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Country News - 2004

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Hunting hopes on the rise

Wednesday 29 December 2004
HOPES were high amongst hunt supporters when the Pendle Forest and Craven hounds held traditional "meet" in Gargrave on Monday - despite the fact that hunting with dogs it to be made a criminal offence in less than two months time.

Judges search for best Dales building

Wednesday 22 December 2004
AS THE 50th anniversary year of the founding of the Yorkshire Dales National Park draws to an end, final preparations are being made to mark an event which, hopefully, will last for generations: the hunt to find the best buildings to be constructed in the park during the year.

Early bird watch on shortest day

Tuesday 21 December 2004
TODAY (December 21) is the shortest day of the year and throughout the UK, hundreds of birdwatchers were up at dawn to record the first birds to arrive in their gardens.

Government "fiddles" councils

Monday 20 December 2004
THE Government has "fiddled" millions of pounds from more than 50 country district councils by "bending" the figures in distributing grants to local authorities, it is claimed today.

No threat to shooting estates - Government

Thursday 16 December 2004
NORTHERN landowners have welcomed a categorical assurance from the Government’s House of Lords spokesman that there are no plans to ban shooting – which many country folk fear will be the next target of the Labour Left Wing after fox hunting.

House a bird for Christmas

Wednesday 15 December 2004
LOOKING for a last minute Christmas present for conservation minded friends? Then why not give them some pretty birds for company next year?

More Yorkshire land for affordable homes

Ruesday 14 December 2004
A CAMPAIGN backed by the Prince of Wales to make more rural land available for the building of affordable homes is claiming a major breakthrough.

New threat to angling, shooting

Thursday 09 December 2004
LOVERS of country sports, still seething over the ban on fox hunting, were today facing new threats which could criminalise shooting and fishing.

Landmark boost for affordable Dales housing

Wednesday 08 December 2004
IN ONE of the most important moves in its 50 year history, the Yorkshire Dales National Park has been given official backing for its controversial plan to limit most new property development to the building of affordable housing for local people.

Red kites make Dales history

Tuesday 07 December 2004
THE project to re-introduce the once extinct red kite to the Yorkshire Dales has made history, according to the latest edition of English Nature Magazine.

Dales car park changes

Thursday 02 December 2004
CAR parking has long been a problem in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where locals often have few places to leave their vehicles - and those few free spaces are often commandeered by visitors in the summer months.

Dales museum joins "shop local" campaign

Wednesday 01 December 2004
THE ever-growing campaign to persuade both Yorkshire Dales residents and visitors to shop locally this Christmas has been joined by the Dales Countryside Museum at Hawes.

Big name line up for 25th Grassington Festival

Tuesday 30 November 2004
Elkie Brooks, The Reduced Shakespeare Company, poet Pam Ayres, The Likely Lads star Rodney Bewes and raconteur Gyles Brandreth are just some of the high profile names due to appear at next year's Grassington Festival (17 June to 3 July, 2005).

Grazing fears for rural landscapes

Tuesday 30 November 2004
AS BRITAIN'S livestock farmers prepare for the biggest event in their annual calendar - London's Smithfield Show - there is both good and bad news in the air.

EU ducks new animal transport laws

Thursday 25 November 2004
A Yorkshire Dales-based organic food centre has published a new guide to help discerning Yorkshire cooks and diners find shops and restaurants which provide locally produced organic food.

New organic food guide for Yorkshire

Monday 22 November 2004
A Yorkshire Dales-based organic food centre has published a new guide to help discerning Yorkshire cooks and diners find shops and restaurants which provide locally produced organic food.

Hunting: power ping pong continues

Thursday 18 November 2004
THE Hunting with Dogs Bill is being returned to the House of Commons today after being rejected for the second time by the House of Lord yesterday, which gives MPs to the right to bring emergency powers which will criminalise tens of thousands of country folk.

Hunting: axe to fall today?

Wednesday 17 November 2004
THE AXE is expected to fall today or tomorrow on fox hunting as town-based left wing Labour MPs go ahead with their plans to abolish a centuries-old rural tradition.

Shop rural this Christmas

Tuesday 16 November 2004
FALSE economy seriously damages Yorkshire's rural businesses every Christmas, says the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) in launching a regional campaign to persuade festive season shoppers to avoid the cities and buy rurally.

Yorkshire's champion wallers

Wednesday 10 November 2004
THE full results of Yorkshire's unique drystone walling competition - the only one in the country in which actual field walls are judged in situ as opposed to specimen lengths building at agricultural shows - have been announced.

Pay victory for small field farmers

Thursday 04 November 2004
TRADITIONAL farmers who have kept their fields small by refusing to grub out hedgerows have won a major farm grants victory in the on-going negotiations over future single farm payments.

Bad news for four more birds

Wednesday 03 November 2004
DECLINING populations of four more species of birds, including the once ubiquitous house sparrow, are causing alarm amongst scientists, according to the latest figures issued by the British Trust for Ornithology.

Lord Hanson: friend of the Dales?

Tuesday 02 November 2004
Lord Hanson, the multi-millionaire businessman who died yesterday, was a controversial figure on both sides of the Atlantic - and in the Yorkshire Dales too.

Wanted: armchair ornithologists

Thursday 28 October 2004
BRITAIN'S leading ornithologists, who already conduct the world's biggest bird census with the help of thousands of amateurs, are asking for even more help this weekend on a special date in the bird watchers' calendar.

Planning "stranglehold" hits rural housing

Wednesday 27 October 2004
A PLANNING "stranglehold" is preventing the building of desperately needed low-cost housing in rural areas, says the Country Land and Business Association in Yorkshire.

Hunting: cat and mouse continued

Tuesday 26 October 2004
THE controversial bill to ban fox hunting is back in the House of Lords today (Tuesday, October 26) but the cat-and-mouse game over its future continues.

Top award for Dales drystone waller

Wednesday 20 October 2004
A Yorkshire Dales farmer who has spent half a century working on one of the area's most famous features - its drystone walls - is to be honoured as a special award-giving ceremony today.

Bonfire plea: don't burn Prickles

Tuesday 19 October 2004
WITH Guy Fawkes night approaching, animal conservationists have issued a plea which could save thousands of hedgehogs from being incinerated: please don't prepare your bonfires too early.

Bee in their bonnets

Thursday 14 October 2004
YORKSHIRE bee-keepers, whose hives produce some of the most sought after heather honey in the UK, are seething at a decision by the Government to slash the number of professional hive inspectors.

Hopes fade for hunting compromise

Wednesday 13 October 2004
HOPES that the Government might allow fox hunting to continue under a licensing system took a severe blow in the House of Lords yesterday when peers passes the bill back to the House of Commons unaltered.

Fox hunting bill in Lords

Tuesday 12 October 2004
THE anti-foxhunting bill is due to be debated in the House of Lords today against a background of fierce lobbying and wild speculation from the bitterly opposed pro-and anti-factions.

Proved: organic farming does benefit wildlife

Thursday 07 October 2004
AFTER a decade or more of debate, a survey published today says it has proved that organic farms support more wildlife than the intensive agriculture that has become the norm in recent years

Most British rivers will fail new EU quality tests

Wednesday 06 October 2004
THE Environment Agency has admitted that the vast majority of British waterways - and 90% of its rivers - would fail new EU water quality standards to be introduced by 2015.

Sloe appeal for fast growing business

Tuesday 05 October 2004
A YORKSHIRE farming couple is appealing for help to keep up with demand for their newly launched diversification business: sloe production.

Rural healthcare needs better transport

Monday 04 October 2004
THE long-term health of less well-off rural country folk could be greatly improved if special transport links were set up to allow people without cars to pay regular visits to their doctors of out-patients departments at local hospitals, says the Countryside Agency.

Caravans: good news, bad news

Thursday 30 September 2004
IN a piece of news which will be received with mixed feelings in the Yorkshire Dales, the Caravan Club has reported a record year in membership and nights spent on camp sites, despite the awful summer.

Dales to star in Titchmarsh TV series

Wednesday 29 September 2004
THE limestone landscape of the Yorkshire Dales is to star in a major new series on natural history by presenter Alan Titchmarsh which starts on BBC TV tonight (Sept 29).

Hunting: Government seeking compromise?

Tuesday 28 September 2004
COUNTRYSIDE Minister Alun Michael, who forced the anti-hunting bill through the House of Commons, hinted this morning that the Government might be seeking a compromise on a total ban.

Special offers and prizes galore as David Goldie unveils new extension

Thursday 23 September 2004
The countdown is on to the "Grand Launch Weekend" at David Goldie's Town & Country Clothing store at 4/6, High Street, Skipton.

Autumn bird watchers wanted

Thursday 23 September 2004
THIS is an exciting time of the year for bird watchers, with an estimated 30 million birds crossing the UK on their way south in the great autumn migration, but scientists still want to know more about this ancient annual exodus.

Life or death in the garden

Wednesday 22 September 2004
THE next few weeks will be literally a matter of life and death for one of Britain's most popular mammals, the hedgehog - and garden-owners are being asked to act as life-savers.

Cormorant sop for anglers

Tuesday 21 September 2004
HAVING outraged millions of country folk last week, the Government is to throw two sops to anglers and rural residents.

Rural affairs minister "barred" from countryside

Monday 20 September 2004
RURAL AFFAIRS Minister Michael Alun Michael yesterday (Sunday) cancelled plans to take part in two marches to celebrate the introduction of the controversial Right to Roam acts.

Parliament invasion "just the beginning"

Thursday 16 September 2004
TOP politicians, policemen and MPs were today planning urgent talks to boost security in the House of Commons after yesterday's invasion by pro-hunting demonstrators.

Yorkshire boost at Countryside Agency

Wednesday 15 September 2004
YORKSHIRE country folk have a new friend as chairman of the highly regarded Countryside Agency: the Rev Dr Stuart Burgess, until recently the leading Methodist priest on the York-Hull Circuit.

Please don't shoot ramblers - CLA

Tuesday 14 September 2004
AS walkers prepare to exercise their new countryside access rights at the height of the grouse shooting season, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is urging shoot managers to beware of confused or misinformed ramblers straying into danger.

Airborne Adventures return to TV

Monday 13 September 2004
RYLSTONE based balloon company Airborne Adventures return to the TV screen again twice this month (September) following on from previous appearances on Dales Diary, Emmerdale Farm, Pieces of Parkin, Brookside and more.

Countryside prepares for war

Monday 13 September 2004
LARGE sections of England's rural population are preparing for war today in protest against what one Countryside Alliance member describes as a Government "jihad" - holy war - against the countryside.

Hidden Dales treasures revealed

Friday 10 September 2004
DOZENS of doors will swing open across the Yorkshire Dales National Park this weekend, as hidden and historic buildings are revealed for Heritage Open Days 2004.

Red tape threatens water clean-up

Thursday 09 September 2004
YORKSHIRE landowners and farmers are happy to help the Government's drive to reduce water pollution from farm run-offs - but are worried that if more red-tape is introduced, progress towards cleaner rivers will be slowed.

National park seeks new appointee

Wednesday 08 September 2004
INTERESTED in rural affairs and conservation? Then you are invited to become a member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) as a Government appointee.

UK lagging in river pollution clean-up

Wednesday 01 September 2004
THE INFLUENTIAL Royal Society for the Protection of Birds today issued a report saying that Britain would not meet new EU standards for cleaner rivers unless more effort was put into cleaning up new pollution threats.

CPRE launches roadside clutter challenge

Tuesday 31 August 2004
HIGHWAY authorities throughout England are today challenged to accept a commitment to reduce roadside clutter on country roads and lanes which campaigners say is ruining huge stretches of countryside.

Choose the best new Dales building

Thursday 26 August 2004
A COMPETITION was launched yesterday to find the best new building in the Yorkshire Dales National Park – an area where, until recently, all new construction work was likely to meet with vocal opposition.

Confusion continues on new farm payments

Monday 23 August 2004
MASSIVE reforms to the notorious Common Agricultural Policy system of farm subsidies are continuing to cause widespread confusion, according to the Country Land and Business Association.

Rare chance to see hidden Dales gems

Wednesday 18 August 2004
HISTORIC houses in the Yorkshire Dales which have rarely welcomed visitors will be throwing open their doors next month as part of a natiuonal celebration of the nation's heritage.

Green lanes ban for 4x4s - report

Tuesday 17 August 2004
THE Government are reported to be considering new laws which would end one of the longest running controversies in the Yorkshire Dales: the use of ancient "green lanes&uot; for fun by 4 x 4 off-road vehicles and trial motor bikes.

Inglorious Twelfth on Yorkshire moors

Monday 16 August 2004
ALREADY reeling from the effects of disease and bad weather, owners of Yorkshire shooting estates were over the weekend seething with indignation at the Government’s latest plans to tighten laws on the ownership of shotguns.

Dales to escape windfarm blight?

Thursday 12 August 2004
BLASTED by criticism of Government plans to vastly increase the number of windfarms in its efforts to create more "green" electricity, the Countryside Agency has rushed out a statement saying that the nation's "finest landscapes" will be protected against the march of wind turbines.

Conservationists welcome water reforms

Wedesday 11 August 2004
CONSERVATIONISTS have welcomed last week's decision by the Government's water purity watchdog, Ofwat, to allow water supply companies to increase their prices next year only if they invest more heavily in anti-pollution measures.

Farmers warned: don’t bin vital form

Wedesday 21 July 2004
YORKSHIRE farmers are being warned not to bin a vital form which is one of many that land on their doormats – or risk losing their future subsidy payments.

New EU laws for wildlife protection

Tuesday 20 July 2004
NEW European laws designed to protect the environment across wide sweeps of the countryside will come into effect tomorrow (July 21) - much to the delight of conservationists and the chagrin of the construction industry.

Farmers warned over livestock escapes

Monday 19 July 2004
FARMERS have been issued with a dramatic warning to prevent livestock escapes after two dramatic developments in the past fortnight.

Regional help for 1,000 rural firms

Thursday 15 July 2004
THE REGIONAL development agency, Yorkshire Forward, is celebrating helping 1,000 small rural businesses at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate.

Countryside loses out – again!

Wednesday 14 July 2004
GORDON Brown’s annual spending review, announced on Monday, has been greeted with dismay by many countryside organisations for its miserliness in new funding for rural areas.

Guarded welcome for new country code

Tuesday 13 July 2004
THE new Countryside Code, due to be launched on Monday 12 July, has been welcomed by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) as a positive move in educating the public about the countryside, but it says, the real concern is how people are expected to know where and when they can enjoy the new rights of access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, due to be launched in some parts of the country on September 19.

Food agency condemned for orchard grazing ban

Monday 12 July 2004
THE Government’s Food Standards Agency has attracted widespread criticism from farmers and landowners after it was revealed that the agency is planning to ban livestock from grazing in orchards.

Wood Wizards Windmill Launch brings Magic to the Great Yorkshire Show

Friday 09 July 2004
PLEASE join us for a glass of wine and a touch of magic to celebrate the launch of Wood Wizards at our windmill playhouse on Stand 495A near the Food & Flower Hall at the Great Yorkshire Show 13th-15th July.

"Rural proofing" results disappoint

Thursday 08 June 2004
THREE years ago, after the foot and mouth disaster, the Government promised that all future legislation would be subject to so-called “rural proofing” – i.e., measured by the possible effects it would have in country areas.

Watch out, travellers about

Wednesday 07 June 2004
FARMERS and landowners are being asked to collect evidence about damage to their properties and land caused by trespassers or so-called New Age Travellers.

Sales help for organic farmers

Tuesday 06 June 2004
ORGANIC farmers and market gardeners are being invited to a special conference in Harrogate this week to get marketing advice on how to sell their produce to local schools.

Historic Dales meeting to preserve nation park history

Monday 05 June 2004
DELEGATES from some of Britain’s most important conservation bodies will meet in the Yorkshire Dales tomorrow (Tuesday, July 6) to sign up to a unique project to save the historic sites of all Britain’s national parks – many of them the relics of old industrial workings – forever.

Help at hand in CAP confusion

Thurday 01 June 2004
HUNDREDS of Yorkshire farmers and landowners are living in a state of confusion as Europe’s notorious Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being re-negotiated.

Test run for new foot-and-mouth action

Tuesday 29 June 2004
FOR THE first time in three years, the Government tacitly admitted today that the anti foot-and-mouth campaign of 2001 was a total shambles.

Boost for national park communications

Monday 28 June 2004
THE Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has become more effective at communicating and consulting with local residents, according to the results of a new survey.

Yorkshire farmers join Madonna's fan club

Wednesday 23 June 2004
THE POP singer Madonna has won herself thousands of unlikely new fans - Yorkshire farmers and landowners who have joined her admiration society because of the fight she put up against the Right to Roam laws.

Boots on for National Parks Week

Tuesday 22 June 2004
FOR THE first time, Britain's 13 national parks are to celebrate National Parks Week next month - and visitors to the Yorkshire Dales and local residents are being asked to get their walking boots on to take part.

Countryside needs 10,000 affordable houses

Monday 21 June 2004
THE GOVERNMENT’S rural watchdog, the Countryside Agency, today issued a damning report on a subject which has been a source of concern in the Yorkshire Dales for at least 20 years: the lack of affordable housing for local people.

New battle of (Sir Max) Hastings

Thursday 17 June 2004
JOURNALIST and author Sir Max Hastings, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, will go into battle today in an effort so save millions of acres of British countryside from building development.

Prickles needs a drink

Wednesday 16 June 2004
THE drought which has affected most of Yorkshire in the past few weeks is making life very difficult for one of the nation's favourite mammals, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society reports.

Briton's love their rural day out

Tuesday 15 June 2004
NOW it's official: Briton’s do love their days out in the countryside, whether it is to walk, have a pub lunch or go shopping in our small market towns.

Ban hunting – to save Labour

Monday 14 June 2004
LEFT-WING Labour MPs launched a new campaign over the weekend to persuade Tony Blair to reintroduce the Bill to ban fox hunting – as a device to save the Labour party from dangerous splits.

PRESS RELEASE - Trawden Forest and Borders Bridleway Association

Thursday 10 June 2004
Trawden Forest and Borders Bridleway Association is a new organisation, and our main aims are to open and maintain existing bridleways in the Trawden, Laneshaw Bridge, Cowling and surrounding areas.

Classes to avoid "right to roam" clashes

Thursday 10 June 2004
FARMERS and landowners are being invited to go back to school to learn how to avoid clashes with militant walkers when the so-called "right-to-roam" legislation comes into force this September.

Ivory Poachers target Dales Honeypot Village

Wednesday 09 June 2004
Ivory poachers struck in Malham on Sunday night when the village's Safari mascot, Henry the elephant, was robbed of his magnificent ivory tusks.

Vanishing walls worry Yorkshire folk

Wednesday 09 June 2004
THE biggest countryside worry for Yorkshire folk is the disappearance of drystone walls and hedgerows, according the results of a survey published today by the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

Science and farmers save the skylark

Tuesday 08 June 2004
NEWS will be announced today that will put the song back into the British summer: the skylark is making a come-back, thanks to a two-year-experiment involving farmers, conservationists and Government scientists.

Calling local lovely ladies

Monday 07 June 2004
Fashion will be coming First at the races during the afternoon of Thursday June 17th as Ripon Racecourse holds its annual Ladies Day, this year welcoming Debenhams' debut as their fashion partner for the day.

Nature begins at home

Monday 07 June 2004
THE DOMESTIC garden has in recent years become one of the most important sanctuaries for British wildlife and English Nature has just opened a website to allow gardeners - and their children - to look, learn and love what they see.

Farmers warned on footpath crops

Wednesday 02 June 2004
GROWING crops could land farmers in trouble this summer, warns the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) following reports of blocked public rights of way.

Weather forecast fury

Tuesday 01 June 2004
HUNDREDS of small business owners in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District were seething with anger today after yet another Bank Holiday weather forecast blunder.

Pennine bridleway edges towards Dales - just

Friday 28 May 2004
ANOTHER 73 miles of the horse-riders’ equivalent of the Pennine Way will edge into Yorkshire today – but will not reach the Dales...

Escape to the Countryside this Summer

Wednesday 26 May 2004
City Dwellers can escape to the Country with new summer Bus Services from May 30th

Butterfly watchers needed in the Dales

Wednesday 26 May 2004
DESPITE being largely uplands, the Yorkshire Dales are home to some 25 species of butterflies – and scientists are asking locals and visitors to help them gather more data about their habits and locations.

'Gardens and Wild Places' for Bainbridge

Monday 24 May 2004
The Weekend of June 19th and 20th brings 'Gardens and Wild Places' with Judith Ward, a Community Landscape Consultant and Garden Designer, where she will give Sessions to inspire Nature lovers to make transformations in their own back gardens!

Bainside Arts Events

Friday 21 May 2004
Bainside Arts is a charity which seeks to promote creative activities in Wensleydale both for locals and visitors to the area.

RSPB takes on Hollywood

Wednesday 19 May 2004
BRITAIN’S biggest wildlife organisation, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has taken the highly unusual step of issuing a press release both criticising and praising a block-buster Hollywood film.

Strange spring confuses swallows

Tuesday 18 May 2004
ALTHOUGH migrating swallows arrived in Britain exceptionally early this year, th9ousands of them have yet to start taking up their traditional nesting sites on barns or other buildings, reports the British Trust for Ornithology.

Anti-GM activists celebrate wheat victory

Wednesday 12 May 2004
CAMPAIGNERS against genetically modified crops - the so-called "Frankenstein foods" - are celebrating today what they consider to be a major victory against Monsanto, the US-based multi-national which has pioneered GM research.

Strange contents of Yorkshire fly-tip mountain

Tuesday 11 May 2004
A SURVEY of rubbish fly-tipped in the Yorkshire countryside has come up with some odd results...

"Joined-up" landscape planning call

Monday 10 May 2004
SOME OF Britain’s leading experts on landscape conservation, wildlife and planning spent the weekend discussing ways of protecting our landscape

Clapham prepares magic weekend

Thursday 06 May 2004
ORGANISERS of this weekend’s festival of Magic Myths and Legends in Clapham, one of the most beautiful villages in the Yorkshire Dales...

Celebrity send off for photo exhibition

Thursday 06 May 2004
A HISTORIC collection of photographs showing life in the Yorkshire Dales 50 years ago...

Dales mourn Duke of Devonshire

Wednesday 05 May 2004
ONE OF the Yorkshire Dales' best-liked and most influential friends, the Duke of Devonshire, died at his Derbyshire estate, Chatsworth, yesterday aged 84.

New hope in farm red tape battle

Tuesday 04 May 2004
THE National Farmers’ Union is claiming a small but significant victory in a red tape battle with European Union bureaucrats over food hygiene regulations which would impose on farms cleanliness regimes designed for huge food-processing complexes.

Programme of magic for Clapham bank holiday

Thursday 29 April 2004
ORGANISERS OF the newest festival in the Yorkshire Dales – two days of magic and myth in the picturesque village of Clapham – have announced a packed programme over the bank holiday weekend next week.

Celebrations for BT’s broadband climb-down

Wednesday 28 April 2004
RURAL businesses, politicians and voluntary organisations are today celebrating victory in their two year long campaign to persuade BT to build broadband technology into hundreds of small country telephone exchanges.

Supermarkets, garden centres fail peat promises

Monday 26 April 2004
HUNDREDS of Yorkshire farmers, already shell-shocked by new EU rules, are risking future subsidy payments...

Tardy farmers risk future payments

Thursday 22 April 2004
BRITAIN’S supermarkets, which came under a series of attacks from rural organisations last week (see News) are at the centre of a new row today...

Magic moments ahead for Clapham

Wednesday 21 April 2004
ONE of the most famous villages in the Yorkshire Dales – Clapham – is heading for a magic weekend next month as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations...

Buy British for St George’s Day

Tuesday 20 April 2004
A countryside body campaigning to raise the profile of St George’s, which the English rarely celebrate...

Supermarkets ignore British organic food

Monday 19 April 2004
BRITAIN’S huge supermarket chains, already under attack on several different fronts, are bitterly criticised today for failing to buy British organic food...

Farmers win protection from EU pollution laws

Thursday 15 April 2004
AFTER years of mind-bendingly complex negotiations with EU officials in Brussels, the National Farmers’ Union...

Yorkshire Dales Wine Tasting Festival

Tuesday 13 April 2004
From the 17th to the 22nd of May, The Wine Cave at The Angel Inn, Hetton will be holding the Dales’ first ever wine tasting festival.

Day of Reckoning for Grassington Players

Tuesday 13 April 2004
"There’s things going on in this parish that’d make a saint turn up his toes" says Ethel Swift, one of the colourful characters in Pam Valentine’s ‘Day of Reckoning’ staged by Grassington Players next week, and there’s certainly plenty in the script to keep the audiences of the dale chuckling yet reaching for the Kleenex in this bitter sweet comedy centred around the preparations for their annual village fete – or fate?

Actors needed for Skipton Street Theatre Performances

Tuesday 13 April 2004
12th April 2004. The Arcadia Players theatre group is still searching for people to help them entertain the crowds at the Skipton Waterways Festival, which is being held over the May Bank Holiday.

New Flat Season under starter's orders at Ripon Racecourse

Thursday 08 April 2004
The new flat season at Ripon, Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse, begins on Thursday 15th April with an afternoon of racing excitement featuring the £30,000 purse Ripon Silver Bowl Fillies Stakes.

Protect hedgerow birds plea

Thursday 08 April 2004
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is calling on local authorities to halt all hedge cutting between now and September because of the threat to nesting birds.

"The Threshfield Lifeboat comes Home!"

Tuesday 06 April 2004
Mayday Bank Holiday (3rd May) sees the famous lifeboat making a rare appearance in its home town...

Dales show for world-wide artist

Monday 05 April 2004
AN artist from a tiny Yorkshire Dales village whose work is known world-wide is staging an exhibition of his works at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes.

Junk room to visitor centre

Thursday 01 April 2004
A dank former storage room once filled with junk opens this weekend as a hi-tech visitor centre introducing people to the wonders of one of Yorkshire’s "forgotten" valleys – Dentdale.

New clues in farm bird decline

Wednesday 31 March 2004
ONE OF the biggest ever gathering of British ornithologists and allied scientists has come up with a clue which may answer the mystery of the catastrophic decline in farmland bird populations.

Compulsory purchase "breaches human rights"

Tuesday 30 March 2004
THE Government-funded Countryside Agency is studying ways of improving one of life’s most tedious problems for rural families: transport for young people in isolated areas so that they can improve their work, study and social lives.

Welcome boost for rural pensioners

Thursday 25 March 2004
COUNTRYSIDE organisations have welcomed a Government announcement that more money is to be made available to ensure that old age pensioners living in rural areas receive all the benefits to which they are entitled.

Skipton shines amongst “bland market towns” - CPRE

Wednesday 24 March 2004
MANY of England’s small market towns are in danger of becoming bland dormitories for people working in the big cities, according to a major report published today.

Yorkshire's unique wine experience

Tuesday 23 March 2004
The Wine Cave website becomes the newest addition to the most exciting web cluster in the Yorkshire Dales.

The first Dales swallows ... of spring!

Tuesday 23 March 2004
SUNDAY marked the official start of spring and with it came the first swallows of the year, reports the British Trust for Ornithology with some surprise.

Chancellor hits countryside – again

Monday 22 March 2004
JUST a week after Chancellor Gordon Brown angered farmers with his budget, he is reported today to be considering another attack on rural life – by putting market towns at risk.

Yorkshire Dales Promotion push is just the Business

Friday 19 March 2004
Grassington, 18th March, 2004. Businesses across the Yorkshire Dales are being offered the chance to help visitors get the very best out of the area – and promote themselves to boot.

Budget blow to bio-fuel plans

Thursday 18 March 2004
BRITAIN'S farmers reacted angrily to yesterday's Budget because it gave no new incentives for the growing of bio-fuels - oils produced from vegetable matter that can be grown here and which also help to reduce greenhouse gasses.

Close to nature at lambing time

Wednesday 17 March 2004
PARENTS are being invited to bring their children to the Yorkshire Dales to witness one of spring’s natural wonders – lambing time.

Killer windows threaten birdlife

Tuesday 16 March 2004
THE British Trust for Ornithology is seeking volunteers to help find solutions to a little known problem which has for years been a massive threat to our wild birds - window strike.

Spring boost for Prickles

Monday 15 March 2004
WITH the weather - hopefully - beginning to take on a feel of spring after a bitterly cold few weeks, one of Britain's favourite mammals, the hedgehog, will be coming out of winter hibernation any day now.

Millions available for local heritage projects

Thursday 11 March 2004
COMMUNITY groups eager to learn more about their local heritage, or restore sites of interest to their previous glories, are being encouraged to apply for millions of pounds available for Local Heritage Initiatives.

GM go-ahead – with strings

Wednesday 10 March 2004
AS WE predicted yesterday, the Government is considering giving the go-head for the commercial growing of genetically modified maize in the UK – but with strings attached to protect the interest of organic farms and market gardens.

Media Release: Dismay as Transport Links to the Dales Cut

Tuesday 09 March 2004
The network of leisure bus services providing access to the Dales for hundreds of visitors from the surrounding towns and cities is to be reduced for the 2004 summer season.

Go ahead for GM crops?

Tuesday 09 March 2004
THE GOVERNMENT is today expected to announce that it will be giving the go-ahead for the commercial growing of genetically modified maize...

Youth Hostel To Bring Back Village Post Office

Thursday 04 March 2004
A DALES village which lost its Post Office two years ago is to have the service restored at its Youth Hostel.

Good news for Northern bird life

Thursday 04 March 2004
DECADES of decline for Britain’s wild birds may at last have been arrested – and there has been an upturn for many species in the North of England.

Dales’ doughty defender

Wednesday 03 March 2004
ONE of the Yorkshire Dales’ doughtiest defenders, Earl Peel, is to chair a meeting on Friday which is expected to launch an outspoken attack on Government hopes for a Yorkshire Regional Assembly.

Burnsall's Viking past on show - at last!

Tuesday 02 March 2004
AN EXHIBITION aimed at unravelling a Dales Village's rich Viking past will be unveiled later this year - 16 years after the project was first planned.

Broadband calls Dales to Action

Monday 01 March 2004
Communities throughout the dales are a step closer to gaining high speed internet access as BT publish their ‘trigger levels’ for the region, helping to define exactly how many more people need to sign up in each community before BT will upgrade their communications systems to support broadband.

New role for Settle-Carlisle railway?

Thursday 26 February 2004
YORKSHIRE Dales railway enthusiasts were today examining with close interest a Government-backed announcement that could have profound affects on the future operations of the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

Wanted: Yorkshire’s top dry-stone wallers

Wednesday 25 February 2004
ORGANISERS of a competition designed to preserve one of Yorkshire’s outstanding landscape features, the dry-stone wall, are inviting the county’s best wallers to show off their skills and enter a new but fast growing competition.

Landscape threat from new farm subsidies?

Tuesday 24 February 2004
SCENIC uplands in areas like the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District could be under threat from the new farm subsidy system, says the Country Land and Business Association.

Wood Wizards Launch Unique Hand Crafted Indoor Playhouses

Monday 24 February 2004
Children can now have their own house – or castle or train – in their home as a team of wood craftsmen launch a new indoor playhouse custom design and build service.

Royal day in the Dales

Monday 23 February 2004
PRINCE Charles is today reinforcing his long-standing support of the Yorkshire Dales with a day-long visit to speak to people involved in projects close to his heart.

Final chance to get FREE cycle parking

Thursday 19 February 2004
There are now over 100 sites in the Yorkshire Dales with cycle parking facilities that have been provided through the Cyclenet project. We have a final chance for businesses to claim free cycle stands or securing rings on a first come/first served basis

Dales drive to encourage more coach tourists

Tuesday 17 February 2004
THE Yorkshire Dales National Park's long-standing policy of persuading visitors to leave their cars at home has taken another step forward with the publication of a new booklet designed to attract more coach parties.

Plenty of Dales houses - but too expensive

Monday 16 February 2004
THE Yorkshire Dales National Park has issued surprise figures showing that there is no shortage of housing in the area - but admits they are so expensive that few locals can afford them.

Big send off for SBS caretaker

Thursday 12 February 2004
SKIPTON Building Society top brass turned out in force to say farewell to one of their humbler retiring colleagues - caretaker Eric Whiteley, who has been looking after various society buildings for 23 years.

Dales need more holes!

Wednesday 11 February 2004
GARDENERS and householders in the Yorkshire Dales are being asked to provide more holes next week – in the form of nesting boxes for breeding birds.

Sophie Grigson to cook up a storm in Settle

Tuesday 10 February 2004
TV cook, writer and broadcaster Sophie Grigson is promising to cook up a storm in Settle at the end of February, all for the benefit of local food producers and providers.

Exciting new awareness campaign from the UK's National Parks

Thursday 05 February 2004
In 2004 the Association of National Park Authorities will be holding the first ever National Park Week. Running from Thursday July 1st - Friday July 9th, it is a week dedicated to raising public awareness of the reasons for the existence of National Parks, and to celebrate their beauty, diversity and the wide range of opportunities they offer for enjoyment of their special qualities.

Help for poor country children

Wednesday 04 February 2004
ALMOST a quarter of a million rural children live on the margins of poverty and lack the back-up provided for poorer children in urban areas, says a shock report from the Countryside Agency published yesterday.

Dales clampdown on illegal off-roading

Monday 02 February 2004
IN A move calculated to produce roars of protest, rangers from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority have joined forces with the police in a new clampdown on illegal off-roading

New uses for urban/rural fringe?

Thursday 29 January 2004
SOME 20% of Britain's rural land is in fact on the fringes of towns and big cities - and has fallen into a sort of limbo where much of it is of little use to neither townsfolk nor farmers, says a new report from the Government's Countryside Agency.

Red tape stifling rural business

Wednesday 28 January 2004
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has welcomed the publication of a report by the Institute of Directors which accuses the European Commission of dragging its feet on its commitment to cut red tape.

Calendar Girls fuel tourist boom

Tuesday 27 January 2004
YORKSHIRE DALES businesses are expecting a tourist boom in 2004 - boosted by the success of the Calendar Girls film.

Exhibition to explore the idea that we're all part of the landscape

Tuesday 27 January 2004
An exciting interactive family exhibition aims to explode the myth that only one type of real 'Dales person' exists - and explores who has arrived, stayed in or left the Dales and why.

2004 - the 25th anniversary of Big Garden Birdwatch

Tuesday 27 January 2004
Do you want to be part of the world's biggest bird event? If so, it couldn't be easier with the forthcoming 25th Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. The survey form will be available to complete online from 23 January to 23 February 2004.

"Doomed" English Nature fights back

Monday 26 January 2004
ONE OF Britain's most highly regarded conservation agencies, English Nature, may soon be scrapped by the Government, it was claimed at the weekend.

50th Anniversary celebrations kick-off with VIP day

Thursday 22 January 2004
The Yorkshire Dales National Park's 50th anniversary celebrations will kick-off on Friday 30 January 2004 with a VIP day.

New funding brings 3 job opportunities into the Settle area

Thursday 15 January 2004
Creative Rural Enterprises Ltd formerly Settle & District Chamber of Trade has secured funding for a two year project to promote the Settle region as a quality place to live, work and play. The jobs are on offer now providing exciting new challenges for either being employed or as sub-contract to the Company.

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