As fabulous as Wharfedale is, it does tend to get rather busy in summer.
But there is a curiously-named village, slightly off the beaten track that's a little quieter. The narrow and windy, two-mile road from Burnsall to Appletreewick doesn't go anywhere else.
Appletreewick isn't a place you pass through, except by intention or happy accident. For that reason, it doesn't have quite the bustle of Burnsall in peak season. That's not to say it's devoid of tourists in winter. In an age when almost everyone has a car and a smartphone, nowhere in the Yorkshire Dales is truly hidden.
Read more: Yorkshire walk popular with Japanese women makes 'off the beaten track' hotlist
And visitors have good reason to search Appletreewick online. It's a quintessential Dales village with old stone houses overlooking broad, green Wharfedale. Buildings of interest include the curiously named, 15th-century Mock Beggar Hall and High Hall, a Tudor mansion.
The whole of High Hall, which is every bit the lord and lady's house inside and outside, is available for holiday lets if you fancy pretending to be a 16th-century noble family for a week. Who doesn't? Those of more modest means may prefer to stay in one of Appletreewick's holiday cottages or campsites.
It's further from the Wharfe than say Grassington or Burnsall, so if you want a dip you need to be prepared and determined. If it's cold or you can't be bothered Appletreewick has two pubs the New Inn and the Craven Arms which are open throughout the year.
Richard, from the Craven Arms, says: "It's a very historic village and one of the most beautiful villages in the Dales."
He adds: "It's a smaller road to get her so it's a bit more isolated – but not a lot."
So the name 'Appletreewick', does it actually have anything to do with apple trees? And are there any apple trees in Appletreewick?
Yes and yes. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as æppel-trēow wīc which in Old English roughly means 'a farm specialising in apples'. How else do you think Appletreewick makes its own cider?
If you fancy a box of Appletreewick Cider, the Growling Shrew bottle shop, in Skipton sometimes sells it.
Read next:
- Yorkshire roads make up one-and-a-half of UK top five best road trips
- The lost Yorkshire Christmas pie once enjoyed by the rich and powerful
- I run a haunted Yorkshire pub and it is eerie, cold and you even hear the building moving
- The Yorkshire beach that is relatively unknown but perfect for a winter walk
- Famous Yorkshire pub The Tan Hill Inn where people go to get snowed in
