Middleham
by Sjalen
The little village of Middleham is located just outside the Yorkshire Dales national park boundaries and less visited than many places around it. Still, it deserves a visit for the great ruins of Middleham Castle, once the childhood home of Richard III. On top of that, the village is a racing horse centre so the whole village is full of stables. This is because already in Richard's days, the monks at nearby Jervaulx Abbey (which you can also visit the ruins of) were breeding horses for the knights. Today, they come a lot sleeker than the destroyers of the Middle ages though. Nearby, you can also visit Castle Bolton where Mary, Queen of Scots was held a prisoner for a while and managed to escape.