What is "birstwith"

Birstwith is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Nidderdale, and is situated on the River Nidd. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 756 increasing to 868 at the 2011 Census.

Birstwith Mill on Wreaks Road is run by Kerry Ingredients, a food products manufacturer. The River Nidd provided water for the mill, and although sluice gates and a mill race exist, the water wheel no longer turns—an existing weir provided the mill with a head of water. The mill race rejoins the river downstream. About upstream is a packhorse bridge. The local public house is the Station Hotel which acts as a meeting place, and venue for organised charity events such as the Birstwith Coast 2 Coast Cycle Challenge. The village has store and post office, and a doctor's surgery which is part of a Nidderdale medical group. Sport facilities include a cricket pitch, tennis courts and a snooker room.

The village had a railway station on the line running between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge. This was closed by Beeching in the 1960s. The goods yard became Birstwith Grange, a housing development for commuters. The railway line continued along the Nidd Valley and was used in the construction of Scar House and Angram Scar reservoirs.

A village primary school and a Reading Room, built and donated by the owner of the local Swarcliffe Hall in about 1880, still exist. In the mid-1970s Swarcliffe Hall was sold and the contents auctioned, the building becoming a private prep school. Today Birstwith has a Church of England primary school, and a private school which occupies Swarcliffe Hall.