone smile.

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Famous Five style ice-cream

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Any Famous Five fan will tell you that when George, Anne, Dick, Julian and Timmy were not drinking 'lashings of ginger beer', they were eating 'ice cream made on the farm'.

Nowadays there are plenty of places you can eat 'artisan' ice cream but not many where you can really imagine the Famous Five stopping, propping their bikes against the wall and enjoying the ice cream, made from real cows that live right there.

If this idyllic vision appeals to you, pop over to Lofthouse in Nidderdale where you'll find Meadow Dale Ice Cream. The Coates family have produced fresh milk from their Friesian herd for a half century. Their truly delicious ice cream is produced on the farm, often using ingredients they've picked themselves such as blackberries.

I can still taste the bilberry one I had at the weekend, made from the small berries found among the nearby heather moorland. The ice cream treats are served from a small green tin shed, with a few benches and tables.

Opening times are a little uncertain - if the signs are out in the village, some one is likely to be at home. If the tin shed doors are closed, you're encouraged to knock on the house door, Famous Five style!

Lofthouse is closely associated with the building of nearby Scar House and Angram Reservoirs, once having housed some of the people working there, and it's clear that water is a prized asset. Look for the drinking fountain with its lovely inscription: If you want to be healthy, wealthy and stout, use plenty of water inside and out! The message is reinforced on another side with: A pint of cold water three times a day is the surest way to keep doctor away.

While you're in Lofthouse, you might like to take a look in the Band Room Gallery, where the silver band used to practice, and have a drink or meal at the Crown pub.

You could also follow the short footpath over to Middlesmoor, a tiny village with cobbled streets and really stunning Nidderdale views from St. Chad's church.

The valley always looks incredibly serene - after a few moments staring out at that view, you can easily believe all's well with the world.

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Secret Coverdale

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In today's world, with so much technology and information available, I find it remarkable and reassuring, that there are still some places that hardly anyone knows about. Coverdale is one of the lesser known Yorkshire Dales, with some wonderful secret haunts.

Take the road out of Middleham towards Kettlewell and just after the gallops (used to train racehorses), you'll see a drive on the left leading to Coverham Abbey and then a little further on, a sign to "Historic Church".

This little spot is a delight, frozen in time and hidden from the world.

13th century Coverham Abbey on the banks of the River Cover isn't open to the public but you can see its ruins from several tantalising vantage points: from the top of the field next to the church, from the driveway and the short path from the bridge, and from across the river (best in winter before the foliage obscures the view).

It was never a huge order, founded by monks from northern France and probably housing fewer than 20 monks clad in white habits, known as the 'White Canons'. Visiting this serene little haven now, it's hard to imagine that anyone would ever bother to disturb their peace but the abbey was at the centre of several dramas: attacked by rampaging Scots in 1318; dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536; and then used as a rallying point for those wanted to go back to the old religion. It's now in private hands, with a home built from some of the old stones. The original elegant arches can still be seen.

Nearby stands 14th century Trinity Church, no-longer in use but still open to visitors. It's tiny, with plenty of interesting features to see. There's an anglo-saxon stone, now used as a lintel over the door, and a carving in the stone door frame. Inside is an unusual Victorian tiled wall, created when the church was extended to provide space for the expanded Coverdale population. Some of the stained glass windows are much older, such as that dedicated to Catherine Dawson who died in 1570, after the dissolution of the monasteries.

I derive an odd pleasure looking at ancient gravestones, sad to read of children carried away too soon, and quietly hopeful when I find a number of graves belonging to those who lived to over 70. Sometimes the stones yield more information, telling of great deeds or pointing to the area's history.

Several gravestones are connected to horse-racing, for which nearby Middleham is famous. I noticed a couple for people from Newmarket, who'd presumably come to Middleham to sell or train horses. A jockey called John Osborne is commemorated, known as the 'Bank of England' because he was such a safe bet, and the grave of 19 year old jockey, Benjamin Thompson, has a fine horse carving. Next to this is the grave of James Fieldhouse who was killed by lightning, together with his horse. Apparently there's another grave, dug by its occupant but I didn't find that one.

According to Ian Scott Massie's Tales of the Dales, a story has long been told of a poor, beautiful girl murdered by her rich lover when he thought she loved another, and that her ghost haunts the area as she looks and waits for him. In the 1950s peat diggers on the moors found a corpse in a shallow grave: it was wrapped in a black lace shawl... She was reburied in the churchyard at Trinity Church.

There's a gate at the far side of the churchyard, facing the church door. Go through it and you'll hear the loud rushing of the stepped water fall which once fed a mill pond, and which now joins the River Cover. Just around the corner is an ancient beautiful arched bridge.

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Settle Flower Pot Festival

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During the Summer months, residents of many Yorkshire Dales towns and villages put on events to make visitors smile and encourage them to stay a little longer, enjoying the local cafes, pubs and shops. Settle's idea is a little quirkier than most, and takes place through out July and August.

At the beginning of July decorated flower pots start to pop up all over Settle. No-one knows where, exactly when or even what the many participating businesses and residents will create, apart from the fact that they'll all be made out of flower pots.

By around the 15th July all the pots will be in place, and visitors are then also able to pick up Flower Pot Trail sheets for £2 from local businesses, each with around 50 varied educational and entertaining questions aimed at all ages, relating to the flower pot creations. All the flower pot creations will stay in place until around the first weekend in September.

Each year the level of creativity increases, with Settle residents seemingly trying to outdo each other with their imagination and flower pot engineering talents. Dinosaurs, tractors and all manner of characters are likely to appear. You can find many of them, just wandering around but it's worth buying the trail leaflet to be sure you don't miss any of them, as the trail expands every year and many will be off the beaten track.

Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/settleflowerpotfestival/

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A rocket ship, pepper pot & guillotine

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If you'd like to entice someone who says they don't like walking to join you on a gentle amble, you could intrigue them with the promise of showing them a rocket ship, a giant pepper pot and what could be (from a distance) a guillotine, all standing proud on a limestone outcrop in the Yorkshire Dales countryside.

Once you've climbed a small hill to get closer to them, and perhaps even 'boarded' the rocket ship, there's the additional reward of fine views towards Bolton Castle.

As you've probably guessed, these three structures are not quite what they seem - they're all stone follies.

They are thought to have been built during the first half of the 19th century but no one seems to know who built them or exactly why.

They stand guard over Sorrelsykes Park Hall, so it's likely a previous estate owner decided to build them. There was a time when country house owners built follies or ornamental features, just as a curiosity or maybe to show they had sufficient wealth to do something without any particular reason.

One theory is that they were built to draw the eye away from the spoils of a former lead mine nearby. Given when it was built, it's unlikely the builder intended the structure to look like a rocket ship but it gained that appearance because of the buttresses that seem to have been added to make it more stable.

It's thought the 'pepper pot' was at once time used for curing bacon. The third folly is often referred to as a gate but from a distance I think it looks like a guillotine. There used to be a fourth structure, built to resemble a romantic ruin but it became so genuinely ruinous it had to be removed.

Where are these remarkable features?

Take the B6160 from Swinithwaite (near Berry's) in Wensleydale towards West Burton and you'll spot the rocket ship from the road.

A public footpath just before West Burton, signposted towards Flanders Hall, will take you up to the follies.

You can climb inside the bottom of the 'rocket ship' and look up to the wooden floor above but turning around to look out over the dale is much more rewarding.

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Betty's Vintage Hut

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Over the years I’ve carried out a lot of ‘research’ into special places for afternoon teas. The Waldorf, Langham, Café Royal in London, grand country house hotels, beautiful gardens, stately homes – you name it, whether it was for work (I’ve been paid for writing about cake – it’s an actual job…!) or pleasure, I’ve tried quite a few places.

Some have beautiful settings but disappointing food. Others have gorgeous food but surly staff. A few manage to get the setting, staff and sustenance just right. But the best? It's right here in the Yorkshire Dales and it’s still a bit of a secret pleasure: Betty’s Vintage Hut.

Owned and run by Ann, it's in a hidden spot in lesser-known Littondale. It's even more special because it's not open all the time - just for advance bookings.

Betty was Ann’s grandmother, who taught Ann to bake when she was four. Betty inspired her to go on to train as a chef and have her own café until quite recently.

Supposedly retired, Ann realised that she isn’t actually very good at sitting still. She bought the shepherd’s hut so she can cater for small pre-booked groups of up to 6 - 12 people. She currently offers afternoon teas but is thinking about doing some other evening events, perhaps taking advantage of the wide windows in the hut looking out on to the fields and dark starry skies. There’s a wood burner in the corner of the hut so it will be delightfully cosy in winter.

Ann bakes for most of the day to create an extraordinary range of sandwiches, savoury tarts and quiches, with sumptuous and creative cakes and pastries. She makes everything herself and constantly invents new treats. On the day we visited Ann was trying out her new gin and tonic tart – delicious.

Some of the afternoon teas I’ve tried feel a bit rationed. You glance at the plate and instantly calculate stomach space for exactly 3 small sandwiches and 3 cakes. That's not at all the case in Betty's Vintage Hut. Ann’s afternoon tea is incredibly generous. I don't think any of us have a clue how many tiny sandwiches, savoury delicacies and wonderful cakes we consumed. My daughter has a lot of different food allergies so she's used to sitting quietly or eating a couple of bland things while everyone else tucks in, but Ann had asked plenty of questions and double-checked detail, and then provided a special cake stand of treats.

When we first saw the table we were all delighted, tucking in, sampling and exclaiming as we went, ‘have you tried…’, 'Oh, this one is especially good...' Then delight turned to concern – how could we possibly finish everything? Ann reassured us, she had boxes ready for anything we didn’t eat.

A lot of places have jumped on the vintage bandwagon and it can feel a little tired and overdone. I’ve had afternoon tea in one place that had me looking round for dead bodies it felt so musty. This is the opposite. There are vintage touches such as the embroidered table cloth and tea service, but it isn’t fussy, keeping the overall feeling fresh and clean. The afternoon tea is incredibly good value: just £15 per person. This is going to become a very popular spot so think up a celebration (just admitting to gluttony would be fine too) and book as soon as you can via Betty’s Vintage Hut or call 07990 584340.

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Distinctive Dales

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Image: thanks to Paul Jackson

How do you know you're in the Yorkshire Dales?

If someone were to remove all the signs between the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors, the Lakes and North Pennines, it would still be possible to tell where you are thanks to some small features that mark one place out from another.

Some are obvious: landmarks such as The Three Peaks or buildings like Bolton Castle.

Many of the distinguishing features are much smaller and take time to discern and appreciate. Some differences are only noticed by those in the know, but nonetheless important to local people as they define the place where they live.

Language, accents, even words vary. Do you call a narrow passage-way a ginnel or gennel? My secondary school had a catchment area of a few miles, taking in children from several villages. To outsiders there were no discernible differences between the pupils from each village, and yet we were instinctively aware through almost indescribable nuances of speech, whether fellow pupils were from our village or “across the valley”. It's said that even birds sing with regional accents! Place names are another way of gathering information about a location.

Building materials and styles are another tell-tale feature. Local stones are used and they weather differently according to micro-climates in each area. There are subtle differences in barn and farm building styles around the Dales which you'll see if you look carefully enough. We're proud of our dry stone walls. That's not to say that other places don't have them, but compare walls in somewhere like Devon with those in the Dales and you'll quickly see what I mean by 'local distinctiveness'.

Local customs also contribute to our sense of place - this could be anything from games like quoits, to Austwick's Cuckoo Festival and Masham Sheep Fair. Sheep are good clues that distinguish one place from another. In the Yorkshire Dales you're much likelier to see hardier breeds such as Swaledales, Dalesbred and Rough Fell sheep.

If someone asks, 'what makes the Dales, the Dales?' it's hard to answer because it isn't just one dominant feature. It's the combination of landscapes, buildings, people, customs, and of course wildlife that make it special. We're glad to have good populations of some species that are not frequently seen outside the area: red squirrels, swifts, curlew and other birds. Really the only way to answer the question of what makes the Yorkshire Dales, the Yorkshire Dales is to spend plenty of time here... watching, listening, noticing...

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Thwaite & inspiration for David Attenborough

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Image thanks to Valerie Hunter

Thwaite in Swaledale is a small hamlet, popular thanks to its location on the Coast to Coast, Pennine Way and Herriot Way.

Most visitors enter Thwaite by crossing the much-photographed bridge over Thwaite Beck.

Thwaite is a norse name meaning a clearing: this area was once more densely wooded. It's thought that people may have lived here since the Iron Age (600 BC!) as there's an earthwork bank and ditch just outside Thwaite.

Most of the present buildings were built around the time when lead mining was an important industry.

Few of today's visitors know about some of Thwaite's most famous former residents - the Kearton brothers who were born here, and who effectively became the world's first professional wildlife photographers in the 1890s. David Attenborough has spoken admiringly of their pioneering work, which he says inspired him and many others.

They were not rich and their first camera was a simple box camera but they were entranced by nature and their surroundings and went to extraordinary lengths to capture pictures of animals. Over time they started to use more complex cameras but they were all heavy instruments, using plate glass, so it was almost impossible to sneak up on a grazing animal in the way a modern photographer might do with a telephoto lens.

The brothers came up with some bizarre ways to get closer to animals. One of their methods used an ox which had been hollowed out by a taxidermist so the brothers could place it in a field or near a bird's nest, taking pictures from the inside of the ox, with the lens poking out from the head! After this success they used other 'camouflage' such as sheep, and made disguises for themselves such as trees and even a rubbish dump.

All images below are by Guy Carpenter, Gullwing Photography

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Baler twine

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Baler twine. The Dales would fall apart without it. It's neither beautiful nor environmentally friendly (unless you take account of the make-do-and-mend-don't-buy-new effect).

Looking out for baler twine uses may seem like a very odd way to explore the Yorkshire Dales but once you've started doing it, you'll realise there's a curious beauty to some its uses.

I should maybe confess that I have a bit of a 'thing' for string in all its forms, never throwing any out, carefully storing it 'just in case'.

So how about a baler twine spotting tour of the Dales, documenting every sighting with a photo?

Here are a few uses I've spotted:

keeping a gate (nearly) closed,
lambing aid
plaited & woven to make mats
as bootlaces
replacement belt
tractor repairs
'temporary' (i.e. about 10 years) fix for a fence
makeshift dog lead
repairing broken hurdles
sheep or cattle halters
stringing up tall plants like beans
kept in your pocket, just in case...

Any more?

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Hoffmann Kiln

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Most of the posts on this blog are about the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, but sometimes the most interesting or surprising places aren't really beautiful in the traditional sense of the word. They're awe-inspiring or perhaps challenging in some way. The Hoffmann Kiln is an old industrial feature which may not sound very appealing, but its sheer scale, hidden location and atmosphere make it remarkable.

Many people have no clue that the Hoffmann Kiln lies a short distance from Settle, or of its size and significance. It's not easy to find - drive on the B6479 out of Settle towards Langcliffe and it's opposite the quarry, then under the railway bridge. There's a small car park.

Don't think of a kiln in the usual small pottery sense - this is a vast feat of engineering, with interpretation panels to explain how it functioned.

Venturing inside the archways you'll instantly experience the eerie damp darkness of the huge tunnel. This incredible structure was built in 1873 for the Craven Lime Company using a patented system created by a German inventor to burn lime. There were 22 individual burning chambers working in a continuous circuit, taking around 6 weeks to complete the cycle. Considering how much effort went into the creation of this huge construction, it wasn't in use for very long, with the last firing in 1937. In 1951 there were plans to demolish the chimney but it fell down of its own accord the day before the planned ceremony, when no-one was looking!

A good way to experience the Hoffmann Kiln is to download this informative free audio trail. Park in the car park in nearby Stainforth and then walk along the river Ribble, by Stainforth Foss waterfall to Langclifee and then by the Hoffmann Kiln.