Queens Arms - Litton

05/06/2026

Back this Sunday 5pm - 7pm eat in/beer garden or takeaway 🍕

31/05/2026

🍻🍻We still have a few tables left today for Sunday Lunch and our full menu, 12-4 Then back on with our handmade pizza menu at 5pm - 7pm eat in or takeaway 🍕

29/05/2026

Oh heck who let loose on the AI ?? 😅
Available Sunday 5pm - 7pm

28/05/2026

Lovely Littondale meadows 🌷

21/05/2026

This bank holiday Sunday join us for pizza 🍕 in the beer garden ☀️ or in the pub or takeaway 🥂 🍕 ☀️ available 5pm until 7pm.. expecting to be busy so offering preorder on 01756 700886 ( last orders for preorder 6.30)

17/05/2026

This Sunday 5pm until 7pm no need to book, eat in or takeaway 🍕

13/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HBaEE5aVo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Rivers are great walking companions yet Littondale's River Skirfare can be elusive, vanishing out of sight without warning.
Sometimes known as ‘losing streams’, limestone rivers like the Skirfare hold many a secret as they plunge underground in drier weather to reappear miles further downstream, leaving just a few pools in the bedrock.

'Skirr' derives from Old Norse meaning bright and 'far' denotes a river course. The River Skirfare starts at the top of Littondale when two streams, Cosh Beck and Foxup Beck join.

As it meanders lazily down the 9-mile length of the dale, before emptying into the Wharfe near Kilnsey, the river’s leaky limestone bedrock, particularly above Litton, causes it to plummet down into its secret world of caverns and passageways carved out over the centuries. No wonder cavers make a beeline for Littondale.

At Arncliffe, the Skirfare reappears. Back in 1863 Charles Kingsley, who had once stayed in the village, was inspired by the sight of the river and used it as the basis for his novel The Water Babies in which the main character Tom plunges into the water and joins the fairies and nymphs in their watery world.

It’s also at Arncliffe that the Skirfare teases fly fishermen with the prospect of catching a wild brown trout. The clear, limestone-fed water harbours plenty of food for trout to grow well, but according to Yorkshire Dales Fly Fishing, the fish are difficult, smart and likely to spook, making it a test of skills and determination!
Words & photo: Amanda Brown