St John the Baptist Chapel

The small stone chapel sits quietly on the outskirts of Skipton, easy to miss if you're not looking for it. St John the Baptist is a proper working church, not some tourist attraction roped off behind velvet and admission fees - which is refreshing. Inside, it's intimate and genuinely peaceful, with the kind of worn flagstones and simple wooden pews that tell you this place has been doing its job for centuries.

The real appeal here is the walk to get there. From Howgill Lodge, it's barely a mile on foot through decent countryside, the sort of gentle ramble that breaks up a caravan holiday without demanding proper hiking boots or three hours of your day. The chapel itself rewards about twenty minutes of poking around - the stonework is lovely if you're into that sort of thing, and there's enough local history baked into the walls to keep history buffs occupied.

Families with young kids might find it a bit quiet and short-lived as a standalone stop, but it works well as part of a larger walk combining the nearby parks and Skipton itself. If you're already based at Wharfedale or Wood Nook, it's the sort of destination that justifies an afternoon ramble rather than a special trip. Don't expect gift shops or interpretive panels - it's just a church doing what churches do, which is fine by us. The walk matters more than the destination here.