About Dale Notes
A small, independent publication about the villages of the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District and the Lake District, and about how people live and travel there.
What we are
Dale Notes is written by its editors, with occasional pieces from outside contributors. We are not connected to any national park authority, tourist board, railway or bus company. We do not sell holidays.
Our subject is the slow end of travel: what runs on a Sunday, how a field barn worked, the customs that villages keep up for their own reasons. We lay the site out like a rack of postcards because that is the scale we like to write at. One place, one question, a straight answer.
How we check things
Facts in our notes come from pages we have read, with a preference for the national park authorities, GOV.UK, the Health and Safety Executive, museums and bodies that represent a craft or breed. Each note links to its sources so that you can read them yourself. Bus times, fares, event dates and rules change, so we say when a figure dates from a particular season and ask you to confirm it before you rely on it.
Where sources disagree or nobody knows, we say so. If we have something wrong, please email us and we will correct it.
Advice, and its limits
Our notes on rights of way and dogs around livestock are general information and not legal advice. Hills and weather can be dangerous, and you are responsible for your own decisions out there. In an emergency, call 999.
Contributors and sponsored content
We accept contributed articles under the terms on our write for us page. Any commercial link to a contributor is disclosed on the article.
Get in touch
Email [email protected], or see our contact page.
Photo credits
Our photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown. They have been cropped and resized. Thanks to the photographers who share their work. Illustrations and the logo are our own.
- Swaledale-footpath-Muker-Thwaite. Photo: Kreuzschnabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Field barns and dry stone walls, Swaledale. Photo: Bill Harrison, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- 2013 Dry stone walls by Carlton. Photo: Kreuzschnabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Dry stone wall Malham 05. Photo: Immanuel Giel, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- A view of Edale village from The Nab. Photo: Neil Theasby, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Malham - Village Centre. Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Grasmere 2, Cumbria - June 2009. Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Ribblehead Viaduct 2. Photo: Michael D Beckwith, CC0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Swaledale & Muker from the Pennine Way on Kisdon Hill. Photo: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Dressing of Hall Well - Tissington 2010. Photo: Mick Lobb, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Dressing of Town Well - Tissington 2010. Photo: Mick Lobb, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Herdwick Sheep below Great Gable Lake District 2022 01. Photo: Julian Herzog, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Herdwick Sheep Kirk Fell Lake District 2025 01. Photo: Julian Herzog, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Cows policing footpaths. Photo: Neil Theasby, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
- Stiles, Nr. Castleton, Derbyshire. Photo: Graham Hogg, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, cropped.
