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    Subramania Bharati

    Upper Nidderdale
    Winter in Nidderdale

    Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale,[1] is one of the Yorkshire Dales (although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park)[2] in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows east from its source, then south underground for 2 miles (3 km) and then south-east along the dale, forming several reservoirs including the Gouthwaite Reservoir, before turning east and eventually joining the River Ouse.

    The only town in the dale is Pateley Bridge. Other settlements include Wath, Ramsgill, Lofthouse, and Middlesmoor above Pateley Bridge, and Bewerley, Glasshouses, Summerbridge, Dacre, Darley, Birstwith, Hampsthwaite and Kettlesing below Pateley.

    Nidderdale National Landscape

    Main article: Nidderdale National Landscape

    Nidderdale was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1994.[3] In 2023 the AONB adopted the name Nidderdale National Landscape, to reflect its national importance.[4] The NNL covers a much wider area than Nidderdale. In addition to Nidderdale itself (above Hampsthwaite), the NNL includes part of lower Wharfedale, the Washburn valley and part of lower Wensleydale, including Jervaulx Abbey and the side valleys west of the River Ure. The highest point in the Nidderdale National Landscape is Great Whernside, 704 metres above sea level, on the border with the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

    The NNL Web site provides directions for popular walks and offers information on canoeing and kayaking, caving, climbing, cycling, fishing and horse riding.[5]

    Local government

    Nidderdale was historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and in the Lower Division of Claro Wapentake. In the 19th century local government reforms most of the dale fell within the Pateley Bridge Poor Law Union,[6] later the Pateley Bridge Rural Sanitary District[7] and from 1894 Pateley Bridge Rural District.[8] In 1937 the rural district was merged to become part of Ripon and Pateley Bridge Rural District.[9] Hampsthwaite and Felliscliffe in the lower dale fell within Knaresborough Poor Law Union, later Knaresborough Rural Sanitary District and from 1894 Knaresborough Rural District, which merged in 1938 to become part of Nidderdale Rural District.[10]

    In 1974 Nidderdale was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire, and from 1974 to 2023 the whole dale fell within the Borough of Harrogate. It is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

    Transport

    A horsebus (the Nidderdale Omnibus) started operating on 1 August 1849 and ran between Pateley Bridge and Ripley station (later renamed Nidd Bridge station) on the Leeds and Thirsk Railway. In 1862 the North Eastern Railway opened the Nidd Valley Railway from Nidd Valley Junction near Harrogate to Pateley Bridge. Between 1907 and 1937 the Nidd Valley Light Railway served the dale above Pateley Bridge. The Pateley Bridge branch closed in 1964.[11]

    A motor bus began operating between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge in 1923. In 1924 the Harrogate Road Car company began to operate the route, and when that company introduced route numbers in 1927 the service was given the number 24.[12] The number 24 service has continued to run on the same route to the present day, operated by West Yorkshire Road Car Company (the name adopted by Harrogate Road Car Company in 1927) until 1988, when West Yorkshire was split into smaller companies, and since then by the buses of Harrogate Bus Company.

    Nidderdale is also served by DalesBus services from York, Bradford and Keighley.[13]

    Filming location

    All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV series) was filmed mostly in the Yorkshire Dales with many of the Dales scenes filmed in Wharfedale and Nidderdale.[14] For example, the crossroads that are so important in the Christmas episode are "on the roads above Pateley Bridge" in Nidderdale.[15]

    References

    1. ^ Smith, A. H. (1961). The Place-names of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Vol. 5. Cambridge University Press. p. 76.
    2. ^ "Nidderdale". www.yorkshire-dales.com. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
    3. ^ "Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". Visit Harrogate. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
    4. ^ "National Landscapes: name change for AONBs represents ambitious plan to combat climate change and biodiversity loss in Britain". BBC Countryfile. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
    5. ^ Planning Your Trip
    6. ^ Vision of Britain: Pateley Bridge RegD/PLU
    7. ^ Vision of Britain: Pateley Bridge RSD
    8. ^ Vision of Britain: Pately Bridge RD
    9. ^ Vision of Britain: Ripon and Pateley Bridge RD
    10. ^ Vision of Britain: Knaresborough RD
    11. ^ Jennings, Bernard (1992). A History of Nidderdale. The Nidderdale History Group. pp. 202-205 and 213. ISBN 1-85072-114-9.
    12. ^ Leach, Trevor (2000). Twopenny Single to Starbeck:Early Public Transport in the Harrogate Area. pp. 69, 84 and 100. ISBN 0 9507865 2 7.
    13. ^ "Planning your visit". Nidderdale National Landscape. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
    14. ^ "WHERE WAS ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL FILMED?". HITC. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
    15. ^ "Where are the recent All Creatures Great and Small Yorkshire locations filmed?". Yorkshire Post. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.

    Media related to Nidderdale at Wikimedia Commons


    54°05′12″N 1°45′28″W / 54.086688°N 1.757728°W / 54.086688; -1.757728

    Credit: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidderdale

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