Yorkshire, England: The Quintessentially English Countryside, Yorkshire Draws Tourists in Search of Fairytale Wonder

Time moves slowly at the Yorkshire Dales National Park, an immaculately preserved area comprising pastures, farms, villages, and residences. Because the homes often date to the fourteenth century, homeowners must apply to the National Park Authority to make any changes. Those with a penchant for the rural life aren't the only inhabitants of Yorkshire; sheep have prospered here since 3000 B.C., chewing down the shrubs and gorse that could eliminate the region's distinctive flowers and grasses if left to flourish.

Yorkshire's landscape is even older than the sheep's legacy. Formed by Ice Age glaciers that carved valleys into the previously flat surface, the dales stretch for miles, their primordial rolling hills offering sanctuary for curlews and pheasants as well as glorious bluebells in spring. Climbing the ancient limestone rocks at Kilnsey Crag or traversing the moors of remote Wharfedale transports you back in time. From the battlements of Bolton Castle, you can gaze out upon virtually the same scene that Queen Mary Stuart saw when she was imprisoned here one extremely cold winter in 1568.

A region as rural as the Yorkshire Dales relies heavily on tourism for economic stability, so the foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001 has hit it particularly hard. Some trails were closed by government decree, while other sites required visitors to disinfect their shoes and even their cars before and after exploring the grounds. The slaughter of thousands of livestock, including the sheep that effectively mow the grass in the area, has likewise proved devastating. Still, with incidents down and trails reopening, next year may prove better for the Yorkshire Dales, the quintessentially English countryside that draws tourists in search of fairytale wonder.

Image courtesy of the Castle Howard