PEOPLE in the know will be beating a path to Craven in 2024, according to National Geographic, to visit Broughton Sanctuary - one of the 30 'most exciting places to visit in the world' which in the year to come will be 'making headlines'.

Broughton Sanctuary, within the 3,000 acre Broughton Hall Estate just outside Skipton, and home to the Tempest family since the 11th century, has been included in National Geographic's Cool List 2024.

Described as one of the UK's leading rewilding projects, Broughton Sanctuary has seen the planting of 350,000 trees over the last three years and is part of the White Rose Forest.

Compiled by National Geographic Traveller, the Cool List includes landmark hotel openings, new train routes, and as at Broughton, ambitious rewilding projects.

Others appearing on the list which has many beautiful natural destinations, are the Albanian Alps, in Albania - described as 'a dream for hikers'; and Pompeii in Italy, with its new direct train from Rome. The list also includes Germany, which next year will host the Euros - the UEFA European Championships.

Broughton Sanctuary, just one of five to make the list in the UK, is described by National Geographic as a 'natural move for Broughton' which already offers foraging tours, woodland dining and even moon bathing on its grounds.

In 2021, tree cover in Craven was put at 5.4 per cent, the lowest in West and North Yorkshire, and far below the UK national average of 13 per cent - it prompted the then Craven District Council to set the ambitious target of creating 3,074 hectares of new woodland by 2030 and 8, 929 hectares by 2050.

It states: "Deep in the Yorkshire countryside, around a third of 3,000-acre Broughton Sanctuary estate is being returned to nature to help visitors reconnect with the wild environment. Intensive sheep grazing is being reduced, peat bogs and waterways are being restored and tens of thousands of newly planted saplings will boost tree cover from six percent to over 20 per cent. All this is intended to help boost the area’s biodiversity, which already includes otters, hares and kestrels.

"The rewilding initiative is part of a long-term vision for the estate. “It’s going to take decades to get to the point where we’ve re-wilded so much that nature is truly looking after itself at scale,” says Broughton’s environmental adviser, Professor Alastair Driver. In the meantime, visitors can explore the changing landscape on one of the Sanctuary’s walking trails — perhaps with a picnic in hand, prepared by the estate’s in-house chefs."

Broughton is part of the White Rose Forest -  the community forest for North and West Yorkshire, which works in partnership with local authorities, landowners, businesses and communities to plant more trees across the region and improve the natural environment.

Guy Thompson, programme director for the White Rose Forest, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to provide support and funding for nature recovery at Broughton Sanctuary via our Trees for Climate grants programme.

"The tree planting over the last three years, alongside the creation of wood pasture and wildflower meadows, is already showing great results for habitat creation and biodiversity. This work is also important for natural flood management, and will help to protect communities further down the Aire river valley, from Skipton down to Leeds City Centre, from the risk of future damaging flooding events.”

Guests can stay in one of 19 recently refurbished homes, or they can hire out Broughton Hall itself -used over the years as a film set, and most recently the home of Mrs Pumphrey in the hit Channel Five series, All Creatures Great and Small.

A walled garden bistro, ‘Utopia’ serves plant-based delights, and a the Avalon Wellbeing Centre, visitors can go for a swim, or take part in a yoga session.

Custodian of Broughton Sanctuary, Roger Tempest, said it was wonderful to see wildlife returning to the estate in a relatively short period of time.

"We are incredibly proud to be recognised by National Geographic Traveller in their 2024 Cool List. We have already reached over 30 per cent tree cover which has had a positive impact on biodiversity.

"Our work is dedicated to encouraging the reconnection of our ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ nature, both through the rewilding work and also through the wellbeing programmes and retreats at the Avalon Wellbeing Centre. We are on a mission to heal ourselves and our world".

Guests can stay in one of 19 recently refurbished homes, or within Broughton Hall itself. There is also a walled garden bistro - Utopia, and wellbeing centre.

On Saturday (November 18), best selling author and academic, Dr Steve Taylor, will give a talk at Broughton Sanctuary.

Our culture’s standard view of human nature is that we are highly competitive – that society is all about ‘survival of the fittest’ - a view which has been encouraged by well-known psychological experiments such as the Stanford prison experiment.

However, based on his new book ‘Disconnected’, Dr Taylor will argue that recent research shows that cooperation is in fact more natural than competition, stemming from a fundamental connection between us.

Dr Taylor is the author of many books on psychology and spirituality, a senior lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, and a regular presenter of Prayer for the Day on BBC Radio 4.

Saturday's event is at 3pm and will include discussion and a chance to chat with fellow attendees. More details and tickets are available from https://oneness-goodness.eventbrite.co.uk/