The town near Greater Manchester home to one of the UK’s best cheese shops

Market towns have a certain charm to them. Larger than a village, they offer more things to do and usually have a strong offering when it comes to dining options.

Then there’s the fact they’re usually found in picturesque rural locations with breathtaking countryside right on their doorstep. And naturally they become a hive of activity on market days.

On the doorstep of the Yorkshire Dales, Settle is a market town bursting with life and only a stone’s throw away from some of the region’s most stunning scenery. It’s every inch a traditional market town with quaint tea rooms, including the intriguingly named Ye Olde Naked Man Cafe, independent businesses and a market held every Tuesday.

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At around a 90-minute drive from Greater Manchester, it’s both a destination that’s doable for a day out and for a weekend away. It has several unique features to boast about: it’s where you can hop on board the iconic Settle to Carlisle railway, visit the ‘smallest’ art gallery in the world (found inside a red telephone box) and it’s home to reputedly the oldest music hall in the world, the 19th-century Victoria Hall, which predates the Wiltons’ Music Hall in London by five years.

Now Settle has got another string in its bow. Only a stone’s throw away from the town centre is the Courtyard Dairy which has recently been named among the seven best cheese shops in the UK by The Times.

The publication said that the Courtyard Dairy “is a brilliant place to seek out lesser-known cheese” and recommends paying a visit to the shop “after a day’s hiking”. The Times recommended several cheeses to buy, including the Yoredale, a Wensledyale