Tems Beck, Giggleswick

The River Ribble runs through the valley between Giggleswick and Settle, on its way down from the high moorland to the sea near Blackpool. There is also a meandering stream known as Tems Beck running through the village, necessitating some old and pretty bridges, at least one of which is a slate 'clapper bridge' made out of a single piece of rock.

All in all, Giggleswick is an attractive place to explore. No doubt it has a busier feel outside of the school holidays but it is still one of those places where time almost feels to have stood still. The careful observer can detect many fascinating traces of its past, like the unusual stone stiles known as 'knee pinch' stiles, that separate the village from the (playing) fields around. 

I enjoyed reading the 'conservation area' appraisal - hooray for the internet!

Giggleswick's churches

The parish church in Giggleswick is dedicated to St Alkelda, an obscure Anglo-Saxon saint, possibly a Saxon princess, apparently associated with Middleham in Wensleydale. The mainly 15th century church, restored in the late 19th century, is not unattractive: a long, low Grade 1 listed building with a squat tower and quite spacious inside. It has some colourful stained glass; the window shown below is the east window in the chancel, behind the altar.

The other church in the village - or rather the Chapel - belongs to the school and was built in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, a gift to the school from Walter Morrison of Malham and designed by the architect T G Jackson. With its copper dome, it has a strangely exotic look to it. Perched on a rocky outcrop above the school and the village, for years its dome was visible for miles, shining with pale green verdigris. It has recently been cleaned and now looks a coppery brown and isn't so obvious. I didn't go in, as one has to make elaborate arrangements to collect a key from the school, but I gather it is finished inside to a high standard. It is unusual in that it was all, inside and out, structure and furniture, planned as a coherent whole by the same designer.

Giggleswick village

Giggleswick village clusters around its church, a pub and a small shop that appeared mainly to sell sweets and ice-cream (presumably the fare that public school students prefer). Many of the houses in what seemed loosely to be the 'village centre' date back to the 17th century. The white house on the photo above has a date stone 1689 over the door. Like all villages, it has grown higgledy-piggledy. Around the church there is an historic pattern of narrow lanes, cottages and old agricultural buildings: stables, a forge and a farm, converted now into residences. Further out there were some attractive, larger Georgian looking properties, with more modern properties on the village perimeter, including some very smart, brand new 'executive detacheds', with more being built. With a rail station nearby, it is feasible to commute to Leeds, a journey time of just over an hour.

Giggleswick

A day off work, nothing much planned, sun shining... and I was struck with a sudden fancy to visit Giggleswick, a village in the Craven district of Yorkshire, set among the limestone hills. I've never been there before, though I have been past it on the main road up to the Lake District many, many times - always on my way to somewhere else. The village sits barely a mile outside the larger and more well-known market town of Settle, and in truth there isn't much there - except for an independent co-educational boarding school, which has existed in Giggleswick in one form or another for over 500 years.

Despite the fact that the name sounds like being tickled with a feather, it actually means 'dwelling or dairy farm of a man called Gichel' and even now the area is pleasantly rural, with farming on the lower pastures of the hillsides and a sense of a sedate and rhythmic pattern to life, well away from the busy city environment I'm used to.

My photo is taken from the school site on the hillside, looking down towards the village itself.