Yorkshire Dales
It is overlain in many areas by the Yoredale Series of alternating weak shales and hard limestones and sandstones, which give the dales their characteristic 'stepped' appearance.
[3] Most of the dales contain rivers, and the area contains seven primary catchments: the Swale, Ure, Wharfe, Aire, Nidd, Ribble, and Lune.
[5] Agriculture and other land management has significantly affected the appearance of the Dales, through the creation of pastures and meadows for livestock grazing and moorland for red grouse shooting.
Natural England define the area as most of the Yorkshire Dales National Park with fringes of the Nidderdale AONB, but without the towns listed above apart from Settle.
Most of the larger southern dales – Ribblesdale, Malhamdale and Airedale, Wharfedale and Nidderdale – run roughly parallel from north to south.
[17] There are many other smaller or lesser-known dales such as Arkengarthdale, Bishopdale, Clapdale, Coverdale, Kingsdale, Littondale, Langstrothdale, Raydale Waldendale and the Washburn Valley whose tributary streams and rivers feed into the larger valleys, and Barbondale, Dentdale, Deepdale and Garsdale which feed west to the River Lune.
[18] The characteristic scenery of the Dales is green upland pastures separated by dry-stone walls and grazed by sheep and cattle.
[25] Lead mining was common in some areas of the Dales in the 19th century, particularly during 1821 to 1861, and some industrial remains can still be found, such as the Grassington miners' cottages.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority provides a mobile-device software app for those who wish to explore the relevant areas.
[33] The 73-mile-long (117 km) Settle–Carlisle line railway, operated by Network Rail, runs through the National Park using tunnels and viaducts, including Ribblehead.
[34] The top-rated attractions according to travellers using the Trip Advisor site include Aysgarth Falls, Malham Cove (scenic walking areas), Ingleborough (hiking trails) and Ribblehead Viaduct.
Later in 2021, the volume of visits was expected to increase as a result of the 2020 TV series All Creatures Great and Small, largely filmed within the Dales.
