Snowy Yorkshire villages look best the morning after, and that’s also when the gritters haven’t reached the lane you are about to drive down.
The popular version is a photograph. A stone village, a white green, smoke from one chimney. It spreads fast as soon as snow falls, and it makes the whole county look soft.
Most people miss the plan behind the picture. These are working villages on upland roads, and North Yorkshire Council says it cannot grit them all. Its own network covers 4,400km, or 54% of the county’s roads. National Highways manages motorways and trunk roads such as the A1, A66 and A64. The rest is down to you.
This guide picks five villages worth seeing in winter and tells you what I can confirm about each. I cannot promise snow. Nobody can. I can tell you where to go when it comes.
Quick Facts
Region: North Yorkshire; the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors
Best for: Winter photography, quiet pubs, short walks from the car
Getting there: By car in most cases; check roads before you set out
Time needed: A morning per village; a long weekend for all five
Hubberholme: The Village With a Candle Auction
Hubberholme sits in Upper Wharfedale where Langstrothdale meets the main dale, with Buckden the nearest village. St Michael and All Angels’ church is small and Norman, with most of it dating from the 12th century. Its oak roof was completed in 1558. Robert Thompson of Kilburn made the pews, and his trademark mouse is carved into the woodwork.
J. B. Priestley called Hubberholme the “smallest, pleasantest place in the world”, and his ashes lie in the churchyard. The church was the wedding venue in the final episode of All Creatures Great and Small. After snow, the scene is simple: a low stone church with the inn opposite.
That pub is the George Inn, which stood as the vicarage before it became a pub in 1754. It still keeps a candle lit in the bar whenever it is open, a habit from its vicarage days, when a candle in the window told parishioners the vicar was home.
The candle gives its name to the Hubberholme Parliament, held on a Monday early in January. In 2027 the date is Monday 4 January. A short service at the church at 8pm is followed by an auction at the George from 8.30pm. Bidders bid on 16 acres of church land, and the highest bidder when the candle burns out wins. Book places in advance; the event is often full. The rules are strict: subletting is not allowed, and horses and chickens are banned from the field. Evening food at the George is limited to early evening on auction night.
Park considerately and stay on the road and public paths. December daylight is short, so arrive in the morning.
Where to Stay: The George Inn, Hubberholme. The site mentions room reservations and a winter break: three nights for the price of two if you eat dinner on at least two of them, on selected nights from November to March, excluding Christmas week. Call 01756 760223 for opening days.
Worth Knowing: Auction proceeds go to local charities, and the leaseholder must keep the field free of moles.
Snowy Yorkshire Villages: Muker’s Hay Meadows
Muker is at the western end of Swaledale. At the 2011 census, it had 249 people. The village church, St Mary the Virgin, was built in the reign of Elizabeth I and consecrated in 1580. It was restored in 1891 and listed Grade II* on 7 December 1966.
Wikipedia notes the name comes from Old Norse for “the narrow newly cultivated field”; the flower-rich hay meadows are described as internationally important, and farmers are paid to manage them without artificial fertiliser. After snow, they are white and empty.
The economy was farming first, then lead mining in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Muker was also a major centre of hand knitting. Look at the meadows from the road and public paths, and stay off them. Check the gritting map for your route in, because not every road is gritted.
Where to Stay: The White Hart Inn, Hawes. It is the verified base I can recommend for the upper dales. I could not confirm an independent place to stay in Muker itself.
Worth Knowing: Muker Show is held every year on the first Wednesday in September.
Hutton-le-Hole: Sheep on the Green
Hutton-le-Hole lies about 7 miles north-west of Pickering inside the North York Moors National Park. Swaledale sheep graze freely on the village green, which is common grazing land, and Hodge Beck runs the length of the village under stone footbridges. Keep dogs under close control near the sheep and do not feed or move them.
The 1086 Domesday Book records the village as “Hoton”. By the late 13th century, St Mary’s Abbey in York had ceded it. In the 1600s it became a Quaker settlement, and the Meeting House was built in 1698. People used it for worship until 1859, and it is now a private house, so look from the road.
The Ryedale Folk Museum covers six acres and more than 20 historic buildings, including an Iron Age roundhouse, an Elizabethan manor house and a working blacksmith. It is closed on Fridays, and opens 10am to 4pm in October and November. I could not confirm its December hours, so check before you go. Our full guide to Hutton-le-Hole has more.
Stand by the beck, keep the sheep in the frame and give them room.
Where to Stay: The White Swan Inn, Pickering. Our guide puts Hutton-le-Hole about 7 miles north-west of Pickering.
Worth Knowing: The 2013 BBC drama Death Comes to Pemberley used the museum’s Stang End cottage as a filming location.
Goathland: A Station on a Moor
Goathland sits about 500 feet above sea level in the North York Moors, around 8 miles inland from Whitby. Its station opened in 1865 on the original Whitby to Pickering line, and became part of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway after volunteers reopened the line in 1973. The railway runs a regular timetable from April to November, so check its site for winter events before you plan around a train. Our Goathland guide has the full story.
Screen history still pulls people here. Heartbeat ran on ITV from 1992 to 2010, with the station as Aidensfield, and the station played Hogsmeade in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001.
For snow, go to Mallyan Spout. The waterfall is 70 feet high and about a 20-minute walk from the village centre, with the path starting beside the Mallyan Spout Hotel. A circular route via Beck Hole is about three miles and two hours. Paths near waterfalls can ice over, so wear grippy boots and allow extra time.
Where to Stay: The Goathland Hotel, the working pub and hotel known on screen as the Aidensfield Arms.
Worth Knowing: The station dates to 1865, 100 years before British Railways closed the line in 1965.
Hawes: The Town That Starts at 850 Feet
Hawes is a market town, not a village, but it belongs here for one reason. It sits at roughly 850 feet above sea level, making it one of England’s highest market towns. Country Living ranked it sixth on a list of Britain’s most overlooked towns, based on weather data, outdoor activities, pub numbers, and price.
The railway station closed to passengers in the late 1950s and now houses the Dales Countryside Museum. Tuesday market runs from 9am to 4pm. Wensleydale Creamery still makes cheese in the town, and its visitor centre has a viewing gallery and a shop with more than 20 cheeses to taste.
A mile outside the town is Gayle Mill, built in 1784. It gives you a warm stop before the drive home.
Nearby Hardraw Force drops 100 feet. Our guide gives entry as £4, paid through the grounds of the Green Dragon Inn, but that was the last figure reported, so confirm it before you go. Check the path for ice before you set off, and turn back if it looks unsafe.
Where to Stay: The White Hart Inn, Hawes.
Worth Knowing: The old railway station now houses the Dales Countryside Museum.
Practical Tips
- Check the council’s gritting map before you leave. It shows recent gritting and priority routes, but it doesn’t guarantee a road’s condition.
- Expect Priority 1 routes to be done between 5am and 7am, and Priority 2 routes between 7.30am and 10am. Lanes between villages may not be on either list.
- Most scheduled buses and three-quarters of school buses run on gritted routes. Do not rely on a bus to a lane that is not.
- Use a village car park or church lay-by rather than stopping on the road. Do not block a field gate.
- Call before you drive to any pub or museum. Opening days change in winter, and the George Inn’s winter break excludes Christmas week.
- Carry boots with grip, a torch and a hot drink. Daylight is short in December.
Responsible Visiting
These are living villages. Park so you don’t block a farm gate or driveway, give sheep room, and stay out of meadows and fields. Do not walk on private ground to get a shot.
Reader Q&A
Will it snow when I go?
I cannot promise it. This guide shows where to go if it does. Check the forecast the night before.
Are the roads gritted?
The council grits 54% of the county’s roads, and says it cannot grit them all. Trunk roads are National Highways’ job.
Is the Hubberholme candle auction open to visitors?
The event page says places must be booked in advance and that it often sells out. Food at the George is limited to early evening on auction night.
Does the steam railway run in winter?
Our Goathland guide gives the regular season as April to November. Check the railway’s own site for winter events.
Are the pubs open in winter?
Opening days change. The George Inn’s winter break runs on selected nights from November to March and excludes Christmas week, so call before you go.
Where to Stay
The George Inn, Hubberholme. Rooms and a winter break on selected nights.
The White Hart Inn, Hawes. A base for Hawes and the upper dales, including Muker.
The White Swan Inn, Pickering. A short drive from Hutton-le-Hole.
The Goathland Hotel, Goathland. The village pub and hotel.
For more, see 5 Yorkshire Dales villages worth visiting, 7 historic Yorkshire villages, Yorkshire pub stays, Hawes ranked sixth, Tan Hill Inn and Yorkshire stargazing stays.
Snow doesn’t last, but the stone, the sheep, and the candle in the George’s window are there whether it falls or not.
