The Dales.
The most stubbornly practical parish on the register. Nineteen of its meets in two years have ended with somebody being talked out of buying the wrong tractor.
The ground it covers.
The Yorkshire Dales — Wharfedale, Swaledale, Wensleydale and Ribblesdale. The boundary follows the landscape rather than the county line, which is why it looks wrong on an administrative map and right on a soil one.
It meets last Thursday of the month, 7.30pm. The back room of a pub in Grassington, which the landlord lets them have for nothing on the understanding that they buy beer.
Tom Braithwaite is the warden. Fencing contractor out of Kettlewell. Took the wardenship because nobody else put their hand up. The wardenship is unpaid, was not appointed by us, and can only be ended by the parish itself.
- 1,914
- members
- June 2024
- opened
- Last Thursday of the month
- cadence
The details.
The parish
- Ground
- The Yorkshire Dales — Wharfedale, Swaledale, Wensleydale and Ribblesdale
- Members
- 1,914Register at 30 August 2026.
- Rank by size
- 3 of 12
- Opened
- June 2024
- Cadence
- Last Thursday of the month, 7.30pm
- Venue
- The back room of a pub in Grassington, which the landlord lets them have for nothing on the understanding that they buy beer
The warden
- Warden
- Tom BraithwaiteA volunteer member, not staff, and not paid.
- Day job
- Fencing contractor out of Kettlewell. Took the wardenship because nobody else put their hand up.
- Confirmed by
- The parish, at a meet
- Can be stood down by
- The parish, at a meetNot by us. That is deliberate.
Everything on this page is the parish’s own, published by its warden. We host it and we do not write it.
What it actually does.
Walling days
Four a year, on somebody’s gap. Free labour in exchange for being taught properly.
Tup sales convoy
They share cars to Hawes and Kirkby Stephen, which halves the diesel and doubles the arguing.
The what-not-to-buy list
A running document of kit that disappointed people. It is the most-read thing the parish has produced.
Cheese, obviously
Wensleydale and Swaledale makers come and talk once a year.
The next three things in the diary.
Published by the warden. If it says nothing is in the diary, nothing is in the diary.
Monthly meet
Grassington, 7.30pm. Agenda: winter feed prices and who is doing the walling day.
Walling day
A forty-metre gap above Conistone. Nine places, gloves provided, tea is not.
Monthly meet
Grassington, 7.30pm.
Who runs it.
One volunteer and a register. There is no third layer.
Tom Braithwaite
Fencing contractor out of Kettlewell. Took the wardenship because nobody else put their hand up.
The parish
1,914 members, of whom about thirty-one come to any given meet, which is a completely respectable turnout for anything.
What members of this parish said.
It is a pub with a WhatsApp group attached. That is not a criticism.
I read the minutes, I have used the lending list twice and I have never been to a meet. Nobody has ever made me feel odd about that.
Not in this one?
Placement is by postcode and moving takes a tap. Twelve parishes, all free.
