Yorkshire Dales
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The Yorkshire Dales lie in an area of high ground in North and West Yorkshire, England.
Although many valleys all over Yorkshire are called "(name of river)+dale", such as Airedale or Calderdale, the Yorkshire Dales are usually deemed to be those valleys north of the Wharfe. (One exception to the naming rule is Arkengarthdale which was formed by Arkle Beck.)
The characteristic scenery is green upland pastures separated by dry-stone walls and grazed by sheep and cattle. The dales themselves are 'U' and 'V' shaped valleys, which were enlarged and shaped by glaciers, mainly in the most recent, Devensian ice age. The underlying rock is principally Carboniferous limestone (which results in a number of areas of limestone pavement) in places interspersed with shale and sandstone and topped with millstone grit. However, to the north of the Dent fault, the hills are principally older Silurian and Ordovician rocks, which make up the Howgill Fells.
The moors above are covered with heather and famed for grouse shooting in the months following August 12 each year (the 'Glorious Twelfth'). See Yorkshire Wolds.
James Herriot's veterinary books are set in the Dales, as is the TV soap opera Emmerdale.
The acclaimed American travel writer Bill Bryson lived in and is an admirer of the Yorkshire Dales. He describes the dales in his book on Britain, Notes from a Small Island.
Yorkshire Dales National Park
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In 1954 an area of 1,770 km² mostly lying in the modern county of North Yorkshire plus a small part in Cumbria was designated the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Over 20,000 residents live and work in the National Park, which attracts over eight million visitors every year.
Places and sights within the National Park include:
- Aysgarth Falls
- Clapham
- Cautley Spout waterfall
- Grassington
- Hawes
- Horton in Ribblesdale
- Malham
- Reeth
- Sedbergh
- Settle
- The Yorkshire three peaks
See also
External link
- Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/)
| National parks of England and Wales: |
| Current Parks: Brecon Beacons | The Broads | Dartmoor | Exmoor | Lake District | New Forest | North York Moors | Northumberland | Peak District | Pembrokeshire Coast | Snowdonia | Yorkshire Dales |
| Proposed Park: |