Focus on the Dales’ ‘own Niagara Falls’

Presenters Hugh Dennis and Julia Bradbury were at Malham in the latest episode of BBC One show The Great British Countryside last week and the programme used computer graphics to explain how the dramatic limestone rock feature was created.

Hugh, who said he had often visited the Dales as a child, explained the dramatic changes that shaped the much-loved cove which was once under the sea.

“The seabed that would turn into limestone began experiencing earthquakes,” he said. “Over millions of years, a fault deep under the sea floor made part of it drop. Eventually the sea dried up and there was desert, but the place was under constant change.

“In fact 300 million years of drama later it was even covered in ice, which melted, sending trillions of tonnes of water cascading over the drop in the ground. It would have been like Yorkshire’s own Niagara Falls, sculpting and eroding Malham Cove to the place I love today.”

Hugh added: “Malham Cove has been through a lot. It’s been a seabed, it’s suffered earthquakes, it’s had waterfalls pouring all over it, but it’s come through it all and it’s ended up as a national treasure that’s looking better and better with age.”

During the programme, climber Tim Emmett was filmed scaling Malham Cove for the first time.

Meanwhile, co-host Julia studied the fascinating limestone pavement at Malham.

She explained: “The ice scoured away the surface leaving huge flat areas of rock. This is limestone, a vast patio of it forming the classic craggy Yorkshire landscape. Set foot on it and it’s one weird place – almost other-worldly. This spot is so weird they filmed a scene from Harry Potter here.”

Later in the episode, which was dedicated to Yorkshire landscapes, Hugh travelled deep below the Craven hillside, exploring the 344ft Gaping Gill cave on Ingleborough.

He also met Clapham bride Jude Onions, and her bridegroom Johnny Latimer, whose marriage was blessed in a cave last year.

The episode can still be viewed on the BBC iPlayer.