Sedbergh - things to do & places to go.

Walking Holidays

Some establishments in the area cater for organised walking holidays. See our Special Interest & Activity Holidays page.

Horse Riding and Pony Treking

Stonetrail Holidays, Street Farm, Ravenstonedale, Kirkby Stephen, CA17 4LL (phone: 015396 23444)

Stonetrail Holiday offer exclusive horseriding ranging from 1 hour to a full day. Stay in one of Stonetrail's luxury courtyard apartments or one of the excellent local B&B's and let Stonetrail Holidays arrange a bespoke holiday just for you, situated at Ravenstonedale, midway between Sedbegh and Kirkby Stephen, surrounded by some of the best walking and off road riding routes in the UK.

Holmescales Riding Centre, Holmescales Riding Centre, Old Hutton, Kendal, LA8 0NB (phone: 015397 29388)

Holmescales Riding Centre offers horse riding, hacking, cross country trecking and daily courses for families, children , corporate groups and private parties of novice and experienced riders.

Cycle Hire

Stonetrail Mountain Bike Hire, Street Farm, Ravenstonedale, Kirkby Stephen, CA17 4LL (phone: 015396 23444)

Stonetrail Mountain Bike Hire are situated at the foot of Wild Boar fell and the Pennine Bridleway midway between Sedbergh and Kirkby Stephen, they have immediate access to some fabulous tracks and trails with routes to suit all abilities. Hire bikes by the day or come and stay in one of Stonetrail's luxury courtyard apartments for a complete cycling holiday.

Local Walks

A range of maps and guidebooks can be purchased from the Sedbergh Tourist Information Office in the Dales and Lakes Book Centre, including the Harvey map "Yorkshire Dales - Sedbergh Walks" which describes 8 walks centred on Sedbergh, which is clear and easy to understand and includes historical and other information of interest about the places along the routes.

Sedbergh is an ideal base from which to explore the Howgill Fells, a compact cluster of hills rising to about 2,000 feet about 40 square miles in area between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Many of the hilltops provide excellent long distance views to the Lake District, the Pennines and Morecambe Bay. The Howgills are distinctively different from the craggy Lake District hills to the west and the rolling Pennine moors to the east. In his book "Walks on The Howgill Fells : And Adjoining Fells" A.W. Wainwright, author of the famous Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells describes the Howgills as being...

... sleek and smooth, looking from a distance like velvet curtains in sunlight, like silken drapes at sunset; they are steep-sided but gently domed, and beautiful in a way that few hills are. Their soaring and sweeping lines are not interrupted by walls or fences above the intakes, giving a splendid upland expanse of “free range” walking.

Copies of this book are available from the Dales and Lakes Book Centre, additional information about A.W. Wainwright and his guidebooks can be found on the Wainwright Society's website.

The Dales Way is a long distance footpath of about 80 miles (129 km) from Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere which passes through nearby Dentdale and the Lune Valley. By following as far as possible riverside paths, it offers a scenically attractive route from urban West Yorkshire to the Lake District, which any reasonably fit family can undertake in a week's holiday.

We have a collection of web pages showing photographs of the scenery around Sedbergh including details of local walks.

Cycling

Sedbergh provides an ideal base for cyclists wishing to explore the quiet country lanes and for the more energetic mountain bike enthusiasts exploring the numerous bridleways and tracks over the fells. See our cycling page for more details.

Local Events

See the Sedbergh events calendar for a list of events due to take place in the area over the coming months.

Community Groups & Services

Information about a number of clubs, societies, trusts and other groups can be found at http://www.communigate.co.uk/lakes/viewgroup.phtml?group=11. These cover a wide range of interests including adult education, sports, special interests, health & social care.

Dent Crafts Centre

Open 6 days per week, closed Tuesdays.
Closed January to mid February.

Phone: 015396 25400

Dent Village Heritage Centre

The Dent Heritage Centre tells the real story of Dent through the working lives and social customs of the Dalesfolk who inhabited this area in times past. The Centre has been designed and built entirely by local labour, being converted and extended on the site of an existing structure which once served as the filling-station for Dent Town. Many of the exhibits are of genuine Dales provenance, a large number of them being taken from the collection of Jim and Margaret Taylor of High Laning Farm, the Centre's founders, who have spent many years rescuing and refurbishing many of the traditional artefacts on display here.

Phone: 015396 25800
Email: info@dentvillageheritagecentre.com

Farfield Mill Arts and Heritage Centre

Farfield Mill

Farfield Mill is located about 1 mile from Sedbergh on the A684 Garsdale road. For over 100 years it was a thriving spinning and weaving mill, now it’s home to some 20 artists and craft makers whose work is displayed on three of the building’s four floors, alongside that of many other makers and craftspeople. Two galleries, the Dover Gallery and the Howgill Gallery, show a changing programme of high quality temporary exhibitions.

The 4th floor is home to the Mill's collection of floor and hand looms - and you can often see weavers busy at the looms, working on their own projects. They are usually happy to talk about their work and what they are creating. Lacemakers and Rag Ruggers are also often in situ, demonstrating their craft and happily chatting to visitors.

Farfield is rapidly gaining a reputation for creative textiles in its many forms: art, design and manufacture. The Heritage Floor documents the history of Farfield Mill and textiles in the area. Two Dobcross looms, which work from Friday to Monday, can be seen through an internal window in Weavers Tearoom. Throws and rugs woven at the Mill can also be purchased.

Dent and Sedbergh Oral History Society

For more than a decade the Dent and Sedbergh Oral History Society have been recording interviews with people in the area to find out about the changes that have happened to our communities within living memory. What did it feel like to go from horses to tractors, oil lamps to electric light, bikes to motorcars or clogs to trainers? The aim of the project is to record memories so that people now and in the future will better understand what life was like in our area in the twentieth century.

It's easy to take change for granted but, as they look back over the twentieth century, the interviewees tell us of some truly momentous changes in their time. They experienced for themselves the impact made by the national grid and mechanised transport, by the changes in education and health care. Farmers have described the difference tractors and milking machines made to their lives. Housewives have told what their daily round was like before vacuum cleaners and washing machines. People told how, with the growth in car ownership, their shopping habits were transformed, so that the delivery boy on his bike became a thing of the past and farming folk no longer bartered their butter and eggs for a sack of flour or cattle feed. People still alive today remember when the Sedbergh Workhouse shut its doors and when the isolation hospital was no longer needed. So many changes, and all in a lifetime.

Copies of recorded interviews, with written transcripts, are available at Farfield Mill where, with a click of a mouse, you will be able to sit and listen to the voices of the interviewees as they talk about their lives. In many cases the interviews have been transcribed, so you will be able to read their words on screen as you listen. Simple instructions are there to guide you. There is a running index to refer to as an additional research tool.

Laura's Loom - Weaving Classes for Adults and Children

Weaving is Laura Rosenzweig's passion, a lifelong interest sparked by visit to old Yorkshire woollen mills and a child's bead loom which she adapted into a "rug" loom. Her working life of computers and maps, analysing layers of data to find patterns in the landscape, has led her back to her new occupation as Weaver. Attention to detail, an eye for colour and texture, technical capability - the same skill sets reapplied.

From her studio at Farfield Mill Laura offers a variety of handloom weaving courses suitable for complete beginners (including children) to those who already have some weaving knowledge. A range of courses is available from ½ and 1 day taster sessions to 2 and 5 day courses. The course fee includes use of weaving equipment, yarns, handouts, tea and coffee. A simple lunch at Luvli, the Mill's delectable café, is also included for courses lasting the whole day.

The Sedbergh Embroidery

Sedbergh Stitchers formed a group in 1993 with the objective of creating a canvas work panel depicting many of the historic buildings in the town. The completed panel, measuring 5ft x 5ft is on permanent display on the upstairs landing of Sedbergh library in Main Street. Work started on a 2nd. panel in 2004.

A leaflet "Sedbergh Embroidery Town Trail" describing features in the embroidery which can be seen in or around the town can be purchased from the Tourist Information Office in the Dales and Lakes Book Centre.

For more information visit the Sedbergh Embroidery web site.

St Gregory's Church

The church was built in the 1860's by Miss Frances Upton of Ingmire Hall and remained in the family's ownership until 1918. The furniture and fittings are of exceptional quality with woodwork by Waring & Gillow of Lancaster. The stained glass windows are unusual in that they depict scenes of nature as opposed to the religious themes adopted by most churches.

The church was declared redundant in 1984 but is open to visitors every day. It is situated on the A684 Kendal road about 1½ miles west of Sedbergh.

Brigflatts Quaker Meeting House

George Fox, founder of the Quakers, preached to a congregation of a thousand from a large rock on the fellside at nearby Firbank in 1652 and began the Quaker movement, 'The Society of Friends'. The meeting house at Brigflatts ( about 2 miles from Sedbergh on the A683 to Kirkby Lonsdale) dates from 1675 and is the oldest Quaker meeting house in the North of England. It retains many of the original oak furnishings in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity.

For more information visit the Brigflatts Meeting House web page.

Open Farm

Holme Open Farm is a traditional dales working farm open daily from April to October and at other times by arrangement. There are a variety of attractions including:

• Nature trail
• Snacks & meals
• Conducted farm tour
• Seasonal demonstrations
• Roman road through farm and ancient ford:
• Remains of Stone Age settlement nearby
• Special natural history locations
• Fishing available
• Caravan and camp site by arrangement

To reach Holme Farm from Sedbergh follow the A683 Kirkby Lonsdale road for about 4 miles and turn sharp left into a lane signposted to Holme farm about ¼ mile after going over a narrow bridge and right hand bend.

For more information see the Holme Farm web site or phone 015396 20654

Settle & Carlisle Railway

The Settle & Carlisle Railway, opened in 1876, was one of the last mainline railways to be built in this country. The 72 mile route has 20 major viaducts (including the impressive 24 arch Ribblehead Viaduct), and 14 tunnels.

Scheduled passenger services pass through beautiful scenery with the opportunity to break your journey and participate in free guided walks organised by the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle Line.

Trains stop at nearby Dent (9 miles), Garsdale (11 miles) and Kirkby Stephen (12 miles) stations. These stations are all un-manned and do not have taxis. Kirkby Stephen is the only station with a daily bus service through Sedbergh but this is not very frequent.

Note that Dent station is about 4 miles away from the village of Dent.

For more information visit the Settle & Carlisle Railway web page.

Altogether Singing

Harmony singing weekend workshops with David Burbidge and a regular Tuesday evening group at Farfield Mill. To find out more visit www.lakelandvoice.co.uk.

The Pepperpot Club

The Sedbergh Pepperpot Club was founded in 1997 and exists to encourage any who wish to take up orchestral instruments and widen their horizons. There are some orchestral instruments available for loan with no hiring fee, merely a nominal payment for insurance cover, and there is support for promising young players of orchestral instruments living in and around Sedbergh and District.

Members pay a small subscription to join. In return they are offered a varied programme of mainly cultural events. Further funds for the young musicians are raised by means of a levy of a £1 'peppercorn' per person per event attended. Thus for the member, the fund-raising to assist in the musical education of local young people can go hand in hand with the opportunity for a continuing appreciation of the arts in general, often difficult to achieve in a rural district like ours.

Sedbergh Town Band

The Sedbergh Town band is a brass band of over 30 members with ages ranging from ten to over seventy years. The band has given many concerts, raising money for various charities and featured in the BBC 2 programme about the town twinning of Sedbergh with Zreče, Slovenia. Details of the band's concerts in the Sedbergh can be found on the Sedbergh events page. To read more about the Town Band see our Sedbergh Town Band page or visit the Sedbergh Town Band website.

Sedbergh & District History Society

The Society was founded in 1980 and now has members throughout the world. Its aims are to study, research, publish and stimulate interest in history but mainly in the history of the local area.

Winter lectures are held on the first and third Wednesdays of every month. Summer outings vary from local walks to full day excursions.

Non members are welcome to attend meetings for which there is an admission charge of £1.00 for members and £2.00 for non-members, to cover expenses incurred by the Society. Details of meetings are available on the Sedbergh & District History Society web site.

The Society maintains an archive in the Sedbergh Community Office, this contains much information of interest to people researching the history of the area or their local family history.

Sedbergh Golf Club

Set in the shadow of the Howgill Fells, the course is designed to offer a picturesque and simulating challenge to golfers of all standards, whilst retaining the aesthetic beauty of its natural surroundings.

The course is a mature parkland layout, with contoured greens and fairways bordered by trees and the waters of the rivers Dee and Rawthey. Nine interesting and varied holes, with different tee positions for the back 9 making a good test at par 70, with year round playability as an added bonus.

The club offers all the usual amenities of a shop, bar, catering and locker rooms with showers. Also available is a self-contained function suite for all types of events. There is ample car parking.

Telephone reservations are taken for tee times and you are strongly advised to book ahead to avoid disappointment.

For more information visit the Sedbergh Golf Club web site or telephone the clubhouse on 015396 21551.