With an industrial heritage of coal and lead mining, Swaledale sits at the northwest tip of the Yorkshire Dales. With no disrespect to the other Dales, it is my particular favourite dale, with its steep sided serene grandeur, dotted with stone barns, topped with moorland and filled with Swaledale sheep. Its patchwork fields are crisscrossed by an abundance of dry-stone walls, with wildflower meadows, huddles of stone cottages and, running through it all, there is the ever-present River Swale.
We begin our journey at England’s highest pub The Tan Hill. We continue through Swaledale’s collection of villages: Keld, Thwaite, Muker, Gunnerside, Low Row and Reeth. We then take a detour up into Arkengarthdale, dropping down to the water splash featured in the opening credits of the original version of All Creatures Great and Small, before returning across the tops to Swaledale and Reeth.
Music: All Creatures Great and Small by Alexandra Harwood
Florida Suite: II. By the River by Delius - a Yorkshire chap
In The Yorkshire Dales by Tim Thorpe, Paul Arden-Taylor, Jonathan Burgess
Swaledale Air by Fourum
Bouquet de Paris and Pull For The Shore played by the Muker Silver Band
Concierto de Aranjuez: II. Adagio played by The Grimethorpe Colliery Band
All Creatures Great and Small played by David Moore
From Yorkshire Landscapes by MA Ward