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Top 10 Best Facts about Swaledale National Park
The area of Swaledale is the valley(dale) on the furthest North of Yorkshire Dales National Park. The park is in northern England and Swaledale is famed for the River Swale that flows through the dale in the North Yorkshire region. Get to know the 10 best facts about Swaledale National Park, with these listings.
1. The park hosts one of England’s fastest rising rivers
The River Swale at Richmond, Photo by Andy Beecroft-Wikimedia
The Swaledale National Park has River Swale flowing through it. The river in England ranks among the fastest rising flood rivers. The presence of the River Swale in the park makes this park unique among England’s national parks.
2. The park’s meadows are special
A carpet of meadow flowers in Cottam Well Dale, Photo by Neil Oakes-Wikimedia
The flow of the River Swale gives the Swaledale National Park beautiful meadows that offer spectacular scenery unique to this park. The Muker Meadows are the perfect spot for upland hay meadows within the park. You can access it via the public footpaths many of which cut through the centre of this amazing vegetation.
Muker Meadows is an area of scientific interest and so is protected under the Muker Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Also, the Meadows Special Area of Conservation (SAC) governing the Northern Pennine Dales offers further protection to the Muker meadows.
3. Historical activities of the park included mining
Swaledale National Park has a history of lead mining until its collapse in the final years of the nineteenth century. It’s not in many national parks that mining can be traced whether in England or across the world so, this is a rare occurrence unique to places such as this park.
The area’s population declined once the mining industry stopped. The miners moved in search of better opportunities in other areas.
4. The park inhabits distinctive hardy sheep
Yorkshire dales sheep-Wikimedia
This breed of sheep in the Swaledale- Yorkshire Dales National Park is the pride of the park and the community around. It’s the logo representation of the park.
A local cheese producer has the sheep as part of their logo as well. A tour of the community of Swaledale showcases the sheep in use by farmers business people and craftspersons.
5. The park brought fun to the Yorkshire Dales
The Swaledale National Park’s existence has resulted in various forms of entertaining functions held in the Dale area. Swaledale Festival is one such event held in the community once every year and focuses on guided walks in the dales.
It’s full of artist performances, talks, poetry, film and art exhibitions. There is also family outdoor entertainment of all manner. In a bid to give back to the community, workshops happen in schools and care homes.
The Scott Trials is another fun activity held by bikers who flock to the event from all parts of the world to take part in the global motorcyclist event. Fun activities within or around national park communities are not a regular occurrence so this sets the park apart.
6. The community neighbouring the park is a vibrant tourist destination
The Swaledale National Park has put the community within and around it on the map as a tourist destination. The Yorkshire Dales villages have gained prominence ever since the area became a National Park.
For instance, Reeth is a village with buildings that showcase art and craft design architecture hence making the village a tourist centre. Muker is another village in the dales where they host an agricultural show once every year. They showcase the best of the land in matters of agriculture.
Some businesses thrive in the area such as the Tan Hill Inn. It has hosted some known names like Chris Moyles of Radio X who once held his birthday in the venue. Swaledale National Park has succeeded to boost tourism in its surrounding community which is a plus for the park.
7. The park is perfect for walks
Walkers on the Corpse Road, Photo by Gordon Hatton-Wikimedia
You can take part in the short walks at Swaledale National Park starting at 0 miles and going up to 17 miles. There are long walks for those that want to challenge their fitness that go up to over 250 miles.
The long walks include Dales Inn Way where you walk between 50 to over 70 miles. The Dales Way is a walk between 80 miles but not exceeding 100 miles. The Pennine Journey is at most 270 miles and at least covers 100 miles.
The peaks challenge can be a good adventure for those that want some adrenaline rush. It’s a 24-mile walk with a focus to get to the summit of Ingleborough peak Whernside and Pen-y-Ghent peaks. The challenge is to reach all three peaks within 12 hours.
Guided walks are available and have different distance stretches you can choose from depending on your fitness and ability. These walks make the park stand tall in England because they offer scenic views of the Yorkshire Dales that you can only experience in this park.
8. The park’s historical sites are many
The Swaledale National Park has many abbey ruins and historic castles inside and around the park. These sites represent different historical eras of England. This is such great value to the park that you will not find in many parks.
9. The park has great limestone features
At Swaledale National Park, some limestone caves and caverns are evidence of limestone rock. Many of the park’s waterfalls are lined with limestone rock that can be seen as you pass by the falls.
The areas where you have the best of this limestone experience to mention a few are at White Scar and Malham coves, the Malham Tarn site, and the Ingleton and Aysgarth waterfalls. This park is among England’s best limestone feature sites since they are plenty here than in many other parks giving this park an edge over the rest.
10. You can view the park’s landscape on a bike or train
Other than taking short or long walks to take in the landscapes and wildlife in the Swaledale National Park, cycling and train options are available. The park has enabled this with good networks of by-ways, bridleways and green lanes all about 900 kilometres of the road network.
You can stop for refreshments in the towns along the way. The park has several options of heritage railway lines that you can select from depending on your convenience. A heritage train or cycle within the park is one of a kind experience of exploring the Yorkshire Dales and you can only find it in this park.
This park has family-friendly activities. You can take short walks, or visit the Dales Countryside Museum which caters for all ages with relatable fun and interesting things to do. You can take part in the Wild Wednesdays that happen during the summer holidays.
The children can take part in crafts making and stream dipping in the areas of Kirkby Stephen, Malham and Aysgarth. Visiting the open farms is an encounter kids may enjoy, check the Holme Open Farm and the Hesketh Farm Park.
At the Wensleydale Creamery, you can learn about the renowned Wensleydale cheese of Yorkshire and its visitor centre. Geocaching is another interesting thing that can keep you busy in the Swaledale National Park. Geocaching is like a huge treasure hunt that is GPS enabled.
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