Postcards from the Dales, the Peak and the Lakes

Village notes for people in no hurry: which bus still runs in October, why that barn stands alone in a meadow, and what to do when the cows come over to look at you.

Ribblehead Viaduct, a long row of stone arches, crossing open moorland under a big cloudy sky with a gravel track in front

Yorkshire DalesThe Dales without a car

Photo: Michael D Beckwith, CC0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Well dressing in a stone arch at Hall Well, Tissington: a bright flower-petal picture on a cobbled courtyard

Peak DistrictWhat is well dressing, and when can you see it?

Photo: Mick Lobb, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Green Swaledale hillside divided by dry stone walls, with several stone field barns standing alone in the meadows

Yorkshire DalesWhy the Dales has so many walls

Photo: Bill Harrison, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

A pale Herdwick sheep standing on a rocky fellside below Great Gable with Wastwater far below in the valley

Lake DistrictWhy fell sheep stay put with no fences

Photo: Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Stone houses among autumn-tinted trees and green walled fields at Edale, seen from high on The Nab

All three parksDales, Peak or Lakes: which one?

Photo: Neil Theasby, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Black and white dairy cattle crowding a stone stile beside a wooden public footpath fingerpost

All three parksCan you walk through a field of cows?

Photo: Neil Theasby, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.

Filed by park

Yorkshire Dales

Walled meadows, field barns and long limestone valleys, with a famous railway along one side. Begin with getting around without a car.

Peak District

The UK's first national park, a train ride from Sheffield and Manchester, and home to a petal-and-clay tradition. Start with well dressing.

Lake District

England's highest ground and deepest water, farmed for over a thousand years. Start with why the sheep stay put.