Event: Peregrine Watch at Malham Cove
12 June 2025
Ian Court, Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority led a circular guided walk with a rare opportunity to learn more about one of the Yorkshire Dales most majestic birds of prey. Peregrine Falcons were at a low point in the 1960s due to human persecution and the impact of pesticides in the food chain. Improved legislation and protection has helped the birds to recover, but a number of threats remain.
Event: Introduction to the Wonders of the Night Sky
12 February 2025
As part of the annual Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival, Paul Neaves with Keighley Astronomical Society, joined us in Gargrave to offer an introduction to the wonders of the night sky.
The part theoretical, part practical event enabled participants to learn astronomy and understand the workings of the night sky with a view to identifying the key stars and constellations.
The session included: using star charts, judging angular distances, creating your own planisphere, concluding with a short guided walk to put it all into practice.
Online Talk: A Nature-based approach to Flood Management
22 January 2025
Ousewem is an innovative flood resilience project identifying and delivering nature-based solutions (NbS) and natural flood management (NFM) to reduce flood risk in vulnerable North Yorkshire communities, spanning Yorkshire’s Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchments.
In this talk Amanda Crossfield from Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust – one of Ousewem’s delivery partners – gave insight into its ongoing work using NbS and NFM techniques to strengthen flood resilience in at-risk North Yorkshire communities whilst enhancing the local environment and supporting a sustainable, adaptive agricultural landscape.
The project, funded by Defra, is part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes managed by the Environment Agency, driving innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate.
Online Talk: The Flora and Fauna of Malham Tarn National Nature Reserve
4 December 2024
National Trust Property Ecologist Dr. Elizabeth Sullivan talked about Malham Tarn National Nature Reserve and its habitats, in particular those at the Tarn – England’s highest lime-rich lake and the moss, its wetland areas. She also introduced some of the key flora and fauna at the site, providing insight into how they are monitored and managed.
Online Talk: The Yorkshire Dales National Park – 70 Years On
20 November 2024
In honour of the 75th anniversary of the National Park movement and 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Mark Corner, former Chair of Friends of the Dales and current member champion for the natural environment for the National Park Authority, reviewed the achievements of the national park along with the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead – especially in relation to nature recovery and community sustainability.
Online Talk: An Inclusive National Park
23 October 2024
Trustee and Churchill Fellow, Mohammed Dhalech, discussed the three challenges of organisational culture, representation and racism which must be tackled in order for everyone to enjoy our national parks.
Friends of the Dales 41st Annual General Meeting
28 September 2024
Our AGM 2024 (restricted to members only) was held at the Memorial Hall, Addingham. The reports and Annual Accounts from this AGM can be found on our Annual Report and Accounts page.
Walk: Access the Dales by foot or Terrain Hopper!
31 July 2024
This was our first inclusive walk run in collaboration with Yorkshire Dales charity, Access the Dales and walking company Where2Walk. Commencing from a farm near Tebay, participants enjoyed a leisurely paced, stile free, four mile route over rough, moderately challenging terrain to Powson Knott, whilst taking in views of the eastern and northern fells of the Lake District. This Access the Dales hub was able to offer a Tramper—an all-terrain wheelchair—and a TerrainHopper for those requiring assistance.
Walk: Exploring Grassington Moor Upland Common
3 July 2024
Claire Braeburn, project officer for the Foundation for Common Land lead a half day walk over part of the Grassington Moor upland common. Providing insight into the ancient history of upland commons, Claire also guided participants through the archaeological trail of Yarnbury’s lead mining industry.
Walk: Discover Smardale Nature Reserve
19 June 2024
A unique opportunity to join Andrew Walter, reserves officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust for a five mile moderately difficult, circular guided walked around this exceptional reserve. Smardale Nature Reserve occupies a five-mile section of the disused railway line that once ran from Tebay to Darlington, now home to species-rich grassland, attracting a variety of pollinating insects, with the industrial archaeology of the railway line adding further interest.
Walk: Fauna, Flora and Water in Wensleydale
23 May 2024
Catherine Mason, education and engagement officer for the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust led a seven mile circular walk and talk exploring a short stretch of the River Ure and one of its tributaries. Starting and finishing at Aysgarth Falls this was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Trust’s work including river and riparian restoration to improve habitats, address pollution, prevent erosion and reduce the impacts of flooding.
Walk: Ride2Stride
1 May 2024
We hosted a 7 mile walk as part of the popular ride2stride Settle-Carlisle walking and music festival programme, from Long Preston railway station to Settle station. Partially following the Ribble Way, walkers enjoyed viewing Wigglesworth Hall and Long Preston Deeps along with lots of spring flowers and wading birds.
Online Talk: Connecting Young People to the Yorkshire Dales
20 March 2024
In this online talk one of our Creative Campaigners, Ruth Garrett shared her own campaigning journey from volunteering as a teenager with Friends of the Dales, to her experience as an ambassador for the national charity Campaign for National Parks (CNP), and how these experiences led to the launch of the Creative Campaigners Network in the Dales.
Event: Friends 4 Friends
6 March 2024
This was a social event for members with one caveat – they must bring a ‘non member’ friend with them! As we look to the future it is vital we recruit more members and so what better way to do this than encourage like-minded friends to come along and join us for a membership social comprising welcome refreshments, a short presentation, light complimentary lunch and a leisurely three mile circular walk. NB. there was no obligation to join – just a chance to get to know us!
Online Talk: Breeding Waders of the Yorkshire Dales
21 February 2024
In this online talk, Ian Court, Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, outlined the status of the key upland breeding wader species and how important areas such as the Yorkshire Dales National Park are for them. He also summarised the current threats and habitat requirements that waders need and the conservation work being undertaken to protect them.
Online Talk: Access the Dales
17 January 2024
Since becoming a wheelchair user in 2011, Debbie North has campaigned tirelessly to break down barriers and promote countryside accessibility for all. Founding the charity, Access the Dales, whose motto is ‘making the inaccessible accessible’, it now offers nine ‘free to borrow’ all terrain wheelchairs available from designated sites across the Dales. This talk offered a unique opportunity to learn about the successes and improvements Debbie’s campaigning has achieved, along with the challenges still to surmount.
Online Talk: Funding for Sustainable Business & Community Projects in the Dales
6 December 2023
Businesses, community groups and individuals had the chance to find out more about how the Yorkshire Dales National Park’s Sustainable Development Fund can support projects that aim to promote a more sustainable way of living in, working in or visiting the National Park. Andrea Burden, Sustainable Development Officer for the Park introduced the scheme, the funding available and how to apply. Edward Sexton of Clapham based Glencroft also spoke about how the fund helped kick-start his company’s now successful ‘farm to yarn’ project – Clapdale Wool – buying fleeces from farms within a 5-mile radius and transforming them into Yorkshire-made hand-knit yarn.
Online Talk: Within the Cracks – the Hidden World of Limestone Pavements
8 November 2023
Following on from her feature in the summer 2023 issue of Yorkshire Dales Review, Carly Stevens, Professor of Plant Ecology and Soil Biogeochemistry at the University of Lancaster, drew on six years of research to illuminate these complex and often biodiverse rich ecosystems which typify much of the Yorkshire Dales. She also talked about the impact of climate breakdown, farming practice and other threats affecting these precious habitats.
Online Talk: In Your Words – Words from the Dales
11 October 2023
Dr Fiona Douglas, project lead for The Dialect and Heritage Project based at the University of Leeds revealed some of the key insights and discoveries uncovered through its recent work with the Yorkshire Dales Countryside Museum and Ryedale Folklife Museum. Fiona shared snippets of rare audio interviews gathered by researchers in the 1950s alongside newer oral histories, to illustrate how the Yorkshire language and dialect has changed and developed over the last 75 years.
Guided Walk: Clapham Heritage Trail
Saturday 7 October 2023
Trustee Ken Humphris led a two mile walk around picturesque Clapham, planned in the early 19th century and now a Conservation Area. The walk offered an opportunity to learn about the village’s long history, from its 10th century medieval farmsteads to the present day. Clapham comprises a fascinating collection of vernacular buildings, beck and waterfall, along with connections to the well-known Victorian plant hunter, Reginald Farrer.
Friends of the Dales 40th Annual General Meeting
Saturday 23 September 2023
Our AGM 2023 (restricted to members only) was held at the Village Hall, Long Preston, BD23 4NU. The reports and Annual Accounts from this AGM can be found on our Annual Report and Accounts page.
Farm Walk: Cattle, Carbon, Conservation, Climate and Conversation
Wednesday 23 August 2023
Former Friends of the Dales trustee, Yorkshire Dales farmer, Anthony Bradley led a four mile guided walk around key parts of his 90 acre farm near Long Preston, to talk about some of the science behind grazing cattle in a traditional, rotational way − a methodology that makes economic sense as well as being carbon neutral.
Event: Creative Campaigners
Saturday 29 July 2023
Run in partnership with Neil Heseltine of Hilltop Farm – a traditional livestock farm embracing biodiversity and sustainability, as featured in Saving our Wild Isles (WWF, RSPB, NT, Silverback Films) this day for young environmental campaigners aged 20-30 offered insight into how you can influence environmental messages by promoting campaigns in creative ways – e.g. through writing, photography, graphic design, illustration, video, activism or social media.
Event: Making Space for Nature
Saturday 1 July 2023
This was an inspiring and educational opportunity for individuals, villages and community groups to find out how to make more space for nature. In collaboration with Addingham Environment Group (AEG), the event showcased AEG’s journey from inception to now, along with information about its aims for the future and successes and challenges along the way. The two guided walks through the village offered an opportunity to see the nature positive actions taken to create, improve and restore habitats, support clean water and increase biodiversity. These included a review of hedge planting, wildflower and pollinator plantations, pond building, riparian planting, hide building, bog garden creation and Riverfly sampling.
The introductory presentation for the day is available to view below – copyright Addingham Environment Group.
Walk: Peregrine Watch at Malham
Wednesday 21 June 2023
Ian Court, Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, led a guided walk focussed on one of the Yorkshire Dales most majestic birds of prey. Peregrine Falcons were at a low point in the 1960s due to human persecution and the impact of pesticides in the food chain. Improved legislation and protection has helped the birds recover, but a number of threats remain. Peregrines and a number of other upland bird species were observed in their natural habitat in and around Malham Cove.
Walk: Wild Ingleborough
Saturday 10 June, 2023
We are once again joined forces with our friends at Wild Ingleborough for a guided walk through three of the region’s finest nature reserves, including Ashes Shaw, its newest reserve. Ellie Parker, Community Engagement Officer for the Partnership offered expert insight into the native flora and fauna of the biodiverse grassland at Ashes Pasture and the archaeological features of Ashes Shaw.
Walk: Exploring Frostrow Fell
Thursday 25 May, 2023
Friends of the Dales trustee, Ian McPherson led a high level, five mile, moderate walk around Frostrow Fell. With stunning views of the Howgills and Lake District, the walk also offered the opportunity to see several breeds of moorland birds including curlew, stonechat and wheatear.
Volunteer Event: Eyes on the Bog
Saturday 13 May, 2023
Eyes on the Bog is a peatlands monitoring project run in collaboration with Yorkshire Peat Partnership. On this training event participants learnt simple monitoring activities with which to monitor their own allocated area of peatland, in order to assess the effectiveness of ongoing peatland restoration.
Walk: River Restoration in Action
Thursday 27 April 2023
Catherine Mason from the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust led a seven mile guided walk in Arkengarthdale, where the Trust are involved in a partnership project to implement natural flood management, assisting an area of the Dales that was badly affected by the floods of 2019.
Social Stroll: Gargrave to Skipton
Wednesday 22 March 2023
The first of our Social Strolls, created for those who want to walk over less arduous terrain with time to chat and socialise as they go. This 4.5 mile walk also promoted the benefit of using buses to get into the Yorkshire Dales. Meeting at Skipton Bus Station, walkers took the bus to Gargrave, returning to Skipton via the Leeds Liverpool canal tow path.
Online Talk: Raptor Persecution
22 February 2023
As Investigations Officer for the RSPB, Howard Jones works with the police to investigate crimes against threatened wild bird species; from undercover surveillance to catch offenders right through to the courtroom. In this digital talk Howard brought to life the cases and day to day work of fighting wildlife crime, with a focus on North Yorkshire – the worst place in the UK for bird of prey persecution.
Online Talk: Plastic Free Woodlands
1 February 2023
Fifty million trees must be planted each year to counteract Britain’s contribution to climate change. Trees often need protecting from grazing animals or harsh weather conditions to become established, however without radical changes to the way we plant trees, 1.5 billion plastic tubes may end up littering the environment and damaging ecosystems by 2050. In this digital talk Mike Appleton, Plastic Free Woodlands Project Officer for Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust talked about its ongoing project to break our reliance on plastic and find sustainable alternatives in woodland creation. Vice President of Friends of the Dales, Mark Corner also shared his experiences of ‘planting without plastic’.
Online Talk: Wild Ingleborough
18 January 2023
Launched in 2021, Wild Ingleborough is a multi-partner, landscape-scale conservation project aiming to create a wilder future for the Ingleborough area of the Yorkshire Dales. In this online talk Ellie Parker, Community Engagement Officer for the project, showcased the team’s ongoing work to combat the impacts of the climate crisis by; protecting fragile upland habitats, increasing the area’s biodiversity and establishing more habitats for key endangered species. In the long term Wild Ingleborough aims to become an exemplary model for nature restoration in the English uplands.
Online Talk: Capturing the Past
7 December 2022
John Cuthbert, project leader of Capturing the Past, spoke about the origins of the project, giving an overview of the archives it now contains as well as insight into some stories, photographs and documents with a ‘winter theme’.
Online Talk: Rural Bus Services in the 21st Century
16 November 2022
Kevin Armstrong, Friends of the Dales Trustee and a Director of Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company (DalesBus) − the social enterprise set-up and supported by our charity, and Professor Chris Nash, Chair of Dales and Bowland talked the challenges and opportunities facing it and other rural bus services at a time of funding cuts, fuel price rises and a need for improvements in ‘greener’ travel.
Walk: Barns, meadows and lead mining in Swaledale
Wednesday 9 November 2022
Starting and finishing in Muker, this walk took in some of the region’s best preserved field barns along with geological features, lead mining industry remains and examples of successful farm diversification.
Walk: Wild Ingleborough
Wednesday 2 November 2022
Ellie Parker, Community Engagement Officer for the Wild Ingleborough project led a walk around Ingleborough up to Park Fell, bringing to life the different features of the landscape that have been shaped by humans and offering insight into different wildlife habitats, why they’re there and which species they benefit.
Conference: From Peat to Paddling
Saturday 24 September 2022, Grassington
Want to debate or discover what can and should be done to improve the health of our rivers from peat to paddling? Then join us and our panel of experts…
This year’s Conference explored the journey of the River Wharfe from Oughtershaw Beck to Ilkley or ‘from peat to paddling’. Our six speakers, included our President, the biologist and nature writer Dr Amy-Jane Beer, Tim Thom of the Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Professor Rick Battarbee from University College London and answered the question ‘what constitutes a healthy river’ from their unique, expert perspective.
More information can be found on our news page.
Walk: Settle and Stainforth circular
Saturday 6 August 2022
This was a scenic seven mile walk through a section of the Ribble valley’s limestone landscape taking in an impressive waterfall, hay meadows and a site of special scientific interest, led by Trustee, Scarlett Armstrong. The walk, which started in Settle, followed footpaths and bridle ways.
Online Talk: The Flow – Rivers and River Life
13 July 2022
This is an opportunity for members and supporters to interact with Friends of the Dales new honorary and voluntary President, Dr Amy-Jane Beer. Drawing from her newly published book, The Flow, Amy-Jane will read a couple of extracts about Dales rivers, before talking more broadly about aquatic life and the challenges facing river systems.
Volunteer Event: Eyes on the Bog
Thursday 23 June 2022
As part of our Peatlands campaign #MoorPeat we supported Yorkshire Peat Partnership‘s Eyes on the Bog project to recruit and train volunteers in some simple monitoring activities with which to monitor their own area of peatland, assessing the effectiveness of restoration techniques. We may be looking for volunteers again in the future, so if this is of interest please use the contact form to let us know.
Online Talk: Building Conservation and Lime Wash
15 June 2022
Lime was once an essential building material and Chartered surveyor and building conservation expert, Jonathan Ratter explained why it is still the best choice for protecting the stonework of traditional buildings and how it should be applied.
Walk: Nurturing Nature
Tuesday 14 June 2022
Members and supporters joined us for a short walk from Ribblehead railway station to two of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s most nature rich reserves. Graham Standring, the Trust’s Living Landscapes Officer offered expert insight into the native flora and fauna of the biodiverse grassland at Ashes Pasture and also the more complex site at nearby Salt Lake Quarry, both of which are home to several fragile habitats and scarce plants.
Event: Peat and Poetry
Saturday 21 May 2022
Members and supporters joined us for a special peat and poetry walk starting and finishing in Ilkley, which offered the chance to see the damage caused by peatland erosion; learn about its significance for wildlife, carbon and water storage; see the remediation work and hear more about our peatlands campaign. The walk included recitals of two of Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage’s famous Stanza Stones and a visit the Poetry Postbox, where participants recited their own peatland poems before posting them in the box.
Online Talk: Give Peat a Chance 2022
18 May 2022
Following her popular talk last year, Jenny Sharman from Yorkshire Peat Partnership returned to tell the story of the restoration of three moors that are close to her heart. What caused them to degrade and decline? What were the likely consequences of this to the wildlife, the carbon store, local flood risk and water quality? What has been done to rewet, replant and restore them? Through these examples, the enormous undertaking to restore all of Yorkshire’s upland peatlands by March 2035 was brought to life.
Online Talk: Birds of the Yorkshire Dales
20 April 2022
In this digital talk Ian Court, Wildlife Conservation Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, showcased the bird species – both native and migratory − that make the Yorkshire Dales their home. Ian also highlighted the various threats to a range of species along with positive conservation measures the national park has put in place.
Walk: Exploring Crummackdale
Saturday 19 March 2022
Commencing in Austwick, Trustee, Ken Humphris took a group on a guided walk around Crummackdale taking in its geology, natural beauty and some of its social and cultural history.
Online Talk: Biodiverse Living Verges
16 March 2022
The Yorkshire Dales has hundreds of miles of roadside verges. In spring and summer they form an integral part of the verdant Dales landscape. These verges have a rich diversity of different plants growing in them that support lots of different insects, which in turn support all manner of other wildlife. Dr Anne Readshaw, leader of Friends of the Dales campaign to protect and enhance roadside verges for biodiversity, gave an update on our campaign, explaining how local authorities and local communities can help to make road verges an important, safe and healthy sanctuary for plant and insect species.
Online Talk: Crayfish in the Yorkshire Dales
16 February 2022
This talk, presented by Paul Bradley, Director of PBA Applied Ecology and Dr Dan Chadwick offered an insight into the challenges of conserving our native crayfish in the Yorkshire Dales. Based in Settle, PBA are uniquely involved in delivering management of crayfish across the Dales, drawing on experiences from academia and industry.
Online Talk: Climate Breakdown – what does it mean for the Yorkshire Dales?
19 January 2022
In the face of inevitable change due to the breakdown of our climatic system, what do we want the Dales to be like by 2050? In this talk, Richard Boothman an environmental Associate Lecturer with The Open University and founder of Ideostone Ltd, an online environmental learning provider, explored the impact of climate breakdown and its associated environmental changes on the Yorkshire Dales.
Online Talk: Christmas behind the Barbed Wire, 1918
8 December 2021
This talk presented by Anne Buckley, a lecturer in German and Translation Studies at the University of Leeds, provided a fascinating insight into the lives of the German POWs who resided in Skipton during the First World War. It also shed some light on how the POWs managed to celebrate Christmas within the camp. Anne’s talk drew from a diary the POWs secretly wrote during their time in Skipton which was subsequently smuggled back to Germany and published under the title Kriegsgefangen in Skipton.
Online Talk: Leave Only Hoofprints – Farming for a Sustainable Future
17 November 2021
In this talk Jamie Roberts, the third generation custodian of Kilnsey Park Estate uncovered how he and his family have diversified the farm “to create an ambitious and sustainable eco model, which aims to protect the land whilst being a viable commercial entity fit for the 21st century and beyond.”
Friends of the Dales 40th Anniversary Walk
Wednesday 10 November 2021
This full day’s winter walking, started and ended in Grassington, visiting several memorable locations from the early days of the Yorkshire Dales Society, now known as Friends of the Dales. Hosted by Colin Speakman, founder member and a Vice President of our charity, and creator of the Dales Way, it was an enjoyable and information rich ramble, incorporating – amongst many other things – insight into the former Grassington Hospital and Linton Camp School.
Online Talk: Exploring Crummackdale
20 October 2021
Through personal photos our Trustee, Ken Humphris shared some of the history of the area from geological time through to the recent past, and why walking in this lovely valley is so rewarding.
Plastic Tree Guard Collection Event
Thursday 7 October 2021
In line with our Plastic Free Dales campaign we are keen to work with local landowners and partners to help rid the Dales of redundant tree guards, which if left uncollected once a tree is thriving, breakdown into micro plastics polluting the land and ultimately the waterways. Organised collections like this one enable the guards to be either reused or recycled. Tree guard collection days are rewarding events to take part in, however please be aware they are also reasonably strenuous.
Online Talk: The impact of the 2019 floods on the historic environment of the Northern Dales
14 July 2021
Miles Johnson, Head of Historic Environment at The North Yorks Moors National Park, spoke about the impact of the 2019 floods on the historic and archaeological environment of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, with particular reference to its impact on the area’s lead mining heritage.
Online Talk: Managing the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserves
16 June 2021
In this illustrated talk, Graham Standring, the YWT’s Living Landscapes Officer, showcased the charity’s work in managing its nature reserves across the Dales.
Online Talk: Strengthening the North’s Green Heart
19 May 2021
In this illustrated talk, our former Vice Chair and Trustee, Wilf Fenten, presented a visionary but practical way to greater sustainability for protected areas across the north of England.
Online Talk – Give Peat a Chance
21 April 2021
In ‘Give Peat a Chance’, Jenny Sharman of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Peat Partnership gave a fascinating talk about peatlands in the Yorkshire Dales, why they need our help, and what the Partnership is doing to restore them.
Online Talk: Living and Roaming in the Orton Fells
17 March 2021
Trustee, Kyle Blue gave an engaging talk about ‘Living and Roaming in the Orton Fells’.