Running from West to East, Wensleydale is one of the few valleys in the Yorkshire Dales which takes its name from a village (Wensley), rather than the river (the Ure) which flows along it (although the valley has in past times also been known as "Uredale", or even by the Norse name of "Yoredale").
Villages and hamlets in Upper Wensleydale include Hawes (at the head of the valley), Hardraw (famous for what is arguably England's highest unbroken waterfall, Hardraw Force), Bainbridge, Askrigg and Aysgarth (where the River Ure descends a series of limestone steps at the famous beauty spot of Aysgarth Falls). Further down the valley are the villages of West Burton, West Witton, Castle Bolton, Middleham, Coverham and East Witton, the market towns of Leyburn and Masham, and the village of West Tanfield on the edge of the Vale of Mowbray.
Tributary valleys of Wensleydale include no less than two Widdales, Raydale, Bishopdale, Waldendale and Coverdale, while near the head of the dale the famous Buttertubs Pass leads up over the moors and down into Swaledale.
Wensleydale is also famous as the home of Wensleydale Cheese (favourite food of the animated TV characters "Wallace and Gromit") - which is made at the Wensleydale Creameries in Hawes and Kirkby Malzeard.
As a matter of convention, Wensleydale is often divided into what is arbitrarily known as "Upper Wensleydale" and "Lower Wensleydale" - lying approximately upstream and downstream of Leyburn respectively.
More information and views of Wensleydale can be found on the following (externally maintained) web sites and web pages:
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