Nidderdale
When: 14th – 18th July 2022
Where: Harefield Hall, Pateley Bridge
Who: Jo Bird
What's included: Four days/nights bed, breakfast, and packed lunch plus three and a half days guided walking. Dinner is not included but evening meals will be arranged for the group.
Women only
Level: moderate
Cost: small double £545 / large double £595 (for single occupancy)
Bordered by the Yorkshire Dales National Park and close to the World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey, Nidderdale is for many the favourite Dale. It truly deserves its status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with its stunning moorland scenery and tapestry of lush green meadows.
At the heart of Nidderdale lies the picturesque market town of Pateley Bridge, where you will be based. Set amongst 28 acres of woodland, Harefield Hall is a small family run business, offering four star accommodation. This beautiful building once belonged to the Archbishop of York and is rumored to have once belonged to King Henry VIII.
Within easy reach, is Yorkshire’s latest and highest attraction, the Coldstones Cut, a huge sculpture created by artist Andrew Sabin, which is cut into the side of a limestone quarry, offering both the opportunity to walk through and explore and also gaze on the panoramic and spectacular views of Nidderdale and the wider horizon, including on a clear day, views all the way to the coast!
Investigate further a field and you can see nature has been busy sculpting a truly spectacular landscape at Brimham Rocks. Fashioned over centuries of being exposed to the elements, this amazing collection of weird and wonderful rock formations makes for a splendid day out for all the family, climbers and those wanting to simply enjoy the pleasures of fresh Nidderdale air. It’s not only on the surface that nature has weaved it’s magic, as any trip to Stump Cross Caverns will testify. Here some 20 metres underground you’ll find stalagmites and stalactites on a grand scale, fantastic geological formations which have taken millions of years to evolve.
Taking bookings now.