Tiny rural villages in deepest Yorkshire Dales to benefit from superfast broadband to tackle digital divide

Ultra-fast broadband technology has been rolled out in the steep-sided valley of Coverdale, so remote its connectivity speeds are up to five times slower than the national average.

Internet access has become a “basic human right”, a rural commission set up by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) argued last year, warning poor connectivity in such areas is hindering economic growth and leaving tens of thousands in technology blackspots.

Now, under a £6.4m scheme called the Mobile Access North Yorkshire (MANY) initiative, state-of-the-art internet connections have been introduced, in the hope of establishing new enterprise while supporting existing business to flourish in a digital world.

Part-funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), it is hoped the Testbeds and Trials project can also bring a boost to the tourism sector, which is a cornerstone of the Yorkshire Dales’ economy and the region’s wider £9bn visitor industry.

Coun Greg White, NYCC’s executive member for digital connectivity, said the county was “leading the way”, with the project having the potential to be replicated elsewhere.

“This network will empower our rural communities and help our visitor economy to become even more successful,” he said.

And Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said this was just part of the plan to put rural Yorkshire in the “digital fast lane”, stressing a priority to “level up” rural areas’ connectivity.

“The benefits for the area are huge,” she said. “Local tourist attractions have already been brought into the 21st century using state-of-the-art augmented reality tech, and the network will connect those suffering with loneliness as well as limiting flood damage by monitoring the state of local roads.”

Levelling up

This remote dale, with tiny villages such as Carlton, West Scrafton, Melmerby and Agglethorpe and a population of 1,000 people, is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Access, by Quickline Communications Ltd, extends more than five miles from the nearest mast and could double as technology matures.

Company chief executive, Sean Royce, said connectivity here will “far exceed” that seen in many towns and cities: “It is also vital in terms of levelling up the North. Rural businesses can start to compete with other regions on a more level playing field and it will open up new markets for them.”

Built as a private folly decades ago, The Forbidden Corner has grown to become one of the country’s quirkiest tourist attractions with its labyrinth of hidden tunnels and chambers.

Now, with state-of-the-art internet connections brought in to this remotest corner of the Dales, it can bring its characters to life in new ways though augmented reality.

Tourism

For Kylie Simms, who lives near Bedale, it was entertaining to take pictures of her partner Callum Bowness with the attraction’s welcoming dragon. Cassandra Kitchin, who travelled from Morecambe with granddaughter Angelica Walker, added that the app was great fun.

This visitor attraction, which already draws up to 120,000 people a year to Coverdale, is among the first to benefit under the roll-out of the new network in the MANY scheme.

Nearby, hospitality and wedding venue The Saddle Rooms is also benefiting, and hopes it may mean it can attract, retain and recruit the best staff to this area.

Darren Weatherill is manager at The Forbidden Corner. He said: “Our customer base is loyal and we get a high proportion of visitors come back again and again.

“We have always wanted to be able to offer them more keeping the attraction exciting and engaging, but until recently we have always lacked the connectivity to really explore this opportunity.”

The site here has launched a digital ‘quest’, so that when people visit the attraction’s characters can be brought to life virtually through 5G-enabled augmented reality.

Staff at The Forbidden Corner worked with officials from Flo-culture, a partner of the MANY project, to develop the app.

It is hoped the wider ultrafast broadband network can be used to combat loneliness and isolation, connecting people to digital NHS services. It will also be used to monitor roads to protect against flash flooding, which left devastation in parts of the Yorkshire Dales in 2019.

Government funding totals £4.4m, with £2.2m coming from private businesses.

It is hoped the project, backed by a consortium including NYCC, could go some way to tackling regional inequalities and help bridge a digital divide between urban and rural areas.

This has long been an ambition of the North Yorkshire Rural Commission, which has previously called for a greater Government focus on inclusion and strategic growth.

A rural taskforce, looking at its recommendations, is due to publish a report later this year.

NYCC said it has also invested £85m to boost connectivity, launching its own company NYnet Ltd covering digital and broadband services.

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