Coverdale is a dale in the far east of the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales are a series of valleys, or Dale (landform), dales, in the Pennines, an Highland, upland range in England. They are mostly located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, but extend into C ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It takes its name from the River Cover, a tributary of the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England, is about long from its source to the point where it becomes the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale, which is the only major dale now named after a village rather than its river. ...

. The dale runs south-west from the eastern end of Wensleydale to the dale head at a pass, known as Park Rash Pass, between

Great Whernside Great Whernside is a fell in the Yorkshire Dales, England, not to be confused with Whernside, some to the west. Its summit is the highest point of the eastern flank of Wharfedale above Kettlewell. Great Whernside forms the watershed between W ...

to the south and

Buckden Pike Buckden Pike is a fell at the head of Wharfedale, a valley in the Yorkshire Dales, that stands above the village of Buckden, North Yorkshire, Buckden, England. At , it narrowly misses out on being the highest peak in the area, the title instead ...

to the north. It is accessible by a single track road, which runs the length of the dale and over the pass to Kettlewell in

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated at source in North Yorkshire and then flows into West Yorkshire and forms the upper valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale (downstream, from west to east) includ ...

. The name is taken from that of the River Cover, which is of Brittonic origin. Ekwall suggested that it might mean "hollow stream", but more recently Andrew Breeze has argued that it is

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

with Welsh ''gofer'' "streamlet".

History

An abbey was founded at Coverham in the 14th century by Ralph, son of Robert, Lord of Middleham. The order that it belonged to was

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

(or White Canons) and was formally dissolved in 1536. Whilst some of the ruins are still extant, it is not open to the general public. In the 18th century, the road through Coverdale from Kettlewell to Middleham was used as the route of coaches between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. The route came north through Halifax,

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

and Cracoe as part of its journey. The valley gives its name to a variant of

cheese, produced at the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes. Coverdale cheese is of the same general texture and flavour as Wensleydale, but thought by some to be slightly sourer and therefore possessing greater 'edge'. The River Cover meets its confluence with the

at the hamlet of Coverbridge which consists of Clarkson's farm and the Coverbridge Pub, an ancient travellers inn on the road from

Jervaulx Abbey Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton in North Yorkshire, north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building. The place name ''Jervaulx'' is fir ...

to Middleham. The Coverbridge Pub has at least two claims to fame including having been the hiding place of monks who kept alive the recipe of Wensleydale cheese during the sacking of Jervaulx Abbey by troops loyal to King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

, and, the scene of the first formally recorded game of cricket in 1706. In 2006 the Coverbridge Cricket Festival celebrated the 300th anniversary in a massive spectacle of cricket supported by the Red Arrows and a

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced continuously throughout the ...

and

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

of the RAF with musical support provided by the band of the

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (often referred to as, "The Fusiliers") is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division. Currently, the regiment has two battalions: the 1st Battalion, part of the Regular Army, is an ...

. A Coverbridge team of dalesmen played the visiting Awali Camels team on tour from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Tourism

* Braithwaite Hall, a 17th-century farmhouse that was built in 1667. It has been let out to tenant farmers who also mined coal and quarried limestone in the surrounding area. * Forbidden Corner, a series of tunnels, caves, grottoes and walled gardens that join to form a 3 dimensional maze.

Settlements

* Agglethorpe * Braidley * Caldbergh * Carlton * Coverham * East Scrafton * Horsehouse * Melmerby * Middleham * West Scrafton

References

External links

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