A week in Yorkshire for walking...which town?

April 25, 2024 4:47 PM

Hello, Yorkshire people! Can anyone recommend a small market town for me (68F New Englander) as a base for walking the heathery moors in late July?

I’ll be a few days in Leeds then want 7-10 days of proper walking on [marked, mid level difficulty] trails - on my Tod but would love to connect with a local Ramblers group or any other walkers.

Currently looking at small Air B&B options in Ilkley, Ripon, Thirsk, Skipton, Settle but will have no car so it’s Dales Bus and trains. I know the Dales will be busy in July but them’s my dates.

I like pubs with guest beers, outdoor markets, churches and cathedrals, a cream tea, dogs, jokes, pork pies, neolithic burial barrows and raspberry trifle - GO

posted by amphitrite to Travel & Transportation around England (10 answers total)

I assume you've looked at Whitby? I have a fondness for it, twee as it is. It has great cream teas, a nice little old church plus a ruined abbey, and great seafood (fishing town).

Pickering is also lovely, on the York - Whitby bus route and the North York Moors Railway steam train. Nearest rail station is Malton, 8 miles away. It has a picturesque ruined castle and a medieval church with wall paintings dating to the 1400s.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:14 PM on April 25 [2 favorites]

Maybe Ampleforth?
posted by cushie at 6:17 PM on April 25

I am not from Yorkshire but I just got back from a visit there with my mom (me 51F, mom 76F). We stayed at The Feathers in Pocklington which had a lovely market day while we were there, with bread and cheese stalls and more. Im not sure about the trails from Pocklington, but we drove to Bishop Wilton and had a half pint at The Fleece Inn, which was our starting point for a ramble through the Wolds. We originally were planning to stay at the Fleece, but it was fully booked with walkers! Bishop Wilton has a lovely medieval church, St Edith's, which was renovated recently (150 years ago) ha ha. I felt just like I had walked into the great old norman church renovated by the Victorians in Connie Willis's To Say Nothing of the Dog. Garrowby Hill above Bishop Wilton reaches the highest point in the Yorkshire Wolds, with a trail starting near the Fleece Inn.

Near Bishop Wilton is Great Givendale, which contains another excellent old church, St Ethelburga's, nestled in a dell with many trees and a pond full of ducks and geese, overlooking a grassy hillside with sheep and lambs. We were greeted outside the church by several sets of ramblers and their dogs, presumably heading off on the Minster Way or the Chalkland Way.

Each of these towns was full of lovely, friendly, helpful people and their dogs, happy to guide us towards their favorite trails and suggest their favorite local beer. Pocklington was the largest (a town really), then Bishop Wilton (quaint village), then Great Givendale which was really a tiny hamlet with no local pub or inn.

Good luck - wherever you go Im sure you will have a great time!
posted by Illusory contour at 7:07 PM on April 25 [1 favorite]

To be clear, you're looking for somewhere to base out of for day walks, rather than a walking holiday where you go from place to place?

If so, I think Whitby's hard -- there aren't many places you can get there and back in a day. (Robin Hood's Bay took us about four hours along the cliff top. Sandsend is close, but there's nothing there, I don't think. I suspect the old railway line is also an option--we picked it up somewhere between Robin Hood's Bay and Scarborough.)
posted by hoyland at 8:29 PM on April 25

Hope valley in general might suit, but I'm not sure whether it's enough entertainment for ten days. Castleton is particularly good for walking, and Hope and Edale are connected by train to Sheffield, which puts it about an hour and a half from Leeds. (Technically that is Derbyshire, if it matters to you, but it's still in the Peak District.)
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:41 PM on April 25

Last time we were in the UK we stayed in Settle for five days, it's on a rail line, has walks from town, and we found some great food places, nice to walk around in the town, and we'd seriously like to go there again. It's set in the Eden Valley, just an all-round magic place.
posted by unearthed at 12:28 AM on April 26 [2 favorites]

If you're interested in something a little different I might recommend Hebden Bridge. Absolutely tons of great walking on real Pennine moorland, but with loads of history scattered about the place too, and a bit alternative... For me it's much more real Yorkshire than all the chocolate-boxy Dales farming villages, post-industrial and more densely populated in the valley, but nicely bleak and wild Brontë country on the tops. Hebden is about as well connected as a northern town can be in public transport terms, so you could get there on a day trip from Leeds if you don't fancy a whole week.
posted by tomsk at 12:50 AM on April 26 [5 favorites]

For the Yorkshire Dales using public transport I think your best options are Skipton (not quite in the Dales but good links in and a bit bigger town), Settle, or Hawes. From those two you have some walks directly from your base but also bus links further into the Dales.
If you get the chance, I highly recommend Malham Cove as a walk but it may be a bit tricky to get to without a car.
posted by crocomancer at 1:28 AM on April 26 [2 favorites]

Seconded vote for Pickering. If it's specifically heather moorlands you're after, then the North York Moors are finer than the Yorkshire Dales. Pickering is close enough to give you direct access, and also has the bus and train connections across the moors; and in the summer there's also the volunteer-run Moorsbus adding more options.
posted by vincebowdren at 9:26 AM on April 26 [2 favorites]

Came to absolutely second the recommendation for Hebden Bridge and its surroundings (Todmorden, especially, to complement the surprising cultural qualities of these small, unique cultures). If you go, do yourself a favor and have a meal at Nelson's (it's my favorite restaurant in the entire UK, an absolute gem... as is the Golden Lion in Todmorden). There's a great hostel in Hebden Bridge that caters to walkers, hikers, and cyclists. I tend to start and/or finish journeys there. I also get around without a car. Hebden Bridge and Todmorden have railway stations that are well serviced on a line/network that connects Manchester with Leeds. Depending on your timing, I may be able to join you if you're looking for company (and if so, feel free to mail me).

Christopher Goddard publishes wonderful little walking guides that might interest you. I've done a fair number of the routes in his West Yorkshire Woods, Part I: The Calder Valley book, and he also has a volume specific to the moors. Perhaps a controversial opinion, but you'll be hard pressed to find routes that rise above "mid level difficulty" in the UK. There may be complex sections of trails, but by and large you'll have a good time without much worry. Have a great time!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:31 AM on April 26 [1 favorite]