Gargrave - a village cut in two, but accessible by all

Friday, 07 August 2009 21:47

Gargrave, the place where river and canal meet

The River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal both feature as part of Gargrave and its history. The Leeds-Settle-Carlisle railway also passes through the village.

The canal skirts the village and is the water road to Blackburn and Burnley and Skipton and Leeds. Lead was transported on the canal from the Dales mines. It was loaded at one of the five wharves in Gargrave, the returning cargoes were coal, corn and glass.

The river cuts the village in two

The Cotton industry thrived here until 1932. The two mills are now used as residences.

There is access to the river by five different "greens" making Gargrave a unique village. There are a number of walks and the Pennine way passes through the village too. From the canal  we walked down North Street, passing the oldest building in Gargrave.

The Old Laundry dated 1690

Dorothy Ward shop is in an old building

At the junction to the left is the old Infant School

We turned right past the Old Swan Inn

In this road is the Post Office and the Co-Op and a number of small interesting shops. The village square is by the bridge over the River Aire and opposite is the Dalesman Café and Sweet Shop. The ice cream is lovely and the "old fashioned" sweets are very tempting. John went back  to his childhood and bought some coconut mushrooms!

The café and East Street to the right

Crossing the river to the south part of the village we saw the Parish Church of St Andrew. Before the church there are some lovely cottages and opposite is the Masons Arms.

Cottages

Masons Arms

The church of St Andrews is reputedly made from stones from a Roman Villa called Kirk Sink. In today's parlance that does not sound very advantageous as the current church is near the site of the villa! (Cryptic)

It was rebuilt in 1852, but its tower is still original 15th C

The Millennium Gate leads to the north door

The stained glass windows are French, sadly the east one is damaged

The nave and chancel

The west end with baptistry and organ pipes

The choir pews have ornate endsScreen arch

The flowers in the church, note the nave pew ends, were remaining from a recent wedding. It is always a bonus to enter a church after a wedding when this happens. It is almost like a mini flower festival and really enhances the church.

There is more to see in Gargrave, but our time had run out. So we finished our walk around by returning to the Post Office and then back to the boat to continue our journey down the locks!