See what’s out the back!
The Green Dragon, Yorkshire Dales
Some pubs have an outdoor bar in the back garden. Or a climbing frame. Or a giant game of chess. The Green Dragon has England’s highest unbroken aboveground waterfall.
Behind the pub is a magnificent wooded gorge which narrows to a rock wall, down which Hardraw Force plunges a full 100ft into a pool below (it’s bigger than it appears in pictures).
For years the pub (which featured in the recent reboot of All Creatures Great and Small) and the falls were owned by the same landlord, and access was only through the pub. Today the two have separate access but as you get to the force you’ll still feel like you’re in the best beer garden ever.
A visit here is the crowning glory of pretty much any walk in the western end of Wensleydale, especially the routes from Hawes. The Pennine Way runs past it too – one of the finest stretches, in fact: the epic climb over Great Shunner Fell to (or from) Muker in parallel Swaledale.
However you end up there, you’ll need to part with some dough to head up the gorge to Hardraw Force; currently it’s £4 for adults and £2 for children, or £10
WALK HERE: Turn to Walk 17 in this issue for a fabulous Hardraw route MORE INFO: greendragonhardraw. com, hardrawforce.com, 01969 667392