Widdale

Widdale is a small side dale on the south side of Wensleydale in North Yorkshire, England. The dale lies to the east of Great Knoutberry Hill (also known as Widdale Fell) and is bounded on the west by Dentdale, south by Sleddale and north by Mossdale. It is drained by Widdale and Snaizeholme Becks which feed the waters north into the River Ure at Appersett.[1] The name Widdale means 'The Wooded Valley' in Old Norse.[2]

Widdale

Widdale from Snaizeholme Pasture
Widdale
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid referenceSD835886
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Postcode districtDL8
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

The dale itself is 5 miles (8 km) long from Newby Head Moss in the south west to Appersett in the north east. The B6255 road (which was once a turnpike)[3] traverses much of the dale but veers off about 1.2 miles (2 km) south of Appersett to go directly east into Hawes. There is a minor road (Lanacar Lane) which connects the B6255 to the A684 road at Appersett,[4] but this is narrow with a 10 feet 9 inches (3.28 m) height restriction under Appersett viaduct.[5] Appersett viaduct itself used to carry the railway through Wensleydale and was closed to railway traffic in 1958. Abseilers use the viaduct at present, but the Wensleydale Railway have an ambition to re-open the line all the way to Garsdale.[6]

The southern edge of the dale that carries Snaizeholme Beck is also designated as a red squirrel reserve. Transport is laid on by arrangement from Hawes to drop people off at the edge of the reserve.[7]

Apart from Appersett (which only has 23 dwellings) there are no villages or hamlets in the dale. There are a few homesteads and farms scattered around the dale though.[8]

References
  1. "Widdale Beck from source to River Ure". environmentdata.org.uk. Environment Agency. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  2. Swan, Walter; Huddleston, Yvette (12 September 2007). "The time and the place to explore on foot". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  3. "Widdale". yorkshiredales.org.uk. Yorkshire Dales. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  4. "98" (Map). Wensleydale & Upper Wharfedale (B1 ed.). 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2002. ISBN 0-319-22698-0.
  5. "Lanacar Lane with traffic warnings". geograph.org.uk. Geograph. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  6. "Appersett Viaduct". forgottenrelics.co.uk. Forgotten relics of an enterprising age. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. "Snaizeholme Red Squirrel Trail" (PDF). natureinthedales.org.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. Scholes, Ron (2006). "5. Wensleydale". Yorkshire Dales (2 ed.). Ashbourne: Landmark. p. 108. ISBN 978-1-84306-209-7.
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