Nidderdale AONB

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Landscape character is what makes an area unique. It is defined as "a distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that makes one landscape different from another, rather than better or worse."

An assessment of the landscape of the AONB was made in 1992 and identified eight distinct landscape types:

  • The Moorland Plateau is high, open and exposed, and is dominated by extensive tracts of dwarf-shrub vegetation such as heather. It contains the AONB's grouse moors and is internationally important for nature conservation.
  • The Grassland Plateau is also high and exposed and consists mainly of agriculturally improved grassland and wet pastures enclosed by dry stone walls.
  • The Upper Valley landscape includes the valley head basins extending into adjacent moorland. This contains several of the AONB's reservoirs notably Scar and Angram.
  • The Middle Valley occurs between the upland and associated moorlands upstream, and the broader, flatter Lower Valley further downstream. The Middle Valley, as at Pateley Bridge for example, is a more wooded landscape with many ancient broadleaved woodlands sitting alongside watercourses and on the valley sides.
  • In the Lower Valley (such as around Birstwith) damp grasslands, studded with individual trees, frequently occur  and drystone wall field boundaries are often replaced by hedges.
  • The Vale and Upland Fringe marks distinct zones of transition between the arable area of the Vale of York and the harsher, bleaker moorlands to the west.
  • Wharfedale (northern side) is a predominantly pastoral landscape ranging from grasslands and woodlands bordering the river, to 'in bye' nearer to the moor edges.

In 2003 Harrogate Borough Council undertook a more detailed assessment and this work identified 40 distinct landscape character areas in the AONB.  This assessment is designed to provide guidance for local planning authorities and other organisations to ensure that landscape character is respected as the countryside changes in response to new challenges.

Decisions about how to manage change must relate to the existing character of a place so that future landscapes can be planned for in a way that does not disrupt the attachment people have to their environment. 

 

 

 
 


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