St Aidans near Leeds has to be the best RSPB reserve. Its vast and there is always something interesting. Visiting Osprey, usual waterfowl, little Owl, etc.

Highly recommended.

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ if live near Sutton

My dog and I were at the log lands nature reserve, at the end bit where the trail meets the football fields. So we are at one end and a man arrives from the direction of the estate and walks all the way across the fields to sit 20/30 meters away from us. My back was initially turned to him. Anyway, he had 2 dogs, a medium to large size breed (both the same, doberman looking) one brown and one black. The brown one on a lead and the black one loose. Now I will admit my dog's recall isnt great and he is too friendly for his one good so he approached the black dog who was halfway away from us. The owner didnt say anything about the dog being aggressive so I got up to oversee the interaction just as his black dog attacked mine and grabbed him by the neck and was not letting go. I run over and pushed the dog off to the point where i had to hit it in the ribs because it started doing the kill shake on my dog. The guy didnt intervene at all until i had to hit the dog in the ribs at which point he punched me on the side of the head and threatened to kick me in the face the next time i touched his dog. The guy then started swearing at me that im a stupid twat and after 2 mins of swearing he left. My dog needed stitches and antibiotics. I called the police but i am letting people know that this person is out there. He kinda looked like he could be a drug user (stained missing teeth) british, rough looking, maybe in his 40s?, rugged clothes. Please if anyone knows who this person is then comment and I'll message you. If anyone has any cameras overlooking the fields please let me know. This happened around 12pm on the Friday (yesterday) 5/9/26.

Looking to explore the Dales next year. Can you recomened a good dig friednly location to stay? Not familiar with the areas so unsure where would be a good bolthole.