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Garsdale

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Garsdale is not a village, but a valley through which runs the A684 road from Sedbergh to Hawes.
   A mile in the centre is roadsigned "Garsdale" and includes "The Street".

The other centre of population is at Garsdale Head, still known as "Hawes Junction"
after the Wensleydale branch from the Settle-Carlisle railway.

To the North is Baugh Fell with its tarns.  To the South is Rise Hill, then Dentdale. 

Garsdale's Clough River has its source in Grisedale: "The Dale that Died"

To locals, the whole seven miles from Garsdale Foot to Mount Zion Chapel is just Garsdale.

Parish Council

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Memories of Garsdale

Houses

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Walls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


This website has been established to celebrate the valley of Garsdale.

Local events will be advertised here (free), as will local businesses and services.

Squirrel Sightings:    >>>>>>>

Youth page:    >>>>>>>

Garsdale words:    >>>>>>>

 

Events in the next few weeks:

September 12th at 2 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Harvest Festival at Garsdale Street with Revd Colin Harbach from Longtown. 

For further details of what is going on in the Sedbergh area, see the "Lookaround" available in Sedbergh shops, or try this link: http://www.sedberghlookaround.org.uk

The Neighbourhood Forum details can be found here: >>>>>>

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                Pictures of the Ingmire walk are here  >>>>>>

 

  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >      Would anyone like a part-time job at a holiday let in Grisdale?  Details >>>>>

This page will feature the history of various houses in Garsdale.

... Can you identify the house shown in the picture above? This house is one of the oldest in the dale, probably dating back to mediaeval times, but the first record  is from 1580 when William Atkinson died here.   The property had once been owned by St Agatha’s Abbey at Easby near Richmond, but it was claimed by Henry VIII when he dissolved the monasteries.  In 1599 or 1600 it was given by Elizabeth I to Thomas, Lord Scroope who died in 1609, with the ownership passing to his wife, Philadelphia who leased it to George Sidgwicke, James & Bryan Nelson and John Guy, then ownership passed to Philadelphia's son Emmanuel (who became Earl of Sunderland in 1627).  The wood from the plantation was reserved for the Queen.  In 1621, the property was sold to Sir William Garway of London who then sold it to Gilbert & James Nelson, Richard Garthwaite, John Guy & Richard Hobson along with the Manor of Garsdale on the understanding that it was to be used for the benefit of the people of Garsdale who were expected to contribute to the cost.  However, Gilbert Nelson claimed that they owned the whole manor, and the tenants had to go to the High Court of Chancery to gain their right to Garsdale Hall and to buy their own farms.  In 1650 the Hall was an inn run by Richard and Alice Hodgson, with spinsters Isabel Willan and Mary Nelson living there.  In 1669, another William Atkinson who lived at Garsdale Hall left his share of the property to his mother Elizabeth.  In the 1851 census and enclosure notices, the inn is called the "George and Dragon", but the name reverts to Garsdale Hall subsequently and it had ceased to operate as an inn by 1871.   The house was last inhabited in 1952 when Joe & Maggie Capstick left.

 

Here is another house which you might recognise, but only if you have been to the South side!

If you think there is anything missing from this site, please e-mail : e-mail address

Garsdale features in three works of fiction.  It is mentioned by name in a short story called "The Death of Grass", written by Samuel Youd under the pen-name John Christopher in 1956, made into a film in 1970, and broadcast as a radio play last March.  One scene is set on Langstone Fell, but Garsdale is incidental to the plot.  Click here for extract  >>>>>>

Two books of short stories written in Garsdale dialect were written by Rev James Dodd Jackson,
whose mother, Eleanor, was born at Slack Cottage, Garsdale.  
The gravestone of his grandfather, Leonard Dodd, can be seen just inside the Church Gates.
I'm searching for a copy of "The People of the Haven", but extracts from "'Twixt Moor and Mead", written in 1887,
will appear here soon.  Some extracts depict real people from Garsdale in the 1800s.

Did you know that Garsdale is mentioned in "Hansard", the official minutes of the House of Commons?

On June 20th 2006, Tim Farron, our local MP, quoted Garsdale as an example of a place from which it takes too long for
an ambulance to travel to Lancaster (and therefore Westmorland General Hospital should remain open).  link

Other mentions include a reply by Derek Twigg to Mr. Eric Martlew (Carlisle) about stations which did not have toilets or disabled access,
the minutes of the Select Committee on Transport about the reopening of the Hawes Branch Line,
and John Spellar's written reply about support for the Hawes to Garsdale bus service.  link

Did you know that Wensleydale cheese used to be made (almost) in Garsdale (at Farfield)
using milk from Garsdale, Dent and Cautley. 
The Wensleydale Creamery now makes a variety called Garsdale, with garlic and chives. 
I wonder if they use the wild garlic which grows in Garsdale - locally called "Ramps".

Famous visitors to Garsdale have included William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy who stayed at Garsdale Hall, Prince Charles who occasionally stays with friends near Garsdale Station, Andrew Lloyd Webber who attended the funeral of William Garnett at Garsdale Church (William's father wrote "Aspects of Love"), and Dame Mary Peters who is the granddaughter of Mary, one of "Kits gimmers" (the eight daughters of Christopher & Jane Metcalf who lived at Nether House until 1928).
  Do you know of any others?