Grassington, England  - If it were not for the odd cow on the horizon, visitors to this remote part of northern England might feel marooned among the thousands of sheep. It is silent here too, apart from the almost indignant "baaing" of these fluffy wool donors.

A latticework of drystone walls like silvery grey veins divides up the "dales," as the lush, green valleys of this upland landscape are known, and it is not hard to see why English author JRR Tolkien found inspiration hereabouts for his Lord of the Rings trilogy. A few elves and dwarfs or even a hobbit would not seem out of place.