Hawes

North Yorkshire

Hawes is a market town in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire.

The small Wensleydale town is about 17 miles by road west of Leyburn, 17 miles by road north-east of Ingleton and around 16 miles east of the historic Yorkshire town of Sedburgh, now situated in Cumbria. Reaching Richmond involves a road journey of around 30 miles, while the North Yorkshire county town of Northallerton is 35 miles distant.

Hawes is the location of the creamery famous for its production of Wensleydale cheese. The creamery has a visitor centre.

At the eastern edge of the town is a large livestock auction market, which has been established in Hawes for more than 100 years, selling sheep and cattle from a large area of the Yorkshire Dales.

The Dales Countryside Museum is situated in Hawes and tells how the landscape and people of the Yorkshire Dales have evolved over thousands of years. The museum incorporates the former Hawes railway station and an old train is preserved at the platform. A Yorkshire Dales National Park Centre is also housed at the museum.

Hawes merges at its southern edge with the small village of Gayle with its historic 18th century former cotton mill alongside Gayle Beck.

Just over a mile north of the town is Hardraw Force, a visitor attraction which claims fame as "England's highest single-drop waterfall". It was used in scenes from the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. There is now also a Heritage Centre in the grounds of the falls.

Town features

Hawes is in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Hawes is on the Pennine Way long-distance trail.

The town is on the River Ure.

Hawes has an indoor and an outdoor market Tuesday is market day Craft fairs held on many dates from March - October.

Hawes has a good range of independent shops. Hawes offers bakery goods, butchers, antiques, books, clothes, crafts, gifts, jewellery and other goods.

The town has a Post Office branch.

Hawes has a building society branch.

The town has a pharmacy.

Hawes has a choice of pubs.

Cafe and pub food is available in Hawes.

Takeaway food outlets in the town include fish and chips, chinese, curries, sandwiches.

The town has a community library.

Hawes has a museum - Dales Countryside Museum.

Hawes has a preserved train station.

Hawes has a community centre.

There are public toilets in the town(20p entry)

Hawes has a school.

Place of worship: Anglican. (Methodist Church is in nearby Gayle).

Hawes has tourist information.

Places to stay in Hawes include guest house, inn, hostel accommodation.

Hawes was formerly in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Travel

Bus travel

The town has a bus service.

Road travel

Hawes can be reached via the A684 B6255

Hawes has a filling station The town has England's first community-run filling station.

Places to visit

Bolton Castle

Castle Bolton, near Redmire, North Yorkshire
One of Britain's best-preserved medieval castles was built as one of the finest homes in the land and is still in the ownership of a descendant of the castle's original owner. With a commanding view over Wensleydale, the castle is situated near Redmire, about 5 miles west of Leyburn and 6 miles east of Askrigg. Although partially slighted by Oliver Cromwell during a Civil War siege it has been preserved in excellent condition. The castle is opened to visitors daily between the start of April and end of October except on dates when weddings are being held. Visitors can access much of the castle and its gardens and daily displays include birds of prey, archery and wild boar feeding. Full details can be found on the owner's website.

More information at the Bolton Castle website.

Find on map: Bolton Castle

The Wensleydale Railway

Leeming Bar - Bedale - Finghall - Leyburn - Redmire
A railway service into the Yorkshire Dales running from Leeming Bar, near the A1(M) towards Bedale, Finghall, Leyburn and Redmire, at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It operates a heritage diesel service and steam on some dates. The line was extended eastwards to Northallerton West, but the effects of flooding on a bridge at the end of 2015 resulted in that section of line remaining closed to passenger services in 2018. The railway company also has aims of restoring the line westward into the National Park.

Further information at the

Wensleydale Railway website

Aysgarth Falls

Aysgarth
Aysgarth Falls have been a much-visited Wensleydale beauty spot and a tourist attraction for more then two centuries. The River Ure falls down a series of rocky steps near to the village of Aysgarth. The falls provided a dramatic film location for the 1991 film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", starring Kevin Costner. A woodland nature reserve alongside the falls is run by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, which also runs a National Park Centre, cafe and car park there. Nearby is the Yore Bridge across the river and the Yore Mill, a grade II listed watermill on the site of a medieval fulling mill. The present mill dates from 1854 and was built to produce both woollen textiles and corn. It replaced an earlier 18th century cotton mill which was damaged by fire. There is now a tea shop and craft shop at the mill.

Find

Aysgarth Falls on map.

Hardraw Force

Hardraw, near Hawes
Situated about a mile north of Hawes in Wensleydale, this waterfall visitor attraction claims fame as "England's highest single-drop waterfall". The fall is around 30 metres (100 feet) high and was used as a backdrop to scenes in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. There is now also a Heritage Centre in the grounds of the falls, access to which is usually open from 10am to dusk with an admission fee.

Details can be found on the

Hardraw Force website.

Dales Countryside Museum

Station Yard, Burtersett Road, Hawes
The Dales Countryside Museum is located at the former Victorian station in Hawes and tells how the landscape and people of the Yorkshire Dales have evolved over thousands of years. An old locomotive and carriages are preserved at the platform as a reminder of the days that train services connected the isolated Wensleydale town to the rest of Yorkshire. A Yorkshire Dales National Park Centre is also housed at the museum.

Find out more at the

Dales Countryside Museum website.

Yorkshire Dales National Park

The western half of Richmondshire is all within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Leyburn is the gateway to the Wensleydale area of the National Park, the wide and beautiful upper valley of the River Ure into which many tributaries flow. There is a National Park Centre in Hawes. Find out more on our Yorkshire Dales National Park page.

Emergency services

North Yorkshire Police

North Yorkshire Police website.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

Local government

Civil parish council

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council

District authority

Richmondshire District Council
Richmondshire district council is one of the seven large district authorities within the county of North Yorkshire. It covers 509 square miles of the mainly rural area of the north west of North Yorkshire with its administrative centre in Richmond.

Much of the district is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It has boundaries with the Craven, Hambleton and Harrogate districts of North Yorkshire, with Cumbria, including a former part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with County Durham, including part which was formerly in the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Up to 2019 the council was made up of 34 councillors representing 24 wards, each electing between 1 and 3 councillors. After Boundary Commission review the number of seats from the 2019 election is down from 34 to 24. Councillors are now elected across 16 wards: 1 with three councillors, 6 with two councillors and 9 with one councillor. The whole council is elected every four years.

There are also 54 Parish or Town Councils and 26 Parish Meetings within the Richmondshire district.

Link to Richmondshire District Council website.

Places in Richmondshire include: Askrigg Catterick Gilling West Hawes Leyburn Reeth Richmond

The political composition of the council after the May 2019 election was:

10 1031

24 members

County authority

North Yorkshire County Council
Includes Richmondshire and six other non-unitary districts of North Yorkshire.

North Yorkshire County Council website.

Police and Crime Commissioner

Police and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire
Covers the county of North Yorkshire and City of York.

Police and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.

Fire Authority

The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service was previously governed by the North Yorkshire Combined Fire Authority made up of elected members from across the broad areas of North Yorkshire and City of York councils which it serves. Following a ministerial announcement in June 2018 the governance of the fire service was transferred to the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire from 15 November 2018.
Further information at the

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Police and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.

Ceremonial county

North Yorkshire

Historic

-1974: Within the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Also in Yorkshire.guide

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