Kettlewell
Population: 300 Est.
Information Site: Click
Here
Grid Ref: SD9772
Distance: 14 miles drive from Skipton
Directions: Go north on the B6265, then left at Threshfield
onto the B6160
Car Parking: Pay for village car park
Facilities: Shops : Cafes : Toilets : Hotels : Pubs
Nearby Interest: Walks : Festval (Scarecrow)
Church: St. Mary's Church : Tower
Bus Services: There are buses around every two hours from
Grassington to Kettlewell on Mondays to Saturdays and Summer
Sundays, with connecting buses from Skipton to Grassington.
See www.dalesbus.org
for details.
Although Kettlewell is tourist motivated, there is none of
the exasperating and tacky commercialism. Always there is
a sense of friendliness and charm, rare these days.
In the 13th century a market was established in Kettlewell
and the village became a thriving community. Textiles, (and,
in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, lead-mining,) revitalised
the village and Kettlewell's appearance today derives much
from its past 200 years. The remains of the smelting-mill,
used from 1700 to 1880, can be seen near the meeting of the
rivers Cam and Dowber Becks half a mile above the village.
The B6160, crosses the Wharfe into Kettlewell by a grand
stone bridge, repaired
recently by Alan Dolphin, after flood damage. There are
three inns - the Racehorses, the Blue Bell and the King's
Head which testify to Kettlewell's popularity with visitors,
and in addition there are numerous guesthouses and holiday
cottages.
There are good examples of both 17th and 18thC houses here,
including the vicarage. The church, however, is late Victorian.
Apart from its beautiful setting Kettlewell's main appeal
is as a base from which to explore the surrounding landscape,
Great Whernside (2308 feet), to Starbotton by woodland paths
or the exciting green lane of Top Mere Road, or, for the energetic,
a climb over the tops to Amcliffe or Hawkswick in Littondale.
The village has now become famous for two reasons...
* The annual Scarecrow Festival
* The film The Calendar Girls
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