Holidays in Ryedale - North Yorkshire

10 August 2011

Ryedale, offers one of the most diverse landscapes in England, perfect for all outdoor activities.  The dramatic North Yorkshire Moors National Park is a striking contrast to the tranquil, gently rolling hills of the Yorkshire Wolds and the patchwork of farmland in the Vale of Pickering an the Vale of York. 

The mixed greens of fields and woodland in the Howardian Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, add further variation.  Historic market towns and traditional Yorkshire villages provide the visitor with high quality accommodation, places to eat, great shopping, and all with a great Yorkshire welcome.

The District of Ryedale includes the dales, which appear as green fingers stretching into the moors. Formed by melting Ice Age waters, these secluded dales include Bilsdale, Bransdale, Farndale, Rosedale and Newtondale. Ancient crosses and waymarkers are a feature of the moors, and have guided travellers across this sparse landscape for hundreds of years. The moorland villages are a delight, many with sheep grazing the common land in front of stone houses and cottages. Industry of an age gone by is also visible. In the second half of the 1800s, iron ore mining was at its peak, with a railway taking the iron north to the great blast furnaces in Middlesbrough. Today, the stone archways of the east kilns, high up on Rosedale Moor, are all that remain of a once thriving industry.

Learn more about the History and Tradition of Ryedale in our Themed Holidays section.