Settle For a Couple of Hours

A while back enroute to the football match Morecambe (0) v Bradford City(1) I stopped in Settle for a couple of hours. You can park in the market square free for that long if you are fortunate enough to find a spot.

I spent 30 minutes snapping away with my camera and learning more about the town. It is a long time since I stayed overnight in Settle but with excellent walking in the surrounding area that is something I will put right this year. I bought two more footpath maps and trails from a quick visit to the Tourist information.

I like to visit the secondhand bookshop on the corner of Cheapside. This time I came away with 5 books for £3 and was very pleased until I realised I need to find time to read them all.

NSPCC

I had forgotten that the founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was a Settle man. A stone in tribute to Rev Benjamin Waugh is incorporated into the wall of Lloyds Bank.
In 1881 Liverpool Mercury published a letter that highlighted the problem of child cruelty “…whilst we have a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, can we not do something to prevent cruelty to children?”
Lord Shaftesbury an early reformer advised the Reverend “The evils you state are enormous and indisputable, but they are of so private, internal and domestic a nature as to be beyond the reach of legislation.” Between then they formed a pressure group to focus attention on the issue and by 1889 the Society had 32 branches throughout the UK. Each branch raised funds to support an inspector, who investigated reports of child abuse and neglect.

See Yorkshire Roots of NSPCC and History of the NSPCCpdf

Just enough time was left for two bacon and egg butties from the Naked Man Cafe, Mmm excellent.
I used to regularly use the ‘Settle Down’ caff when that was a TV comedians catch phrase. Now what was he called?

Watching the many buses go through the town made me realise what a good location for walkers and tourist Settle was. See Dales Bus brand or web site
Sadly not enough time to visit Victoria Cave but worth coming back for another visit soon.