Garsdale
Encyclopedia
Garsdale is a civil parish occupying a narrow populated valley in Cumbria
, England
. It is on the western slopes of the Pennines
, between Baugh Fell
to the north, and Rise Hill to the south. The main hamlet, called “The Street”, lies on the A684 road
, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Sedbergh
, and 10 miles (16.1 km) west of Hawes
. The other hamlet in Garsdale is Garsdale Head
, also called Hawes Junction, the old name for Garsdale railway station
, after the former Wensleydale
branch on the Settle to Carlisle railway.
Historically
a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire
, Garsdale is within the South Lakeland
local government district, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Garsdale’s river, the Clough, is mainly shallow and rocky, with occasional pools large enough for swimming, though the water is always cold. It rises on the north eastern slopes of Baugh Fell
and flows through Grisedale, the Dale that Died, as Grisedale Beck until it becomes the Clough River
at Garsdale Head. The A684 (Northallerton
to Kendal
) road follows the river for 7 miles (11.3 km) with frequent bridges in the upper part of the dale. At Longstone Fell, locally known, and spoken as Langst'n Fell, the former turnpike road rises to a well-known view-point looking over the Howgill Fells
, and the river descends to Danny Bridge, the site of a seventeenth century mill on the “old road”, before joining the River Rawthey near Sedbergh. The Sedgwick Trail, named after the well-known geologist Adam Sedgwick
runs along the Clough from Danny Bridge and highlights rock features along the Dent fault
.
The population of the parish recorded in the 2001 census was 202, with many of the 150 houses being derelict or used as second homes. The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, built in 1861 next to the original medieval church, lies 6 miles (9.7 km) from Sedbergh, between "The Street" and Garsdale Hall, which was once an inn but is now used as a farm store. There are also three Methodist chapels: Low Smithy and Garsdale Street, both in regular use, and Hawes Junction which has occasional special events. The only other public building in Garsdale is the village hall which was formerly the primary school.
Garsdale has 18 working farms, most of them amalgamating several of the original smallholding
s. Because of the high annual rainfall of up to 100 inches (2,540 mm), crops other than hay and silage are almost impossible, so all farms are stock rearing. Pedigree Swaledale
rams occasionally make high prices at Hawes Auction mart.
Famous people born in Garsdale include John Dawson
(1734–1820), James Inman
(1776–1859) and John Haygarth
(1740–1827). At Garsdale railway station
stands a statue of Ruswarp, a collie. Ruswarp belonged to Graham Nuttall, the first Secretary of the Friends of the Settle–Carlisle Line, which was formed to campaign against the proposed closure of the line. Ruswarp's paw print was put on his own objection as a fare-paying passenger. The line was finally saved in 1989. In January 1990 Nuttall and Ruswarp went missing in the Welsh
mountains. On 7 April 1990 a lone walker found Nuttall's body, by a mountain stream. Nearby was Ruswarp, so weak that the 14 year old dog had to be carried off the mountain. He had stayed with his master's body for 11 winter weeks. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
awarded Ruswarp their Animal Medallion and collar for 'vigilance' and their Animal Plaque for 'intelligence and courage'. He survived long enough to attend Nuttall's funeral.
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is on the western slopes of the Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
, between Baugh Fell
Baugh Fell
Baugh Fell is a large, flat-topped hill in the northern Pennines of England. It lies in the north-western corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, immediately to the east of the Howgill Fells and to the north of Whernside, the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks...
to the north, and Rise Hill to the south. The main hamlet, called “The Street”, lies on the A684 road
A684 road
The A684 is an A road that runs through Cumbria and North Yorkshire, starting at Kendal, Cumbria and ending at Ellerbeck and the A19 road in North Yorkshire...
, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Sedbergh
Sedbergh
Sedbergh is a small town in Cumbria, England. It lies about east of Kendal and about north of Kirkby Lonsdale. The town sits just within the Yorkshire Dales National Park...
, and 10 miles (16.1 km) west of Hawes
Hawes
Hawes is a small market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, being granted its market charter in 1699...
. The other hamlet in Garsdale is Garsdale Head
Garsdale Head
Garsdale Head is a hamlet in Cumbria, but is part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It lies at the top of the valley of Garsdale, on and near the A684 road between Sedbergh and Hawes. Its main attraction is Garsdale railway station on the Settle-Carlisle Railway and the Wensleydale Railway...
, also called Hawes Junction, the old name for Garsdale railway station
Garsdale railway station
Garsdale railway station is a railway station which serves the immediate hamlet of Garsdale Head, Cumbria, England, together with the valley of Garsdale and the nearby towns of Sedbergh, Cumbria and Hawes, North Yorkshire...
, after the former Wensleydale
Wensleydale
Wensleydale is the valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England.Wensleydale lies in the Yorkshire Dales National Park – one of only a few valleys in the Dales not currently named after its principal river , but the older name, "Yoredale", can still be seen...
branch on the Settle to Carlisle railway.
Historically
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, Garsdale is within the South Lakeland
South Lakeland
South Lakeland is a local government district in Cumbria, England. Its council is based in Kendal. It includes much of the Lake District.The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972...
local government district, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Garsdale’s river, the Clough, is mainly shallow and rocky, with occasional pools large enough for swimming, though the water is always cold. It rises on the north eastern slopes of Baugh Fell
Baugh Fell
Baugh Fell is a large, flat-topped hill in the northern Pennines of England. It lies in the north-western corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, immediately to the east of the Howgill Fells and to the north of Whernside, the highest of the Yorkshire Three Peaks...
and flows through Grisedale, the Dale that Died, as Grisedale Beck until it becomes the Clough River
Clough River
The Clough River is a river in Northern England.The river rises at Grisedale in south-eastern Cumbria, where a group of smaller streams draining Grisedale Pike converge as Grisedale Beck...
at Garsdale Head. The A684 (Northallerton
Northallerton
Northallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...
to Kendal
Kendal
Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...
) road follows the river for 7 miles (11.3 km) with frequent bridges in the upper part of the dale. At Longstone Fell, locally known, and spoken as Langst'n Fell, the former turnpike road rises to a well-known view-point looking over the Howgill Fells
Howgill Fells
The Howgill Fells are hills in Northern England between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales, lying roughly in between the vertices of a triangle made by the towns of Sedbergh, Kirkby Stephen and Tebay....
, and the river descends to Danny Bridge, the site of a seventeenth century mill on the “old road”, before joining the River Rawthey near Sedbergh. The Sedgwick Trail, named after the well-known geologist Adam Sedgwick
Adam Sedgwick
Adam Sedgwick was one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Devonian period of the geological timescale...
runs along the Clough from Danny Bridge and highlights rock features along the Dent fault
Dent Fault
The Dent Fault is a major fault on the boundary between the counties of Cumbria and North Yorkshire in northern England. The fault is named for the village of Dent in Dentdale on the western margin of the Yorkshire Dales....
.
The population of the parish recorded in the 2001 census was 202, with many of the 150 houses being derelict or used as second homes. The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist, built in 1861 next to the original medieval church, lies 6 miles (9.7 km) from Sedbergh, between "The Street" and Garsdale Hall, which was once an inn but is now used as a farm store. There are also three Methodist chapels: Low Smithy and Garsdale Street, both in regular use, and Hawes Junction which has occasional special events. The only other public building in Garsdale is the village hall which was formerly the primary school.
Garsdale has 18 working farms, most of them amalgamating several of the original smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
s. Because of the high annual rainfall of up to 100 inches (2,540 mm), crops other than hay and silage are almost impossible, so all farms are stock rearing. Pedigree Swaledale
Swaledale (sheep)
Swaledale is a breed of domestic sheep named after the Yorkshire valley of Swaledale. They are found throughout the more mountainous areas of Great Britain, but particularly in County Durham, Yorkshire, and most commonly around the pennine fells of Cumbria....
rams occasionally make high prices at Hawes Auction mart.
Famous people born in Garsdale include John Dawson
John Dawson (surgeon)
John Dawson was both a mathematician and surgeon. He was born at Raygill in Garsdale, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where "Dawson's Rock" celebrates the site of his early thinking about conic sections...
(1734–1820), James Inman
James Inman
James Inman was an English mathematician, professor of mathematics at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth.He was born at Tod Hole in Garsdale, the younger son of Richard Inman and Jane Hutchinson. He was educated at Sedbergh Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating as first...
(1776–1859) and John Haygarth
John Haygarth
John Haygarth was an important 18th-century British physician who discovered new ways to prevent the spread of fever among patients and reduce the mortality rate of smallpox....
(1740–1827). At Garsdale railway station
Garsdale railway station
Garsdale railway station is a railway station which serves the immediate hamlet of Garsdale Head, Cumbria, England, together with the valley of Garsdale and the nearby towns of Sedbergh, Cumbria and Hawes, North Yorkshire...
stands a statue of Ruswarp, a collie. Ruswarp belonged to Graham Nuttall, the first Secretary of the Friends of the Settle–Carlisle Line, which was formed to campaign against the proposed closure of the line. Ruswarp's paw print was put on his own objection as a fare-paying passenger. The line was finally saved in 1989. In January 1990 Nuttall and Ruswarp went missing in the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
mountains. On 7 April 1990 a lone walker found Nuttall's body, by a mountain stream. Nearby was Ruswarp, so weak that the 14 year old dog had to be carried off the mountain. He had stayed with his master's body for 11 winter weeks. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. In 2009 the RSPCA investigated 141,280 cruelty complaints and collected and rescued 135,293 animals...
awarded Ruswarp their Animal Medallion and collar for 'vigilance' and their Animal Plaque for 'intelligence and courage'. He survived long enough to attend Nuttall's funeral.