Askrigg Cottage Holidays

19/04/2025

Our gorgeous holiday cottages in Askrigg in the Yorkshire Dales National Park 😍

15/04/2025

With the Easter weekend fast approaching, we are asking everyone, please:

🔥 No BBQs or open fires of any kind
🚮 Take all your litter home, including all glass
🐑 All dogs on a lead to keep lambs and ground nesting birds safe

Thank you! 🙏

15/04/2025

We certainly have some delicious food in the Yorkshire Dales 😋

Some great places to buy delicious food in the Yorkshire Dales:
* You might have seen Town End Farm Shop & Tearoom near Malham on TV with Tom Kerridge? It's owned by 5th generation butcher/farmer Chris Wildman who is passionate about local food. Their cafe is great too.
* Campbells in Leyburn is an unexpected delight – unveiling foodie delights and with a very extensive selection of fine wines. Ideal for picking up a picnic to enjoy on the Shawl when the sun shines!
* ​If you like cheese, you'll love the award-winning The Courtyard Dairy where Andy & Kathy Swinscoe carefully select, mature and sell distinctive cheese from small farms and cheese-makers. I read yesterday there's actually something in cheese that makes it addictive...
*Country Harvest is an award-winning farm shop with deli, bakery and butchery by Ingleton.
* Clapham Village Store is small but perfectly formed: it's run by volunteers and pack in a lovely selection of food drink and smiley faces!
*I love to pick up bread and pastries from Two Dales Bakery, who also supply the wonderful Elijah Allen & Son in Visit Hawes
*Masham is fortunate to have Beavers Butchers, a new Bakery, No 12 Greengrocers & Rogers Butchers all close together
* The Keelham farm shop near Skipton has recently re-opened, run now by Robertshaws Farm
Which food shops in the Yorkshire Dales do you recommend?

12/04/2025

If you're looking for some good walks to do in the National Park over the Easter holidays then download our free walking app and/or check out over 60 different walks online here 👇

https://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/things-to-do/get-outdoors/walking/short-walks/

📸 Wendy McDonnell |

06/04/2025

06/04/2025

Just another morning in the lambing fields here at the top of Wensleydale. Despite what the nay-sayers say about farmers being the enemy of nature, there are Curlews and Lapwings all around, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes all singing away. Plenty of Hares about too. Even seen a Swallow....spring must be here! Farming and nature go hand in hand, and all whilst helping to feed the country,

Yorkshire Dales National Park Swaledale Sheep Breeders Association National Sheep Association FarmingUK Farmers Guardian Farmers Weekly BBC Springwatch Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

05/04/2025

Plan a visit to the Yorkshire Dales around these lovely events. Do add any I've missed in the comments:
29/04 to 05/05 - Ride2stride - Ride2stride & Settle Carlisle Railway CRP
24/05 to 07/06 - Swaledale Festival - Swaledale Festival
7, 8, 14 & 15/06 - NorthYorkshireOpenStudios - North Yorkshire Open Studios
21/06 - Buckden Gala
Mid July - September - Settle Flowerpot Festival - Settle Flowerpot Festival & Visit Settle
19 & 20/07 - Masham Steam Engine & Fair Organ Rally - Masham Steam Engine and Fair Organ Rally
18-20/07 - Yorkshire Dales Food & Drink Festival - Yorkshire Dales Food & Drink Festival
16 & 17/08 - Art in the Pen - Art in the Pen
9-17/08 - Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival - Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival
23/08 - Malham Show - Malham Show
23/08 - Wensleydale Agricultural Show - Wensleydale Agricultural Show
25/08 - Reeth Show - Reeth Show
07/09 - Bentham Agricultural Show
27 & 28/09 - Masham Sheep Fair - Masham Sheep Fair
27 & 28/09 - Yarndale - Yarndale
19 - 28/09 - Richmond Walking & Book Festival - Richmond Walking & Book Festival
21/09 - Nidderdale Show - Nidderdale Show
10-13/10 - Celebrating Local Produce - Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival, Celebrating Local Produce
12-14/09 - Medieval Music in the Dales - Medieval Music in the Dales
03/09 - Muker Show - Muker Show
26/08 - Kilnsey Show - Kilnsey Show
16-19/10 - Leyburn Jazz Festival - Leyburn Jazz Festival

Which others should we add?
Photo: Stephen Garnett

01/04/2025

Make new memories in Askrigg this Easter.
Spring is well and truly happening here in Askrigg in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It lifts your heart to hear the birds singing and the lambs and their mothers calling to each other and laying in the sun.
Now is a great time to book a holiday to escape the stresses and strains of daily life and give yourself a break to look forward to-you know that you deserve it. You can check availability here https://www.askrigg.com/search.asp
Minnie’s Cottage is exclusively for couples and Urlay Nook is booked mainly by couples but very comfortably sleeps 4 in two bedrooms with two bathrooms.
Here are some ideas for making wonderful memories in our two luxury 5 star pet free holiday cottages in Askrigg. We can always recommend more for you when you are here, or you can find them in our app which you have access to when you book with us;
• Enjoy the simple pleasure of sitting in your walled cottage garden and listening to the sounds of lambs, curlews, lapwings, oyster catchers, owls, the stream tinkling past the bottom of the garden at Urlay Nook and just let the world pass you by for a while
• Pick up coffee, cake, savouries and croissants from our fantastic coffee shop, The Bake-Well, Market Place, or sit outside and soak up the atmosphere in our gorgeous village centre
• Wander to any, or all, of the 3 pubs in Askrigg- The Crown Inn, Middle House Askrigg and The Kings Arms Askrigg (the Drovers in the original All Creatures Great and Small)-all only a few minutes walk away
• Meander down to the River Ure through the village and the wild flower meadows, some protected as SSSI, and brave the stepping stones if you dare
• Discover the hidden waterfalls on the Askrigg Waterfalls Walk-you can get this and other walks on our app when you book with us
• Treat yourself to a special meal at the 5 star, 3AA Rosette restaurant at Yorebridge House, a level 1 mile walk away, or call in for a champagne afternoon tea which you can eat outside in their lovely gardens
• Decide which is your favourite ice-cream at Wensleydale Ice Cream only 5 minutes drive away-new flavours for Easter are Crème Egg, Passionfruit Curd, Blackcurrant and Liquorice, Chocolate Orange Brownie, Chocolate Mini Egg, Rollo and Daim Bar-sounds like more than one visit! Or take some back to your cottage to enjoy.
• Be stunned by the views from the top of our local castle (how many have one of those?) at Bolton Castle 10 minutes drive away
• Support our local community by shopping in our well stocked village shop, Sykes House, and the exciting artists and craftspeople who work together to run Heather & Grouse
• Marvel at our dark skies, be amazed by how many stars you can see and how bright they seem
• Catch the community run Little White Bus to Hawes North Yorkshire for the Tuesday market with every shop in the town being independently owned
• Get your walking boots on and explore the back lanes and footpaths in and around Askrigg without needing to use the car, finishing with a well-earned pint or cuppa at the pubs and coffee shop
This is just a small selection of some of our favourites, but we have plenty more that we can recommend for you, including a few little known ones that even regular visitors may not yet have found.
Check out our two pet free cottages sleeping 2 and 4 https://www.askrigg.com/cottages.asp and you can book online-the calendar is kept up to date, you can email us on [email protected] or call us on 01969 650022. We are always happy to answer any questions that you may have.
You can also check out our reviews https://www.askrigg.com/cottages.asp to see what our previous guests say and recommend

01/04/2025

A Richmond cinema is offering free film tickets in exchange for fresh fish to mark the launch of a new film. The Station Cinema and local estate agents Irvings Property have come together to launch [...]

01/04/2025

Happy 1st April 🤣🤣🤣

30/03/2025

Love it, hate it or don’t mind either way, the new look church tower in Askrigg in the Yorkshire Dales National Park is now revealed in all it’s glory.
It’s a controversial thing that has, and still is, making news headlines, but has been done to try to stop the damp in the Grade 1 listed St Oswald’s church in the village centre. We’re told that it is already working and long may that continue.
Do come and see it for yourself-it is certainly very striking. It also now means that the church bells can be rung again and are safe.
One of the best views is from our 5 star Minnie’s Cottage, exclusively for couples and pet free, which is next door to the church in a lovely part of the village and with fantastic views across Wensleydale. And you don’t have to spend all of your time looking at the church. Askrigg is a vibrant village with 3 pubs, a village shop, a café/bakery/deli and a craft shop run by a collective of local artists.
You can find more details and availability for our two Askrigg cottages, Minnie’s Cottage next to the church, and Urlay Nook at the other end of the village, by clicking this link to our website https://www.askrigg.com/

19/03/2025

13/03/2025

We love seeing the water blowing back up the falls at Cray

Ever seen water going back up a waterfall? Stand alongside the waterfalls in the hamlet of Cray in Upper Wharfedale in very windy weather and you can witness just that. The nearby drovers' inn (currently closed), The White Lion is said to have derived its name from the roar and foam created at High Cray Falls just above the pub.

Ingleton’s waterfall trail and Malham’s limestone pavement might win in the popularity stakes but Cray’s versions are every bit as picturesque and worth exploring on an 8-mile walk between Buckden and Yockenthwaite.

By parking in Buckden and heading north along an ancient Roman Road you’ll see, as you approach Cray, how the water from the surrounding hillsides cascades down over exposed rocky terraces as the Cow Close and Cray Gills flow into the infant river Wharfe.

More dramatic after rain (which we seem to have plenty of), the waterfalls all seem to converge on Cray which is little more than a cluster of stone barns, farmhouses and of course the pub. From there, it’s really worth walking onto Yockenthwaite particularly with the views and the sections of limestone pavement with its characteristic grikes (cracks) and clints (stone slabs). On a bright summer’s day it feels as though you’re a world away from the norm, particularly when wildflowers such as blue meadow cranesbill and yellow rattle (apparently it’s time to cut the meadows when the seeds rattle) are in full bloom.

The return route picks up on a path alongside the River Wharfe at Yockenthwaite Bridge and winds its way back to Buckden via Hubberholme where the publicans of The George keep alive the tradition of putting a lit candle in one of the windows when the inn is open. Hundreds of years ago, The George was once a vicarage and the vicar would light a candle and place it in one of the windows so parishioners would know they could call!
The rest of the trail follows The Dales Way alongside the river where it’s possible to spot dippers, kingfishers, goosanders and yellow wagtails before coming back to Buckden and popping into The Buck Inn for a pint.

Photo & words: Amanda Brown

12/03/2025

Ever done shoddy work? Been on tenter hooks? Got down to brass tacks? We use countless expressions connected to sheep, wool and textiles in our every day speech: the textile industry was once an essential part of our economy and impacted our language.

Spindles were used for spinning wool, usually with a small round weight or stone fixed to the bottom. This was called a “whorl” and made the yarn tension more constant. This is where the expression for “have a go” came from: give it a whirl.

Spinning was traditionally done by women. Some one who was bad at spinning wasn’t expected to make a good wife, leading to the term spinster, meaning an unmarried woman whose only task was to spin.

After cloth was washed it was stretched out on frames and left to dry. It was held in place on tenter hooks to prevent it losing its shape or flying away.

Factory or machine-made clothes were seen as less special, more ordinary than handmade clothes. These clothes were the run of the mill.

We often describe some one as dyed in the wool, meaning someone whose views won't change. This saying originally came from when raw wool was dyed before it was processed or combed, and it was said to hold its colour longer.

Getting down to brass tacks means focusing on the detail. It relates to fabric being measured between two brass tacks set into the cutting counter.

When wool was spun on to a reel or “weasel”, it made a sound when a certain length of yarn was reached – pop goes the weasel!

White wool can be dyed many colours but wool from black sheep can only be spun into black wool, so you don’t want too many black sheep in your flock, hence the expression black sheep of the family.

Judges were said to have the wool pulled over their eyes. This apparently came from judges wearing wool wigs that slipped over their eyes so they became blind to the facts of the case.

Shoddy was cheap, inferior cloth made from recycled wool, and eventually came to mean inferior work.

19/02/2025

The reality of lambing time for farmers. Brilliant 🐑🐑

16/02/2025

One of our much loved local landmarks

Rabbits and Russians...what do they have to do with this Wensleydale landmark? If you've ever driven from Aysgarth to Hawes, you'll have seen Lady Hill on the right hand side going towards Hawes.

The distinctive round hill rises from the River Ure flood plain below, with a crown of trees. The hill is really a drumlin, a perfect half-buried egg shape formed by a moving glacier. The Scots pine trees which top the hill were planted to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Look closer and you'll also see there's a tumbledown wall around the hill. Was this just a fanciful endeavour by a landowner to clear the surrounding land? Why did the trees need to be fenced in? According to local stories, the wall was built thanks to the Normans and the last Russian Czar...

"Curiouser and curiouser", I hear you say. And actually you'd be right - there's a rabbit connection too.

We can thank the Normans for bringing rabbits to Yorkshire, where they were bred for food and fur. Silver-haired rabbits were particularly prized for their fur. It's said that local game dealer Frank Sayer-Graham (who was responsible for the building of Aysgarth Rock Garden) made a good living from breeding and selling silver-haired rabbits to line car coats. He may even have supplied the last Czar of Russia with rabbit furs.

The rabbits were bred and kept within a walled warren at the top of Lady Hill. The high wall supposedly prevented wild rabbits from interbreeding with the silver-haired ones and it was easier to catch rabbits from within a relatively small walled enclosure. The furs were probably carried off to eager buyers via the nearby Wensleydale Railway.

Photo: Guy Capenter