THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

The origin of the name Pikedale is unclear: it may derive from the freshwater predator, which are said to be abundant in the dale’s deep, mossy pools; the Old English pic, or pointed object, referencing its jagged extremities; or the Old Norse pika, meaning virgin, or maid, perhaps implying the purity of the waters that make up the restless, eddying beck at its bottom.  In late summer the beck, which one must traverse to reach the dale’s head, is overhung by bilberry.