‘Everybody knows the moon is made of cheese…’
Wallace in ‘A Grand Day Out’
The name of Wensleydale is almost synonymous with its cheese, beloved by Wallace in the Wallace and Grommit films. It is a beautiful valley, like all the Yorkshire Dales, and more visited than Swaledale to the north, perhaps because of that famous cheese! Another draw is the large number of waterfalls to be found here.
We recently spent a very pleasant day exploring the dale and visiting some of the waterfalls. The weather was perhaps typical of August in northern England. It was mild but cloudy, and mostly dry although we had rain towards the end of the day. Nevertheless, we managed to see a lot and had some very pleasant walks.
I enjoyed playing with the settings on my camera to alternate between freezing the drops of water in the falls and letting them blur to create a sense of movement. The brown colour of the water, by the way, is caused by peat washed down from the moors above after heavy rains prior to our visit.
Wensley Falls
This small waterfall is often overlooked, and we therefore had it to ourselves when we stopped for a quick look on our way up the valley.
Wensley Falls, Yorkshire 
Wensley Falls, Yorkshire
Aysgarth Falls
There are actually three separate falls at Aysgarth, named rather prosaically Upper, Middle and Lower Falls. These falls have attracted artists over the centuries – Turner painted them, and Wordsworth waxed lyrical about them, as did John Ruskin. More recently they were the setting for some scenes in Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, including the famous fight scene between Robin Hood and his friend Little John.
First sight of the Upper Falls, Aysgarth 
Upper Falls, Aysgarth 
Part of the Upper Falls, Aysgarth 
At the Upper Falls, Aysgarth 
Getting close to the Upper Falls, Aysgarth 
Middle Falls, Aysgarth 
View of the Lower Falls, Aysgarth 
View of the Lower Falls, Aysgarth 
At the Lower Falls, Aysgarth 
Water of the Lower Falls, Aysgarth
Hardraw Force
This is England`s largest single drop above-ground waterfall. The falls drop about 100 feet into a rocky pool. Like Aysgarth they were visited by Wordsworth and Turner, and also like Aysgarth, they were used as a location in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, for the scene where Maid Marian catches Robin Hood bathing under a waterfall. The falls are on private land belonging to a pub, the Green Dragon, but open to the public on payment of a small fee.
Hardraw Force, Yorkshire 
Hardraw Force, Yorkshire
Mill Gill Force
This single drop fall is less developed and less visited than Aysgarth or Hardraw. It’s about a mile from the small village of Askrigg along a woodland path, rather muddy at times. It started to rain while we were there so we didn’t go too close but we got a good view from the path.
Mill Gill Force, Yorkshire 
Mill Gill Force, Yorkshire
I visited Wensleydale in 2020
14 Comments
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Easymalc
Another great set of photos Sarah from a lovely part of the country. I got hooked on the Dales after reading the James Herriot books
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, Herriot was a great evangelist for the Dales! Are you watching the new Channel 5 remake? Surprisingly good from a channel I would normally never watch!
Easymalc
Yes I am. I think it’s pretty good too Most of the characters seem well cast.
Incidentally, I had the pleasure of meeting the real James Herriot (real name Alfred Wight) at his practice in Thirsk. A charming man who allowed me to take a photograph of him. Good memories!
TheRamblingWombat
Some lovely falls here Sarah and a great opportunity to practice your photography .. not that it needs much attention!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks for the compliment Albert! I tend to get lazy and over-rely on semi-automatic settings on the camera, so it was good for me to have to switch to manual and adjust aperture and shutter speed to get the effect I wanted, while still being able to handhold 🙂
Simone
You have been working so hard on your new site, great to see! Your pages do deserve a website of their own 🙂 Although a good choice to keep your pages going parallel on Travelerspoint as well.
I had no idea there were so many waterfalls Yorkshire Dales! I’ve only did a quick visit to the area once, many many years ago. You make me eager to return, it is such a beautiful area. Hope the Covid makes it possible some day again to pop over.
Sarah Wilkie
Hi Simone! Yes, this no-travel year has been a good opportunity to start this blog (I’d been meaning to for some time, but …) There are certainly plenty of waterfalls in the Dales – this is just what we managed to do in one day in one dale 😆 It would be lovely to see you in England some time 🙂
Simone
We will certainly be back some day again. We ar already starting to look into some possible trips. I’ve been many times in the UK, especially when I was young, as some of my family live in the south. But strangely enough I haven’t visited at all the past 15 years. I guess it is time to change that 🙂
Nemorino
I always enjoy watching waterfalls.
Nemorino
Somehow the first word/letter got cut off. I wrote: “I always enjoy watching waterfalls.”
But for some reason there aren’t so many in Germany, or at least in Hessen.
Sarah Wilkie
The video should be working now Don 🙂
Nemorino
Yes, now it’s fine. Impressive waterfalls!