The "capital" of Upper Wharfedale, Grassington is a thriving modern tourist centre, with its main shops grouped round the attractive cobbled central square. The village developed as a tourist attraction after the decline of the lead mining industry, which gave it its 17th and 18th century cottages. The Devonshire family invested heavily in the lead industry, building smelt mills and driving mines deep into the hillsides. There was a settlement here for many centuries before that, of course. The Angles were here, and long before them the Brigantes farmed the surrounding hillsides. You can see the remains of an Iron Age fort in Grass Wood. For the first 60 years of this century the railway ran to the adjoining village, Threshfield, and it brought huge numbers of visitors from the West Riding towns. To them, the cottages of the former mining community were idyllic residences, so that many of them fulfilled their dreams by taking up residence here.