Yorkshire Dales villages - Gunnerside, Swaledale

We are continuing our series of blogs about villages you can visit on one of our walking holidays with a focus on Gunnerside in Swaledale.  Although the scenery is often the main reason people come walking in the Dales, we think the small, traditional, stone villages are themselves one of most alluring parts of the Dales landscape, and always a welcome sight on a long walk!

Overview

One of the most northerly Dales, Swaledale runs west to east from high up on the moors above Keld, out of the National Park through Richmond and eventually joins with the River Ure before becoming part of the larger Ouse, that runs through York. In its upper stretches, Swaledale is dotted with pretty, traditional stone villages, of which Gunnerside is one.

The village has a lovely setting close to the River Swale and is visited on the second full day of our ‘Remote Swaledale and Arkengarthdale’ walking holiday. The fields below the village, close to the river, are hay meadows and full of wildflowers in early summer. Behind the village, the valley sides rise steeply (some of the houses are built into the hillside, with only the roof visible from the back!), leading up to heather covered moorlands (in full bloom in August and September), strewn with the mining remains of past industry. Visiting this sleepy village today, it is hard to imagine it as a bustling place, filled with hundreds of workers on their way to and from the lead mines!

The village is split in half by Gunnerside Gill (see below for an excellent walk up the gill to the mining remains) and the charming but rough and steeply sloping village green is on the eastern side.

Buildings and History

Most of Gunnerside’s buildings date back to the 19th century, when the lead mining industry was in full swing, but a few date back further to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Buildings to particularly look out for include:

Gunnerside Smithy – probably the most complete example of a working smithy to survive in the Dales. The building dates to the 19th century when it would have serviced the agricultural community (as it continues to do today) as well as the miners living in the area. As well as a working smithy, it is now also a small museum with an excellent collection of tools and products as well as a set of ‘day books’ which give a huge amount of detail about the work of the village blacksmith in the late 1800s. Check opening times.

The Methodist Chapel – a surprisingly large chapel, built more on the scale of a town chapel than that of a small village, was built in 1866 and, again, would have served the mining community as well as local farmers. It is now the only Methodist church in Swaledale. Despite its size, the chapel is surprisingly easy to miss when walking through the village as it sits on the road out of the village towards Muker, and you are likely to enter the village higher up.

The Literary Institute – now the village hall, the Literary institute was built in 1877 and is a dominating building in the centre of the village on the west side of Gunnerside Beck. Architecturally, it isn’t spectacular bit it is an interesting building and remains at the centre of the community, hosting a variety of events for the local population.

Local walks and things to do

Gunnerside Gill

The walk up Gunnerside Gill starts by the bridge in the centre of the village and follows a clear path along the right-hand side of Gunnerside Beck, initially through woodland which opens out into the Gill. This path continues for just over 2.5 miles past some fascinating mining remains to reach an unusual single-slab stone bridge over the beck – a great place to stop and admire the ruins of Blakethwaite Smelt Mill and the view back down into Swaledale.

From here, there are various alternatives. If short on time you can just retrace your steps back to Gunnerside or cross over the bridge and follow the bridleway down the west side of the Gill back to the village.

However, for a spectacular full day walk, we highly recommend the long circuit that takes you over the moors to drop down through Swinner Gill and past the beautifully situated ruins of Crackpot Hall to reach the village of Keld, surrounded by several pretty waterfalls. From here, enjoy a beautiful riverside stroll along the Swale and through the famous hay meadows around the village of Muker before passing pretty Ivelet bridge and returning to Gunnerside through sloping fields that offer even more great views along the valley.

Gunnerside hay meadows

For something a little less taxing, sticking to the valley bottom can give you an equally charming walk, particularly in the early summer when the hay meadows are full of wildflowers.

A lovely 7-mile circuit takes you to the village of Muker along an easy track above the valley bottom, offering lovely views for little effort, and returns through stunning hay meadows and past charming Ivelet Bridge. This route can easily be shortened in several places to make shorter circuits.

The Swale Trail

A family friendly mountain biking route known as the ‘Swale Trail’ was created a couple of years ago to allow beginners to have a great route to practice on with very little traffic. The 12-mile route runs from Reeth in the east to Keld in the West, going straight through Gunnerside in the middle. The four mile stretch leading into Gunnerside is particularly good for beginners as it is flat with only a very short road section on a quiet lane. Bikes can be hired from the Dales Bike Centre in Fremington, just outside Reeth (where there is also an excellent café!). Full details about the trail can be found on the ‘Cycle the Dales’ website.

Refreshments

For such a tiny place, Gunnerside is well served for refreshments. The Kings Head, the village pub in the centre of the village, is a simple place but cosy and welcoming with some outside tables. However, during the Covid 19 closure the current landlords have decided to give up the pub so its future is, once again, up in the air! It has changed hands several times in recent years, resulting in a couple of lengthy closures, until it became a community pub in 2019. Fingers crossed it is back on its feet soon!

There are also two cafes – Mary Shaw’s café, right next to the bridge, and Ghyllfoot Tearoom, set back from the road slightly further east along the road through the village. Both serve a good selection of light meals, cakes and drinks and Ghyllfoot also opens as a restaurant some evenings.

If you would like to visit Gunnerside – or any other parts of the Yorkshire Dales – on a Muddy Boots Walking Holiday, please do get in touch.