Pateley Bridge lies at the mouth of Nidderdale, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1994.
Shops, cafes and inns
The town's long, narrow main street has everything you might need and more including banks, a post office and a great range of independently-run shops, visit the Nidderdale website for details.
Looking for a place to eat? Choose from cosy little cafés like The Old Granary Tea Shop with its delicious scones to The Crown Inn, which began life in the seventeenth century as coaching inn, and serves wonderful roast dinners. Visit the Nidderdale website for more places to eat in and around Pateley Bridge.
History and crafts
Behind the main street runs King Street. At the top, in a building which once housed the former workhouse, you'll find the outstanding Nidderdale Museum, crammed with artefacts which illuminate the past social and industrial life of the Dales. Not far from the museum is King Street workshops, a collective of skilled artists and craftspeople.
The World Heritage site, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden lies to the north of Nidderdale and is well worth a detour.
Walking
Popular walks include the route to Ramsgill and Lofthouse along the line of the former Nidd Valley Light Railway, or up to the ruined church of St Mary's above Ripley Bank and via Knott to the disused Scot Bank quarries. Alternatively, across the river via Glasshouses to Guisecliffe Wood up to Yorke's Folly, to Sun Side and Ashfold Side; two narrow tributary valleys dominated by their extensive lead mining remains. An extension to this walk could take as far as Greenhow with its evocative church.
Getting here
The normal access to Pateley Bridge is from Harrogate and Ripley and there is also a good connection to Grassington. Pateley Bridge can be reached by daily bus service from Harrogate
