Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Can you help me identify this village in the Yorkshire Dales

73 replies

Bealtaine23 · 13/02/2024 09:10

About 40 years ago, when I was about 12, I went on holidays with my friend and her parents to the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. We drove around a lot but one memory I have is driving into a tiny village in the Dales, and feeling like we might not be able to get out as the road was so narrow - I think it was a bridge. I think the village was very self-contained, not sure how to describe it but like entering a farm, not with houses on the road into it. I have a feeling we came down to it from a hill and could see it. But not sure.
And that’s about all I can remember. I’d love to find it again as it stuck in my head. We may have been travelling to Haworth from the Lake District but taken a scenic route. But that may be a red herring.
Any suggestions for me - it’s vague I know!

OP posts:
NoOrdinaryMorning · 14/02/2024 12:52

Birstwith? Darley? They're both at the bottom of a hill. Do you remember anything about an American military station with what looked like giant golf balls?

NoOrdinaryMorning · 14/02/2024 12:54

Otley has a very, very narrow and cobbled road in it and is also at the bottom of a big hill. As is Burley in Wharfedale and, they're both next to the dual carriageway that leads to the Lake District

WinkyTinky · 14/02/2024 13:18

Actually it does sound a lot like Muker. We did a terrifying drive in the dark and the mist down from Buttertubs Pass, or the 'top road' as we call it, last year. It felt like we'd never make it! I want to go right now OP!

Freckles81 · 14/02/2024 15:34

I think you'll have to go on a road trip in Yorkshire this summer! So much loveliness to see, plus you may well stumble upon your remembered spot!

Original poster
Bealtaine23 · 14/02/2024 17:28

Yes, I think a road trip is in order! I’ve looked at nearly all the suggestions - such incredibly gorgeous villages - some seem almost right but I’m not sure if it’s the passage of time/my memory - some places seem much bigger than what I’m remembering but I could be wrong - I was young!
I can’t ask my friends parents, they’re gone now and she was younger than me so definitely won’t remember.

In my (possibly unreliable) memory it was in the Dales, stone village, and really narrow streets. It felt like we had barely squeezed the car around it. The bridge (or maybe just a road) out was just the width of the car.

Thanks to everyone, whetted my appetite for a trip regardless of where the village is!

OP posts:
garlictwist · 14/02/2024 17:30

Some of these suggestions are just wrong. Hebden Bridge? Town, not a village and not in the Dales. Certainly not isolated. And the others are in the North York Moors.

Fartooold · 14/02/2024 17:34

Dent was the 1st place that sprung to mind.

Lots of places mentioned are too big and too easily accessible.

You definitely need a road trip😁

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 14/02/2024 17:36

garlictwist · 14/02/2024 17:30

Some of these suggestions are just wrong. Hebden Bridge? Town, not a village and not in the Dales. Certainly not isolated. And the others are in the North York Moors.

I agree! Otley, Skipton, Settle, Grassington etc. are towns and way too big. And some of the other suggestions have massive roads through them.

And two of the suggestions have been in the NY Moors - nowhere near the Dales, Lakes or Haworth! ("Tell me you know nothing about the geography of northern England without telling me you know nothing about the geography of northern England")

I think Arncliffe could be a contender, or Litton?

tishtishboom · 14/02/2024 18:01

Kettlewell, or one of the villages in that dale?

whoami24601 · 14/02/2024 18:16

tishtishboom · 14/02/2024 18:01

Kettlewell, or one of the villages in that dale?

I also thought Kettlewell straight away!

KThnxBye · 14/02/2024 18:29

Dent or Hubberholme came to mind. Although, Hubberholme mainly because is basically just one farm….

Conistone?

nattynoonoo821 · 14/02/2024 18:35

Langthwaite in Arkengarthdale? That has a little bridge over to a pub

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 14/02/2024 20:46

tishtishboom · 14/02/2024 18:01

Kettlewell, or one of the villages in that dale?

Kettlewell isn't that small, and doesn't really have the kind of layout OP describes.

taybert · 14/02/2024 20:56

Allowing for distorted memories this could be Stainforth just outside Settle. Small village, stone buildings, possible to approach via a very narrow packhorse bridge and it’s bypassed so it’s “self contained” The bridge is a little way from the main village itself but I’m not sure you’d remember that from being 12.

coxesorangepippin · 14/02/2024 20:57

Were there stone walls on each side??

Original poster
Bealtaine23 · 14/02/2024 21:38

nattynoonoo821 · 14/02/2024 18:35

Langthwaite in Arkengarthdale? That has a little bridge over to a pub

Edited

This place is close to what I remember - very narrow street and bridge, only thing is it didn’t really look like we could have driven into the village from the top and then out the bridge - unless in the 80s they allowed cars on those teeny lanes. The Google-car didn’t go there anyway!

And yes, stone walls on the sides of the bridge/roads in answer to PP.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bealtaine23 · 14/02/2024 22:13

I had another look at Dent - as suggested by a few people. It really does have the feel of my memory - the cramped streets and lanes and there’s a bridge. Not as narrow as I remember but sure my memory could be off.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, I really enjoyed exploring all the places virtually. Time to plan the road trip!

OP posts:
TonyHallintheTardis · 14/02/2024 22:24

Lofthouse near Stean Gorge?

nattynoonoo821 · 14/02/2024 23:40

You can get down the lane from a place called booze! It's possible!

NoOrdinaryMorning · 15/02/2024 13:07

Bealtaine23 · 14/02/2024 17:28

Yes, I think a road trip is in order! I’ve looked at nearly all the suggestions - such incredibly gorgeous villages - some seem almost right but I’m not sure if it’s the passage of time/my memory - some places seem much bigger than what I’m remembering but I could be wrong - I was young!
I can’t ask my friends parents, they’re gone now and she was younger than me so definitely won’t remember.

In my (possibly unreliable) memory it was in the Dales, stone village, and really narrow streets. It felt like we had barely squeezed the car around it. The bridge (or maybe just a road) out was just the width of the car.

Thanks to everyone, whetted my appetite for a trip regardless of where the village is!

There's also the very small village of Ripley on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales? That is all stone built buildings and narrow roads. Not at bottom of a hill though

NoOrdinaryMorning · 15/02/2024 13:09

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist I'm aware where the places are in my suggestions thanks as I've lived in most of them! They were still suggested as sometimes memories have minor details which can be wrong 🙄 Such as it being "in the Dales" ffs. Also re: Otley, it's literally right on the edge of the dales. I drive through Otley and into the dales, nearly every bloody day!

NoOrdinaryMorning · 15/02/2024 13:10

Also, Otley has parts of it (& close to it) which are like little villages in and of themselves

GeordieRacer · 15/02/2024 18:13

So many little places like this in the dales. Keld? Halton Gill?

Tarmacadamia · 15/02/2024 18:16

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 14/02/2024 17:36

I agree! Otley, Skipton, Settle, Grassington etc. are towns and way too big. And some of the other suggestions have massive roads through them.

And two of the suggestions have been in the NY Moors - nowhere near the Dales, Lakes or Haworth! ("Tell me you know nothing about the geography of northern England without telling me you know nothing about the geography of northern England")

I think Arncliffe could be a contender, or Litton?

Edited
Show quote history

I was just coming on to say this too - some people have a strange idea of what a village is! Lots of pretty big market towns getting a mention.

Tarmacadamia · 15/02/2024 18:17

NoOrdinaryMorning · 15/02/2024 13:09

@TarantinoIsAMisogynist I'm aware where the places are in my suggestions thanks as I've lived in most of them! They were still suggested as sometimes memories have minor details which can be wrong 🙄 Such as it being "in the Dales" ffs. Also re: Otley, it's literally right on the edge of the dales. I drive through Otley and into the dales, nearly every bloody day!

Otley is in West Yorkshire, not far from Leeds - it's a long way from the Dales!