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Skipton

The main shopping centre is Skipton, which has an attractive retail area with open market, surrounded by a wide selection of shops.

Skipton is the capital of the Craven district, on the western fringe of the county of North Yorkshire.

Its prosperity was founded on the textile industry – cotton bobbins produced from the Dewhurst mill in the town were once found in almost every housewife's sewing basket – but today tourism and hi-tech businesses dominate.

Skipton is now a tourist town, with a market four days a week, one of the best preserved medieval castles in the north and the splendour of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal attracting thousands of visitors, particularly to the Waterways Festival.

Known officially as the Gateway to the Dales, it is a base for exploring the Yorkshire Dales National Park, which starts on the boundary of the town.

Skipton Building Society is Craven's chief employer, with almost 1,000 people working at the headquarters and its subsidiaries in the town.

Outside of Skipton, agriculture plays a declining but still important role. After the onset of foot and mouth in 2000 many businesses were forced to diversify, setting the footprint for a vibrant, diverse economy for the future.