Before the opening of the 3-mile (4.8 km) £1 million bypass in October 1961,[2] the A1 passed through the village following the path of Dere Street, parallel and close to the main runway of the airfield.

An archaeological survey undertaken on Kelsall Villa (a Roman site near to Leeming Bar) describes it as deriving from the river with Leming meaning bright stream.

The plant generates approximately 7,000,000 cubic metres (250,000,000 cu ft) of biogas per year which is fed directly into the Northern Gas Network pipeline and is enough to power almost 4,800 homes.

[14][15] Local firms such as R & R foods (based at Leeming Bar) and Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes both supply waste product for use in the biogas plant.

This will add an additional 1,000,000 cubic metres (35,000,000 cu ft) of green gas to the plants' output every year, which is enough to power 800 homes.