THE WENSLEYDALE YORE. 125 



family of Metcalfe, is passed. On one occasion James the 

 First was the guest of Sir Thomas Metcalfe. The river 

 Bain flows into the Yore not far from the station at 

 Askrigg. I must not forget to draw your attention to a 

 village on the south bank. Wurton is only interesting 

 because the writer of this is a shareholder in a lead mine 

 there, and he has more calls of ^2 per share than dividends 

 of that sum. The moral is : — Don't take shares in lead 

 mines : firstly, because very few mines pay, and secondly, 

 because they tend to spoil our beautiful trout streams. I 

 trust that the act for the prevention of the pollution of 

 rivers will compel all miners to filter the lead and impuri- 

 ties out of the wash-water. On the north bank is Mill 

 Ghyll beck, not remarkable for the number of trout to be 

 found in it ; but if the stream be followed up for a mile or 

 so, the water-fall of Mill Ghyll, considered by many to be 

 the most beautiful in the valley, will be arrived at. This 

 fall well repays the time and trouble required to reach it. 

 Returning to the Yore, we see on the south bank the 

 village of Bainbridge, through which the river Bain 

 passes. Two miles up this stream is the largest natural 

 lake in Yorkshire — Semerwater. It has a circumference 

 of about three miles, and its greatest depth is about 

 forty-five feet. It contains some good trout, and also 

 bream and dace. Above Semerwater, the valley divides 

 into three — Cragdale, Roedale, and Bardale. In these 

 dales, and in others on Semerwater side, there are water- 

 falls at Roedale House, Park Scar, High Blean, and 

 Barnet. At Low Tors near by, the lake pours down 

 from a height of about eighty feet, in three zig-zag falls of 



