Residents Share Affection for Yorkshire Dales as National Park Marks 70th Anniversary

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was officially designated on 16 November 1954. This designation recognized its natural beauty, the diversity of its wildlife habitats, its rich cultural heritage, and the opportunities it provides for outdoor recreation. The national park encompasses 841 sq miles (2,179 sq km) and is home to 24,000 inhabitants. It spans the central Pennines in North Yorkshire and Cumbria, also including a section of Lancashire. As the park observes its 70th anniversary, individuals who reside in and appreciate the Yorkshire Dales offer their perspectives. Violet, Clemmy, and Annas are three of Amanda and Clive Owen’s nine children who were raised on a farm at Ravenseat in Swaledale. They have appeared in several television programs about their family, such as Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm. Violet, 14, stated: “I love that everyone in the Yorkshire Dales knows each other.” She continued, “You can go to someone’s house and you know their family and everyone around.” She also noted, “I really like how you can see the hills and the trees.” Comparing it to urban areas, she observed, “When you go into cities you usually see flatter farm ground. In the Yorkshire Dales it’s all natural, you’ve got all the bumps and hills and it’s unspoilt by houses.” Nine-year-old Clemmy mentioned it was “really fun to jump in the hay” and to ride on tractors during the summer. She added: “I like the trees and barns because they’re all really old and were built long ago and they’re good to climb in.” Annas, 11, further commented: “I like how it feels free and how you can go anywhere easily.” She also said, “I like that there’s animals and places where you can go where it’s nice and peaceful.” She concluded, “It’s nice and calm and there’s no pollution.” Jean Witty relocated to Thoralby in Bishopdale, a smaller dale off the larger Wensleydale, two and a half years ago from Hampshire, accompanied by her husband and nine-year-old daughter. Jean, 46, had visited family in the Dales annually for holidays and decided after Covid that it presented a suitable opportunity to move and settle. Jean’s daughter attends the local primary school, and Jean holds a job at the local pub. She remarked: “Moving to the Yorkshire Dales was a great move for us for a more outdoorsy lifestyle and it’s great for walking.” She added, “It’s also a nicer environment for our daughter to grow up in with less people and less cars.” She continued, “We’ve been very lucky, the village is quite small and everyone has been very friendly and we’ve got involved in village activities so we feel quite settled here already.” She concluded, “We love it here and we’re viewing it as a permanent move although we have to be more organised visiting family. But we’ve definitely no regrets moving up here.” Richard Fawcett was born in Hardraw and has resided in the same house for almost his entire life, with the exception of four years in mid-Wales, which he described as a “mistake” that left him yearning for the “beautiful Yorkshire Dales.” He cares for four sheepdogs and conducts demonstrations in the village. Richard, 78, stated: “The Yorkshire Dales is sheltered, not usually from the weather, but I feel like we’re enclosed by the hills and the fells and I’d hate to live somewhere flat.” He elaborated, “My roots are here, my parents and grandparents are in the graveyard and the people around me are people who’ve always been here.” He concluded, “The Yorkshire Dales are very beautiful, the landscape is gorgeous, it’s stunning. It’s the best place in the country to live, it’s home.” Writer and blogger Debbie North is a frequent visitor to the Dales. Debbie began using a wheelchair in 2012 after suffering degeneration of the spine. She recounted that she “had a horrible sensation of being left at the bottom of the hill when everybody else was donning their hiking boots and throwing on rucksacks to go for a day of exploring.” Debbie, 62, established the charity Access the Dales, which aids people with disabilities in exploring the area. Debbie uses an all-terrain wheelchair and stated it allowed her to “get out and experience the tranquillity and feel the elements on your face and hear the bird sound.” She added, “It’s just good for your soul.” She further explained, “Not being able to do it was so destroying for myself and that’s what we want to be able to put on for other people.” Charlotte Mudd was born in Wensleydale and has lived in the Yorkshire Dales her entire life, apart from a brief period when she attended university in Liverpool. She was raised on a farm and described that experience as “pretty idyllic.” Charlotte stated: “I have memories of hay time, playing in the hay bales and taking pet lambs on walks and getting out in the countryside and always being surrounded by nature.” She continued, “When I came back from university I was 25 and it was clear that I wanted to stay because my interests are nature, walking and farming.” Charlotte, 32, expressed her desire to remain in the Dales and was evaluating her options. She said: “I’m trying to figure out how to own a house here, whether that be local occupancy housing or a barn conversion, and I’m asking ‘What’s going to be the most cost-effective way to live here?'” To commemorate this anniversary milestone, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has introduced “70 Essentials” for visitors, which includes key locations and walking routes.