Embsay: what to know before moving day
Elm Tree Square is the heart of the village, named after the tree that stood there, with the Elm Tree Inn and its old mounting block beside it and the Cavendish Arms nearby. A newsagent on the main road holds the post office counter. The Manor House of about 1635 and other listed stone houses sit close to the lanes, while the Old Engine House of 1856 has been converted into a home, a reminder of the mills built here in the Industrial Revolution.
Embsay railway station, opened in 1888, is the terminus of the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, and its station buildings, signal box and cabmen's shelter are listed. At the north of the village the cricket and football clubs share a ground on Shires Lane, and a K6 telephone kiosk stands on Pasture Road. Embsay Reservoir lies at the foot of the crag and is home to Craven Sailing Club. The village also has its own Church of England primary school.
How the van gets to Embsay
Embsay is reached through Skipton. From Bradford the van follows the A650 to Keighley and the A629 up the valley to the A65/A59 roundabout north-east of Skipton, then turns north for the short run up to the village and Elm Tree Square. Bradford to Embsay is roughly 35 to 50 minutes on the estimate.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 35 to 50 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Embsay
Each service below links to its Skipton page, which covers how the job works in and around Skipton.
Embsay: questions before you book
Can I use the Embsay steam railway to get things to the village?
No. Embsay station is a heritage railway terminus, not a station with everyday trains, so a house move is done by road. The van comes up from Skipton with everything loaded in Bradford or wherever you start.
Is Embsay covered by Skipton's council?
Embsay has its own parish, Embsay with Eastby, and shares a North Yorkshire Council ward, Skipton North & Embsay-with-Eastby, with the north of Skipton. Craven District Council was abolished in 2023.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD23 6RB is in Skipton North & Embsay-with-Eastby ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Embsay with Eastby
- Embsay (Wikipedia): parish of Embsay with Eastby, 1,871 residents in 2011, Embsay Crag, Embsay Reservoir and Craven Sailing Club, Barden Moor, mills built in the Industrial Revolution, Elm Tree Inn and Elm Tree Square, Cavendish Arms, newsagent with post office counter on the main road, primary school, Embsay station 1888 and the steam railway, cricket and football on Shires Lane
- Listed buildings in Embsay with Eastby (Wikipedia): Manor House (about 1635), Elm Tree Inn and mounting block, Old Engine House (1856) converted to a home, station buildings, signal box and cabmen's shelter, K6 kiosk on Pasture Road
- Embsay railway station (Wikipedia): terminus of the heritage Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway, reopened 1981
- OpenStreetMap data via Nominatim: Elm Tree Square, Embsay, BD23 6RB
- A629 road (Wikipedia): Keighley to the A65/A59 roundabout north-east of Skipton