did you know

DID YOU KNOW ?

On the footpath between Thwaite and Angram there is a section called 'Dirty Piece', If you've walked along this then you will know that it deserves its name, especially after heavy rain.
A cave was used as a secret place of worship by Wycliffe's followers opposed to the Act of Uniformity 1549, which required acceptance of the Common Book of Prayer. The congregation would post look outs in Swinnergill, for if they were found they risked imprisonment, deportation or at worst death. The Kirk as it became known to later generations is situated behind a water fall close to the ruins of the old lead mine buildings at the head of the Gill.
On 4th. July 1899 a cloud burst on the high fells in upper Swaledale caused extensive damage, stone bridges were washed away and homes in Thwaite flooded. Hoggarths Farm high up the dale had water up to the top of its windows, its doors were ripped off and walls damaged. A new house now stands on the hill side well away from the river. A cup and saucer reportedly found a mile down stream after the flood is still preserved by a descendant.
Swaledale sheep don't need fences, the sheep are 'Hefted' or 'Heafed' which means that they live on their own part of the fells. The sheep are inseparable from the farmers and the land where they live, they are brought into the 'in-by' land at the bottom of the hills only at times of lambing, dipping and shearing and will instinctively return to their own part of the fells. This homing instinct is part of the flocks evolution.