Christmas in Grassington

We like going to Yorkshire at Christmas for the views, fell-top walks, and crisp, snowy weather. But it doesn't always work out that way. This year it was misty all week - apart from the day when it rained. However, Grassington has an intriguing network of public footpaths radiating out in all directions, made more mysterious and secretive by the mist. All week we ventured out on short expeditions to explore iron age field patterns and deserted medieval villages, extinct lead mines, woodlands and river valleys. This part of the Yorkshire Dales is a classic karst limestone landscape, with potholes and sinkholes peppering the hills, as well as the abandoned mines, so we stuck to the footpaths, though much of the area is now open access.

Grassington itself is a lovely little big village, with some good shops. It's a bit touristy, but that's to be expected, and it's not too over-the-top. There's no lead mining left, and I'm sure mining tourist's pockets is a more healthy trade.

The River Wharf at Linton. We didn't use the stepping stones, as experience from a couple of years back has indicated that they can lead to wet feet, a bruised hip, and unseemly sniggering by one's walking companion. Well, I couldn't see the ice, it was transparent!

St. Michael's church, in the middle ground, is built on a bend in the river, probably a pagan site of worship. St. Michael is often a dedication to a church on a knoll or tor, also probably pagan sites. It's a lovely church. Nearby Burnsall Church has a display about the viking influence in the area, and a couple of very early hog's-back tombs.

Grassington Lead Mine. A huge area was mined, and as recently as the '60s the waste spoil was being re-worked for barytes and fluorspar. It has left a fascinating landscape of pits and derelict buildings which we explored as they loomed out of the mist.


Flue and chimney. The smoke from the lead smelting was routed in a flue up the hill for several miles, so that lead would condense out of the smoke onto the walls of the flue.


The flue is a narrow tunnel, now collapsed in places. Every so often the smelting mill would be shut down and boys sent up the flue to scrape off the lead. It was a dangerous process as shown by the comments under this far sunnier picture. More info on lead mining in Yorkshire here.

The day when it rained? We went to Skipton for the best scone and latte in Yorkshire! ('Wild Oats Cafe' if you're interested). And we happened to do a little bit of shopping too...