Widdale is a small side dale on the south side of

Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The dale lies to the east of Great Knoutberry Hill (also known as Widdale Fell) and is bounded on the west by

Dentdale Dentdale is a dale or valley in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales National Park in Cumbria, England. It is the valley of the River Dee, but takes its name from the village of Dent. The dale runs east to west, starting at Dent Head, which ...

, south by Sleddale and north by Mossdale. It is drained by Widdale and Snaizeholme Becks which feed the waters north into the

River Ure The River Ure in North Yorkshire, England is approximately 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 ...

Appersett Appersett is a hamlet in the Yorkshire Dales in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England west of Hawes. It lies on the A684 road and an unclassified road runs alongside Widdale Beck to connect with the B6255 road between Hawes and ...

. The name Widdale means 'The Wooded Valley' in

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

. The dale itself is long from Newby Head Moss in the south west to Appersett in the north east. The B6255 road (which was once a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

) traverses much of the dale but veers off about south of Appersett to go directly east into

Hawes Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...

. There is a minor road (Lanacar Lane) which connects the B6255 to the

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. It crosses the full width of the Yorkshire Dales, passing through Garsdale and the ful ...

at Appersett, but this is narrow with a height restriction under Appersett viaduct. Appersett viaduct itself used to carry the railway through Wensleydale and was closed to railway traffic in 1958. Abseilers use the viaduct at present, but the

Wensleydale Railway The Wensleydale Railway is a heritage railway in Wensleydale and Lower Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in stages by different railway companies and originally extended to railway station on the Settle-Carlisle line. Since ...

have an ambition to re-open the line all the way to

Garsdale Garsdale is a dale or valley in the south east of Cumbria, England, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is now within the South Lakeland local government district, but is still a "Yorkshire Dale" for planning purposes. In t ...

. The southern edge of the dale that carries Snaizeholme Beck is also designated as a red squirrel reserve. Transport is laid on by arrangement from Hawes to drop people off at the edge of the reserve. Apart from Appersett (which only has 23 dwellings) there are no villages or hamlets in the dale. There are a few homesteads and farms scattered around the dale though.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Widdale Yorkshire Dales Wensleydale