Farndale

Sources disagree on the origin of the name Farndale, although it is a combination of two parts "Farn" and "Dale".

There a four possible origins for "Farn" all of which do describe the dale. It may be derived from the Celtic "Faren" meaning beautiful; alternatively it could be derived from the Scandinavian "FæN" meaning sheep[7] or possibly from Old English "Fearn" meaning fern or ferny place[8] or from the Gaelic "Feàrna" which means alder tree of which there are many in Farndale.[9]

While Dale probably means Valley either derived from Scandinavion "Dalr"[7] or Anglian "Dæl"[8] although it could be derived from the Gaelic "Dail" meaning level field by a river.[9]

The name of the River Dove which flows through Farndale is almost definitely from either the Old British "Dubo"[10] meaning Black or from the Gaelic "Dubh"[9] also meaning black, hence Black (or Dark) River.

Farndale is a valley within the North York Moors, it is surrounded by some of the wildest moorland in England. The dale is sandwiched between Bransdale to the west, Rosedale to the east and Westerdale to the north. To the north-east sits Blakey Ridge at over 1,312 feet (400 m) above sea level, and to the north-west, Cockayne Ridge reaching up to 1,490 feet (454 m) above sea level is one of the highest points of the North York Moors. The southern boundary of the Farndale Parishes are along Harland Beck and Shortsha Beck (across Lowna Lund),[11] although the Gillamoor to Hutton-le-Hole road is considered as the boundary for all other purposes, south of this the dale continues but changes its name to Douthwaitedale, though the Tabular Hills until it reaches Keldhome then Kirkby Mills just east of Kirkbymoorside.

The River Dove rises on Westerdale Moor North of Farndale, then flows through Farndale south-east past to Church Houses. Here it turns south and continues meandering past Low Mill to Lowna. At Gillamoor it heads south-east again past Hutton-le-Hole before returning southwards past Ravenswick and to the east of Kirkbymoorside. It continues past Keldholme and Kikrby Mills to Great Edstone. From there it flows south-south-east to where it joins the River Rye in the Vale of Pickering near the village of Salton. Several tributaries meet the Dove through Farndale two of these make the valley is almost 'cactus' shaped, with a long central valley following the River Dove, and two side branches to make the arms - Blakey Gill near Church Houses and West Gill near Low Mill.[12]

Farndale Daffodils

The Farndale Local Nature Reserve constitutes the majority of Farndale, which is a dale within the North York Moors National Park. It was created in 1955 to protect the wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus), for which the dale is famed. The Local Nature reserve comprises the larger part of the Farndale Site of Special Scientific Interest which comprises 390 acres (157 ha).[13]

Over 40,000 people visit the dale in the springtime to walk along the River Dove and see the daffodils.[14] The variety of daffodil that grows wild in the valley, has shorter stems than the cultivated variety[15] and are believed to have been planted by monks in medieval times.[16][17] The daffodils are also known as Lent Lillies in Farndale and they usually appear around Lent.[18][19]

Around the north of Farndale, between Bloworth Crossing and Blakey is the track bed of the old Rosedale Ironstone Railway (Rosedale Branch) which forms part of three Long Distance Footpaths these being Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk, The Lyke Wake Walk and the Esk Valley Walk.

Farndale was historically divided between three ancient parishes. Farndale Eastside was a township in the parish of Lastingham.[20] The township of Farndale High Quarter and Bransdale Eastside (also known as Farndale Westside) and the township of Farndale Low Quarter (also known as Low Farndale) were in the parish of Kirkbymoorside.[21]

In 1873 Farndale Hiqh Quarter and Farndale Westside joined to become a single parish.[22] The Farndale parishes were subsequently realigned to Farndale East and Farndale West.[23] The dividing line between the two Farndale civil parishes is along the course of the River Dove. Until 2018 Farndale East had a Parish Council responsible for the eastern side including Church Houses and Farndale West had a Parish Meeting looking after the western side including Low Mill.

In April 2018 a joint Farndale Parish Council was formed under a grouping order and it now represents the interests of all residents in Farndale.[4]

The second tier of Local Government is Ryedale District Council and the third tier North Yorkshire County Council, historically being part of the North Riding of Yorkshire.

Farndale is part of the Thirsk and Malton UK Parliament constituency and the Yorkshire and Humber European Parliamentary constituency.

Farndale has been used as a location for a number of film and TV locations including:

Film

The 2020 Film adaption of The Secret Garden includes Moorland scenes filmed around Farndale.[24]

The 1975 Film, All Creatures Great and Small starring Simon Ward and Anthony Hopkins, included locations in Farndale. [25]

Television

BBC Documentary: A Wild Year, The North York Moors[26] was partly filmed in and around Farndale,[27] and featured the wild daffodils.

Bad Move, an ITV sitcom written by Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair and starring Jack Dee was partly filmed in Farndale.[28] The location of Rawlings' new home is near Low Mill.[29]

Accidental Farmer, a pilot for BBC TV starring Ashley Jensen was partly filmed in Farndale, June / July 2010.[30]

BBC Inside Out covered Heavy Snow in Farndale in November 2010.[31]

• River Dove, North Yorkshire
• Farndale Local Nature Reserve

• Farndale community website
• BBC Look North (11 April 2007). "Yorkshire A-Z: Farndale" (video). BBC News. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
• Farndale Show Website
• Farndale Parish Council