Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one 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 ...

(although outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park) in

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 is the upper valley of the

River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. It rises in Nidderdale at Nidd Head Spring on the slopes of Great Whernside. In its first few miles it has been dammed three times, creating Angram Rese ...

, which flows east from its source, then south

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * Buenos Aires Underground, a rapid transit system * London Underground, a rapid transit system * ...

for and then south-east along the dale, forming several reservoirs including the

Gouthwaite Reservoir Gouthwaite Reservoir is in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of many reservoirs in the area, others include Roundhill Reservoir and Angram Reservoir. Gouthwaite is a compensation reservoir for the River Nidd, i.e. it maintains t ...

, before turning east and eventually joining the River Ouse. The only town in the dale is

Pateley Bridge Pateley Bridge (known locally as Pateley) is a market town in the civil parish of High and Low Bishopside, in Nidderdale, in the county and district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies on the ...

. Other settlements include

Wath WATH (970 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Sports radio, Sports format. Licensed to Athens, Ohio, United States, the station is currently owned by Total Media Group and features programming from CBS News Radio, Fox Sports R ...

Ramsgill Ramsgill is a small village in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire, England, about south-east of Lofthouse, located near Gouthwaite Reservoir. It is chiefly known for the Yorke Arms, formerly a Michelin-starred restaurant on the village green which ...

, Lofthouse, and

Middlesmoor Middlesmoor is a small hill village at the head of Nidderdale in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Middlesmoor is the principal settlement in the civil parish of Stonebeck Up, historically a township in the ancient parish of Kirkby Malz ...

above Pateley Bridge, and

Bewerley Bewerley is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. The village is 0.5 mile south of Pateley Bridge in Nidderdale. The parish includes the part of the Pateley Bridge built-up area west of the River Nidd, where Pat ...

, Glasshouses, Summerbridge, Dacre, Darley,

Birstwith Birstwith is a village and civil parish in Nidderdale in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Nidd. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 756 and increased to 868 based on the 2011 Census. Until 1974 it w ...

Hampsthwaite Hampsthwaite is a large village and civil parish in Nidderdale in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Nidd north west of Harrogate. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 1,083. The ce ...

and Kettlesing below Pateley.

Nidderdale National Landscape

Nidderdale was designated an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

in 1994. In 2023 the AONB adopted the name Nidderdale National Landscape, to reflect its national importance. The NNL covers a much wider area than Nidderdale. In addition to Nidderdale itself (above Hampsthwaite), the NNL includes part of lower

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

Washburn valley The River Washburn is a river in Yorkshire, England. It originates high in the Yorkshire Dales and ends where it meets the River Wharfe. It lies within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Name The earliest recorded form of the r ...

and part of lower

Wensleydale Wensleydale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines. The Dale (landform), dale is named after the village of Wensley, North Yorkshire, Wensley, formerly the valley's market tow ...

, including

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 ...

and the side valleys west 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 highest point in the Nidderdale National Landscape is

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 ...

, 704 metres above sea level, on the border with the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England which covers most of the Yorkshire Dales, the Howgill Fells, and the Orton Fells. The Nidderdale area of the Yorkshire Dales is not within the national park, and has instead ...

. The NNL Web site provides directions for popular walks and offers information on canoeing and kayaking, caving, climbing, cycling, fishing and horse riding.

Local government

Nidderdale was historically in the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, and in the Lower Division of

Claro Wapentake Claro was a wapentake of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was split into two divisions. The Upper Division included the parishes of Farnham, Fewston, Hampsthwaite, Kirkby Malzeard and Pannal and parts of Aldborough, Knaresborough, Ot ...

. In the 19th century local government reforms most of the dale fell within the Pateley Bridge

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

, later the Pateley Bridge

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

and from 1894 Pateley Bridge Rural District. In 1937 the rural district was merged to become part of Ripon and Pateley Bridge Rural District. Hampsthwaite and Felliscliffe in the lower dale fell within Knaresborough Poor Law Union, later Knaresborough Rural Sanitary District and from 1894 Knaresborough Rural District, which merged in 1938 to become part of

Nidderdale Rural District Nidderdale was a rural district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1938 to 1974. It was created from the combination of most of the disbanded rural districts of Great Ouseburn and Knaresborough The district covered villages in the lower valley ...

. In 1974 Nidderdale was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire, and from 1974 to 2023 the whole dale fell within the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

. It is now administered by the

unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigr ...

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

Transport

horsebus A horse-bus or horse-drawn omnibus was a large, enclosed, and sprung horse-drawn vehicle used for passenger transport before the introduction of motor vehicles. It was widely used in the 19th century in the United States, Europe, and other nat ...

(the Nidderdale Omnibus) started operating on 1 August 1849 and ran between

and Ripley station (later renamed Nidd Bridge station) on the

Leeds and Thirsk Railway The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), until 1851 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from Leeds to Stockton via Harrogate and Thirsk. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for ...

. In 1862 the North Eastern Railway opened the

Nidd Valley Railway The Nidd Valley Railway was a long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Ripley Junction, on the Harrogate to Ripon Line, to ...

from Nidd Valley Junction near

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

to Pateley Bridge. Between 1907 and 1937 the

Nidd Valley Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway was a light railway in upper Nidderdale in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was owned by Bradford Corporation Waterworks Department and the corporation also operated its public passenger services. Power & Tract ...

served the dale above Pateley Bridge. The Pateley Bridge branch closed in 1964. A motor bus began operating between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge in 1923. In 1924 the Harrogate Road Car company began to operate the route, and when that company introduced route numbers in 1927 the service was given the number 24. The number 24 service has continued to run on the same route to the present day, operated by

West Yorkshire Road Car Company The West Yorkshire Road Car Company was a major bus operator operating in North and West Yorkshire between 1906 and 1987. History West Yorkshire The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed in 1906, running at first steam buses in Harrogate, then ...

(the name adopted by Harrogate Road Car Company in 1927) until 1988, when West Yorkshire was split into smaller companies, and since then by the buses of

Harrogate Bus Company The Harrogate Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield. History In November 1906, The Harrogate Road Car Company was formed. Initially op ...

. Nidderdale is also served by

DalesBus DalesBus is a bus network serving the Yorkshire Dales and managed by Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, a volunteer-run subsidiary of the Yorkshire Dales Society. Services are funded by organisations, including the National Trust, We ...

services from

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and

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 ...

Filming location

All Creatures Great and Small (2020 TV series) ''All Creatures Great and Small'' is a television series set in 1930s and 1940s Northern England, based upon All Creatures Great and Small (franchise), a series of books about a Yorkshire veterinarian, veterinary surgeon written by Alf Wight und ...

was filmed mostly in the

with many of the Dales scenes filmed in Wharfedale and Nidderdale. For example, the crossroads that are so important in the Christmas episode are "on the roads above

" in Nidderdale.

References

External links

Visit Nidderdale

Visitors' guide to Nidderdale

Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Churches of Nidderdale
{{Coord, 54.086688, N, 1.757728, W, source:dewiki_region:GB-ENG_type:forest, format=dms, display=title Valleys of North Yorkshire