Birkdale (sometimes written out as Birk Dale) is a dale in 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 ...

, 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 lies at the far western end of

Swaledale Swaledale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines, and within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is named after the River Swale, which runs through it. Swaledale is the mo ...

, close to the border with

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. The dale is one of the smallest of the Yorkshire Dales. The hamlet of Birkdale is in the lower part of the dale, west of Keld. The area forms part of the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Muker Muker is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the western end of Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England, within the Yorkshire Dales. The parish includes the hamlets and villages of Angram, Muker, Angram, Keld, North Yorkshire ...

. Birkdale Tarn is north of the hamlet of Birkdale across the B6270 road at a height of above sea level. The tarn covers and area of and has an average depth of . The tarn has been heavily modified, being a smaller upland lake that was converted into a larger body of water to ensure a constant supply of water for the

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

industry in the area. Birkdale Beck flows through the dale draining an upland area of . At the eastern end of the dale the beck joins Great Sleddale Beck to become the

River Swale The River Swale in Yorkshire, England, is a major tributary of the River Ure, which becomes the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse, that empties into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. The river gives its name to Swaledale, the valley throu ...

. The dale suffered depopulation in the 1960s (like

Grisedale Grisedale (sometimes Grisdale, or Grizedale rchaic is a south east facing Dale in Cumbria, England, east of Sedbergh, and west of Hawes. Grisedale Beck, which drains Baugh Fell, flows down the dale eastwards, and on reaching the valley flo ...

, near to

Garsdale Garsdale is a dale in the south-east of Cumbria, England. It lies within the Westmorland and Furness local government district and in the Yorkshire Dales National Park for planning purposes; it was historically a part of the West Riding of ...

), leaving only a few occupied farms and farmsteads. The Coast to Coast long-distance path traverses Birkdale, leaving the B6270 at Birkdale Cross, and following an ancient track through Ravenseat to Tan Hill.

References

Valleys of North Yorkshire Yorkshire Dales {{NorthYorkshire-geo-stub