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thekettlewell

Winner of TGO magazine HOSTEL OF THE YEAR 2026!

Whilst it has been hot, we (Saul and Billy, the do

Whilst it has been hot, we (Saul and Billy, the dog) have been running along the river a bit more. This morning was particularly beautiful with a quiet breeze and no-one around. Now that the stretch of river at Burnsall has been closed to visitors, maybe that more folk will be coming up-dale to see our little bit of paradise….

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

Thanks to @yorkshiredales for fixing the stepping stones, very nice indeed.

As a business we do our best for all of our guests

As a business we do our best for all of our guests to have a nice time. We talk to people when they are here, often saying positive things, but we are always listening for opportunities for improvements.

We also really appreciate 5* online reviews, typically on @tripadvisor or google, which are genuinely helpful in showing new people that this would be a safe, wholesome place to come and stay….

But, but far the most preferred form of feedback, the absolute gold standard, is an A4 envelope of handwritten letters from a school group who stayed here a couple of weeks ago, we had a very fun lunch reading excerpts out to each other.

Although it isn’t cool to say online which school it was, if you are seeing this, we appreciate you too!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

Nothing says that we have been busier this year th

Nothing says that we have been busier this year than, when I look back through my pictures of the last few weeks, there are a lot of pictures of cooking large quantities of food rather than pictures of being out on the hills! Although, I do wonder what it was that I found interesting enough to take a picture of boiled eggs, although there were a lot of them, maybe we were still a little sleepy….

Anyway, now that we have gotten to the summer holidays, it quietens down a little, generally less school groups, so a bit more space for normal people, if you know what I mean….

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We have had a real busy time recently with @dofeuk

We have had a real busy time recently with @dofeuk groups coming and going, schools having their little residential trips and a bit of time for some ‘normal folk’ to come for a walking holiday in the sunshine! Altogether a very happy sort of a hostel I think, slightly quieter before another busy weekend……..

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We are always looking for improvements where we ca

We are always looking for improvements where we can, we have recently moved over to using @theseepcompany dish sponges, we have tried them in our big kitchen and have now put them in our self catering kitchen too. Reducing the amount of non-recyclable plastic waste is a small step in the right direction.

We have had a lovely school here all week, tonight we are cooking fish and chips, tasty peas with homemade tartar sauce, Eton Mess and a fresh fruit salad for a couple of the teachers who have opted for a lighter cuisine…

It is the @uwfra_official_ 3 peaks challenge this weekend! So we will have a whole bunch of runners here all ready to run or walk in support of the life saving work that they do! If it is too late for you to get in training for this weekend, we are taking bookings for the same weekend next year and already have a few people who are committed to the event in ‘27!

Keep cool.

@yhaofficial
@indiehostelsuk

Unsurprisingly, it is nice and warm here too! We h

Unsurprisingly, it is nice and warm here too! We have been doing our best keeping the windows and curtains closed during the days, and open doors in the evening which has been actually pretty good for keeping the place cool! We also invested in a pile of fans for the rooms which have been doing their bit…

Anyway, it is really nice here and sitting in a shady spot by the river is as delightful a way to spend a day as you could wish for!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We are delighted to say that we have just recieved

We are delighted to say that we have just recieved a @tripadvisor travellers choice award for 2026!

There aren’t many awards in life, but this one which comes from having consistantly good reviews on Tripadvisor is a very welcome one! Thanks to everyone who stayed and left a kind review, we really appreciate the support!

In other news, it has been really showery! Some lovely moments between the downpours, I expect that the drying room will be put to good use when everyone arrives…

And they have been filming down in Grassington, which is pretty cool to see (although it is harder to pick up a bread order from the bakery)

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We had a busy sort of week, Varied with lots of di

We had a busy sort of week, Varied with lots of different sorts of people!

We started the week with some nice walkers and families, then came a really great school for a few days who coped incredibly well with some lousy weather, we cooked them huge quantities of delicious food to warm them up!

Then a quick turnaround for the @outdooradventuregirlsuk who were here for a really well organised social weekend, it is always a pleasure to have them here!

Also today in the village, there was some fell runners competing in a BOFRA fell race, which we could see from our top floor…

Let’s see what this week will bring!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

Here is a throwback to a simpler time, when the el

Here is a throwback to a simpler time, when the elders of the village would put on an event for the delight of the youngsters, visitors and residents alike, for the joy of being together doing something slightly silly for the pleasure of it.
Happy days in Kettlewell

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

When it is warm our #freewater outside tap gets so

When it is warm our #freewater outside tap gets some good business! Cycling groups gather round after riding up the dale, we have a dog bowl for our four legged friends. Carrying enough fluid for a hot day can be a challenge, fill your bottles when you can!
It is so beautiful to be outside, topping off the vitamin D, getting a little colour in our cheeks, getting the sun hats out of the wardrobe, very nice!
@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk #freetapwater #reduceplasticwaste #refillyorkshire

Over the years I have managed to persuade my runni

Over the years I have managed to persuade my running partner, Billy not to pick up and eat all of the lamb tails that are on the trails at the moment - which is a real improvement!

Honestly, I should probably set off on my run this morning a little earlier, it was so nice to be out and there a goo few folks out on the hills, which is always good to see!

Let’s hope that there will be enough water in the beck tomorrow for the duck race, it is quite exciting when there isn’t a lot of water as more ducks get stuck, it’s like when there are a lot of crashes at the beginning of a sports game (please insert your own sports analogy here, they are really not my metier)

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

On Monday, we have the annual Kettlewell Duck Race

On Monday, we have the annual Kettlewell Duck Race!

At 3.00pm 1000 Rubber ducks will be will be released into the beck, you can buy a numbered ticket and if your duck comes in the top three you’ll win a cash prize!

You can come for a lovely day out, go for a walk, watch the race, maybe have a meal in one of the pubs, the weather is going to be amazing, it is a really nice day out!

#kettlewell

One of the nice ladies, Rhona, who hosts the coffe

One of the nice ladies, Rhona, who hosts the coffee morning every Tuesday here at the hostel gave us a new bell that she picked up in the Himalayas!

Having a bell at reception when we are around the place busy working away means that we don’t have just be at reception, we are always happy to come and grab you a beer, a towel, or to help with walk planning, or just to have a nice chat!

#ringmybell @yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We have had a really busy week! This week we have

We have had a really busy week!

This week we have had a lovely school group here on a whistle stop tour of all of the fun things in the north of England! (Beamish, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Bizzy Lizzies fish and chips, pony trekking and fishing in Kilnsey, football in the village….) fantastic. The teachers were amazing, working really hard to give their pupils a memorable trip!

They left this morning, a quick (but thorough) tidy up and and back ready for a weekend with a really nice group who came last year for a 70th birthday party, liked it so much that they booked to come again the following year!

Anyway. It’s dead nice here!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

Now, how many mugs do you think you could get away

Now, how many mugs do you think you could get away with, as a 40 bed hostel (we can sleep up to 42 people as a couple of the beds are doubles).

Not one person has had to go without coffee, no one has noticed that we were running low.

For further context, we bought 60 of the orange mugs maybe 7 years ago….

24 mugs, that is how many.

We have been looking at new mugs for months, and finally we pulled the trigger!

We have just received a delivery of 100 new, yellow (maybe ochre, with a black rim) mugs, no one will be without a stylish drinking vessel for at least the next 10 years, maybe ever!

#newmugday #newmugsmakemehappy #outwiththeoldinwiththenew

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We are happy to say that we have some nice reviews

We are happy to say that we have some nice reviews on @tripadvisor and recently we have been lucky enough to have had some very kind ones!

Until we received this last one, I don’t think that I had even thought for a second that our place might be considered quirky, but looking at the garden, maybe I see their point!

Just walking round the village recently. There are so many birds squalking and chirping, it is just a delight!

Thanks to anyone who has left us a great review, we really appreciate the support!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

Sometimes things break, and once in a while, somet

Sometimes things break, and once in a while, something gets put on a hot ring that shouldn’t go on a hot ring! When we can, we try to take these times as opportunities to improve, maybe even to re-think what we are doing a little…

Inspired by a guest who mentioned how good our kitchen was for low-tox cooking with plenty of stainless steel pans for everyone to use, we thought that we would invest in some really nice new, stainless steel washing up bowls from @elephantboxuk

Whilst it might not be a ground breaking improvement, small steps in the right direction are still good to make.

In other news, it really is beautiful outside along the river today! Lambs everywhere, and birds.….. so many birds!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk #lowtoxliving #lowtox

A bit of a photo dump from the last couple of days

A bit of a photo dump from the last couple of days out on the hills! There are loads of lambs in the fields, the flowers seem to be doing well too
We are pretty busy around the hostel with a really nice very studious group from @universityofleeds who have filled the place very nicely!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We spent the morning working out in the field (lit

We spent the morning working out in the field (literally!) on proofreading ‘Walks from Kettlewell’ who knew that checking that signposts exist, and that stiles, gates and walls are really there would take so long!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We have had a few days away this week (normal serv

We have had a few days away this week (normal service is now resumed with a hostel full of nice people!) it is great to visit London, see our son and absorb some culture, but my goodness it is nice to be back in the dales!

I’m about 200 pages into #infinitejest it is a real mountain of a book…

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

We have had an exciting sort of a day here in Kett

We have had an exciting sort of a day here in Kettlewell, they have been filming a certain TV show set in oldie timey Yorkshire Dales on our street, it is really interesting to see how much organisation goes on behind the scenes, we are looking forward to seeing it on tv later in the year (maybe next year?)

Meanwhile out in the hills, it has been an absolute beaut! We are just about booked solid for the weekend, maybe the nicest weekend of the year so far? Lucky people!

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk @yorkshiredales

We have a busy week! Loads of people doing lots of

We have a busy week! Loads of people doing lots of nice things, we had a group who were here looking at plants and gardens around the area, we had a really lovely 11th birthday this weekend, some couples just having a few days walking in the dales, re-connecting with nature. All good stuff!

Meanwhile, the garden is looking good, the re-covered deckchairs are very fine indeed!

Our continental breakfast has been going well recently, with any breakfast from our menu, you can help yourself to local granola, home-made marmalade, yogurt and compote. We only serve Lavazza coffee and Yorkshire tea (somethings are too important to compromise on!)

In an attempt to make the most boring post yet… W

In an attempt to make the most boring post yet…

We use a @codelocksuk on our front door, it has been smart and reliable and I can change the code easily so the hostel is good and secure.

Last week a spring broke inside the lock, and rather than having to call out a locksmith, I called Codelocks in Berkshire who sold me a new spring and (after another call with Amy) managed to get everything back together working and good to go!

(We have a spare lock for the front door, so we are still safe and secure)

Being able to buy simple spare parts to repair, rather than replace, is really valuable and a little bit of support was so helpful to get us back up and running.

Meanwhile, it has been sunny and showery out in the dales, you sort of need all of your clothes with you, but when the sun come out it really is spectacular

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

It has been nice and busy this last few weeks, som

It has been nice and busy this last few weeks, some really nice groups, lots of nice families and people travelling solo. We had a great bunch up from the West Midlands, and another from just down the road in Bingley! It just goes to show that you don’t have to go far to have a great holiday!

There has been some beautiful moments out on the hills, with an occasional shower, it all goes to make for a richer experience though!

A walk around the village after dinner is really lovely with so many birds chattering around the place! @merlin.bird.id

@yhaofficial @indiehostelsuk

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The Kettlewell Hostel
Whernside House, Kettlewell, North Yorkshire, BD235QU
01756 760232
hello@thekettlewellhostel.co.uk

OS Grid Ref: SD970724
Lat: 54.1472ºN Long: 2.0475ºW
w3w: stow.chuckling.hobbit

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