Hawes
by
Barbara Ballard
Hawes, at the head of Wensleydale, is a busy market town with
high fells to both the north and south. A cobbled main street
and stone buildings that date from late Victorian times mingle
with houses of the 17th and 18th centuries. The town, whose name
originates from the word, Hause, which means a narrow neck of
land, was granted its market charter by William III in 1699. The
old market toll-house stands beside the Market Hall. The 1668
former Quaker rest house vies for attention with the 17th century
Rose House.
The Post Office was a grammar school in 1729, while the White
Hart was once a staging-post and coaching inn before the railroad
came to town.
The
fascinating, homespun, Upper Dales Folk Museum displays the history
of the Dales and the traditional countryside way of life.
Artifacts from agriculture to lead mining to the home front are
on display. The Hawes Ropeworks gives a fascinating glimpse at
this little known industry.
The
region's broad valleys with their lush green hills present ideal
conditions for dairy farming, and Hawes is the home of the justly
famous Wensleydale Cheese. The recipe comes from French Cistercian
monks who settled in the area in 1150.
When
the monasteries were closed in the 16th century, local farmers'
wives took up the art. By the 1900's the Hawes dairy, later to
become the Wensleydale Creamery, was in operation. The Creamery's
small museum explains the process of cheesemaking topped off with
a tour of the creamery where the cheese is made. The excellent
restaurant next door serves meals whose ingredients are sure to
include a tasty cheese dish. Cheese lovers will be tempted to
try them all.
The
dramatic drive over the well known Buttertubs Pass, a natural
pass whose limestone formations are said to resemble butter, is
just north of the village. Rivers and glaciers carved the rugged
beauty of the land, cutting, scouring and eating away the stone.
Hawes,
nestled in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, wears its country
town mantle like the warm and friendly place it is.
Essential
Information:
Hawes is located on the A684/B6255 above the southern bank of
the River Ure. The Tourist Information Centre is at theYorkshire
Dales National Park Centre. Tel. (0) 1969 667 450.
Wenslydale
Creamery.
Tel. (0) 1969 667 664. Open year round, summer 9am-5:30pm, wnter
9:30am-4:30pm. Tours from 10am.
©2000
by Barbara Ballard. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part,
including images, and reproduction in electronic media, without
documented permission from the author is prohibited.
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