Low Row offers different perspectives on history and landscape: from a late prehistoric fortified settlement to historic farm buildings and waterside walking trails. Hazel Brow’s experiences also have different focuses – animals, alpacas and traditional dry stone walls. For your own planning, the specific details of the Swaledale Walk 6 Melbecks are helpful; two other trails also explore historical and landscape themes.
Traces from Different Periods
How Hill, Low Whita is a Scheduled Monument with a late prehistoric fortified settlement. Low Whita (Bells) Farm (east) tells a different story of construction: the regionally characteristic farmhouse has associated outbuildings and garden enclosures. Its origins date back to the 17th century; it was later altered, including for a mid-19th-century butter factory. The buildings therefore represent different periods, from prehistory to later changes to a farm.
The Heritage Trail passes “Paradise”, a former textile workshop dating from 1653, and runs alongside the Hatter’s Syke waterfall. The Stable Block, a Grade II listed building dating from 1791, is also located at Paradise. Low Row United Reformed Church lies 150 metres beyond the Melbecks Way parking bay; a short, careful detour along the road leads to it. These stops offer different insights into the area’s history and buildings: a former workshop, a historic stable block and a church that can be visited as a detour.
Walking Trails with Different Focuses
The Swaledale Walk 6 Melbecks is 4.25 miles long, has 610 feet of ascent and takes around 2.5 to 3 hours. Its difficulty is easy/moderate. The starting point is a large parking bay on the south side of the main road between Low Row and Isles Bridge. The distance, ascent and approximate duration provide useful guidance for planning your day; the route is rated easy/moderate. For a different focus, the Heritage Trail offers a route featuring historic sites and Hatter’s Syke, while the Green Nature Trail centres on riverbanks, meadows and woodland.
Hazel Brow’s Green Nature Trail leads to the pebbly banks of the River Swale and through woodland along the river. Traditional hay meadows are also part of the route. During the growing season, they are home to colourful flowers and bees. This seasonal note helps you understand the meadow section as a seasonal nature feature, rather than assuming the flowers and bees are present all year round.
Experiences at Hazel Brow
At Hazel Brow’s Farm Animal Experience, visitors can feed and interact with goats, sheep, geese and alpacas. These hands-on experiences with farm animals also offer an authentic insight into life on a farm. A separate activity is the alpaca walk: a leisurely stroll through the pastures of Low Row in Swaledale.
During the dry stone walling experience, participants work with an experienced dry stone waller and receive practical guidance on building and repairing traditional dry stone walls. The experience also covers their history, heritage and significance in the Yorkshire Dales landscape. Hazel Brow’s three experiences are therefore clearly distinct: feeding and interacting with animals, walking with alpacas or working hands-on with dry stone walls. Alongside the trails, they offer a choice of architectural history, river and meadow landscapes, and activities with animals – without repeating the same theme across each experience.
Discover more destinations: Escrick, Stillingfleet, Otterburn, Bainbridge, Whorlton, Winteringham, Whenby, Malham.
See the full travel guide: North Yorkshire.
