North Yorkshire is England’s largest and most rural county, being officially nominated the most beautiful by Country Life magazine. To its east is the Moors National Park and to the west, separated by the arable Vales' of Mowbray and York is the 685 square miles of the Dales National Park. Immediately adjoining the eastern edge of Dales National Park is the nationally designated Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which covers 233 square miles of the most stunning countryside in England. The hills of these three nationally designated areas form the opposing backdrops to the central Vales in which lays historic Ripon with its grade 1 listed cathedral.

Surrounding Ripon is beautiful unspoilt countryside with scattered villages that time seems to have forgotten. What is so very special are the multitude of spectacular vistas from both to and out of the designated areas, the Vale being a composite component; any modern development seems magically to have be airbrushed out of the natural landscape that seems to go on for ever.

It is not just the landscape that makes the area so very special, it is its wildlife, historic buildings and abundance of archaeological treasures; there is so much it is only possible to share a few of our historic and cultural gems, missing out many more. We have included the Thornborough Henges, only a stones throw from the wind farm, described by English Heritage as the most important prehistoric site between Stonehenge and the Orkneys; the grade 1 Hackfall Gardens; Fountains Abbey, but of course so much has had to be missed.

Adjacent to Thornborough Henges are the Nosterfield Wetlands Nature Reserve attracting thousands of bird and wild fowl species that will be vulnerable to the wind turbines. The 16th century Hutton Hall as illustrated in a link from the ‘Threats’ page, will have turbines towering above; the list of currently wonderful heritage and landscapes at severe risk is endless - please follow the links on the left to view the very small chosen sample.