One of the most well-known local tales surrounds the vast natural hollow of the Hole of Horcum. Legend has it that the Hole was made by a giant called Wade who scooped a lump of earth to throw at his wife Bell during an argument, creating the nearby hill of Blakey Topping. Of course in reality, this much-visited site is the result of a line of springs along the boundary between two rock layers.
Wade’s name is also attributed to an old road that links Malton and Eskdale in the National Park. Archaeologists think the causeway was probably built by the Romans but folklore tells that it was built by Wade so that Bell could get to the moors to milk her cow.