Blog

Written by The McCarthy's Team on July 27, 2018

0 Comments     

This week marks National Parks Week. We’re extremely lucky to have two national parks in the glorious county of Yorkshire. We often do removals both within the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors National Park – it makes for some stunning scenery from the van windows!

There’s only 15 National Parks across the country in total – what a great pub quiz question to get you to name them all! It’s great we’ve got two in such close proximity and a few more in day trip visiting territory, such as the Lake District, the Peak District and Northumberland.

The North York Moors National Park sometimes gets forgotten a little bit, when compared with the perhaps better-known Yorkshire Dales. But there’s so much to do and see there – and it’s simply stunning. Covering an area of more than 550 sq miles, it includes one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the country. August is a great time to see it in all its colourful glory.  The Park stretches as far as the spectacular cliffs of the North Sea to the East. It’s a great place to walk or cycle, with the popular Cleveland Way running between Helmsley and Filey. Helmsley, on the edge of the Moors, is an award-winning market town and well worth a visit – with beautiful Walled Gardens, the National Centre for Birds of Prey, an ancient castle, the open air swimming pool (when the weather is like this!), and independent shops, boutiques, cafes and pubs aplenty.

To celebrate National Parks Week why not head to the Sutton Bank Visitor Centre for Moorfest on Sunday 29^th July? Enjoy a whole host of free activities at the annual moorland event, which brings together country life, culture and heritage. There will be plenty for all age ranges. Author and vet James Herriot named the view from Sutton Bank “England’s finest” – and we think he may well be right. You can see the lush vale of York and Mowbray, with the Pennine range of mountains and hills in the distance – and you’re likely to be able to watch gliders take off and soar through the air. Don’t forget the famous Kilburn White Horse too!

There’s the North York Moors Railway and there’s also a great campaign called #seathesheep taking place this summer – see if you can spot some beach themed sheep dotted around the National Park. Pretend ones, that is – we don’t think real sheep have been put in a bikini and snorkel.

If you think of the Yorkshire Dales, it conjures up pictures of green, lush dales and gentle hills – probably the England you have in mind while singing the hymn ‘Jerusalem’!

The Park includes some of the finest limestone scenery in the UK, from crags and pavements to an underground labyrinth of caves. Pretty stone-built villages are dotted amongst traditional farming landscapes and fields separated by the lovely, traditional drystone walls. Don’t forget the waterfalls and woodlands and the famous Three Peaks – comprising Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside. If that seems a bit much, there’s beautiful walks to suit all abilities across the Dales. There’s lots of lovely towns to visit for a spot of shopping, sight-seeing and of course the all important eating and drinking. Skipton is perhaps the most well-known, with its bustling market, pretty canal boats, historic castle and wide range of hospitality.

If you’re planning a trip to the Yorkshire Dales before the end of National Parks Week on Sunday, there’s lots going on. How about taking part in Haymaking, enjoying the Ingleton Gala Day and Mountain Race, trying a Rag Rugmaking Workshop, doing a ‘By Castle and Byway’ guided walk from Aysgarth Falls or treating yourself at the Yorkshire Dales Food & Drink Festival in Skipton? You might even get chance to meet cooking legends Gino D’Acampo or James Martin.

So, this summer, why not get out and explore what’s on our doorstep? Maybe it will encourage you to make a move – we know a great removal firm if so!