Clapham Village is a conservation village and is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is a pretty village with a range of small shops and cafés and a pub. The Village Store has a post office and banking facilities.

There is a network of footpaths around Clapham, one of which is a nature trail which leads to Ingleborough Cave.

GAPING GILL, the best known pothole in the area will be accessable during the late May and August bank holidays. For a fee (last year, £10 - including return!), a caving club sets up a winch to allow people to access the cave. The dates for operation are May 28th-June 3rd, and the week running up to the August Bank Holiday. Winches close at noon on the last day. Queues can be long, especially at weekends.

Ingleton has a greater range of shops and pubs. There is a bank as well as post office. There are a number of footpaths and trails – The Waterfalls Walk, and access to Ingleborough and Whernside.

There are numerous nature reserves in the area; the RSPB centre at Leighton Moss is 30 minutes away. The southern Lake District is about 45 minutes drive.

The market towns of Settle, Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton & Kendal are within easy reach by car; with the historic spa town of Harrogate not much further.

The Dales is a superb area for outdoor activities such as walking & caving, & if you wish to enhance your skills, these can be learned from Yorkshire Dales Guides (www.yorkshiredalesguides.co.uk) in Stainforth.

For a series of walks in the Dales, several easily accessable from here, go to http://happyhiker.co.uk. We have not tried any yet but the site appears well organised & the walks well researched.

Bicycles & cycling tours can be arranged through www.offtherails.org.uk

Other up & coming events, festivals etc:

27th May - 4th June 2012: Ingleton Overground Underground Festival (www.ogug.co.uk)

2nd June - 8th June 2012: Gaping Gill winch open for public descents. Also in the week running up to the August Bank Holiday. Last August the fee for the descent & guided tour (& return to the surface!) was £15 - well worth it.

8th, 9th & 10th June: Rough Beats  Music Festival, Clapham (www.roughbeatsfestival.co.uk)

5th - 7th October 2012: Ingleton Folk Weekend