Spooky! The imposing 13th century Whitby Abbey at sunset

We’d heard that fine, bright, and warm days on the north east coast were few and far between, but we’ve just come back from a week in Whitby, and must have been lucky. Five days out of the seven were lovely, bathing the moors with their not-quite-purple heather in bright sunlight, and letting us leave our jeans packed away in the holiday cottage bedroom drawers.

Away with Nik’s folks once more, this year’s trip to the other side of Yorkshire followed 2008’s visit to the Dales, and 2007’s stay in Cornwall. Yes, we all didn’t tire of each other’s company, and yes, that’s why the man from Volkswagen delivered the Fox the day before we went, so that we could give it a thorough test.

The picturesque beauty and tranquility of Runswick Bay

And a thorough test it had. Over 1,000 miles in a week saw us visit picturesque places perched on the coast such as Runswick Bay and Staithes, and the terminus of Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, Robin Hood’s Bay. Tiny villages dwarfed by the natural rocky outcrops onto which they’re sprinkled, tales of smuggling and fishing dominate, the small harbours very reminiscent of Devon and Cornwall.

Multicoloured posh beach huts in Scarborough’s north bay

Bridestones in the long and wild fields in the Dalby Forest

We whizzed around Whitby, too, inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, taking sunset snapshots of the abbey, in all its Gothic splendour. Staying just outside the seaside town was perfect for exploring the area in the car. We buzzed around the moors from Scarborough to have a milkshake in the 1950s themed Harbour Bar, as featured in Richard Wilson’s recent TV series, Britain’s Best Drives, and spent a day in the Dalby Forest, also featured in the programme.

Richard Wilson, an old Morris Traveller, and a few Goths

The faded Victorian splendour of Scarborough gave way to the twisted lane majesty of York, where we took shelter from the persistent rain in the National Rail Museum, and ate posh afternoon tea in Betty’s, the infamous and stylish café tea rooms local to Yorkshire. Ferried around in the little yellow VW, the whole week added up to what may be called a ‘grand time’ up north.

All aboard! Streamlining at the National Rail Museum

If you’re in Yorkshire, you must have a cuppa at Betty’s

And although the moors aren’t as picture perfect as the Dales, they do have a stark beauty of their own. The flat heather-covered expanses with roads seemingly draped over them, narrow lanes and coastal hidey-holes with photo opportunities makes the area worth a visit, and completes the Yorkshire picture. They may have differing personalities, but both areas are a must-see. Quite moor-ish in fact…

Vets Might Fly is the fifth book from the pseudonym of James Alfred Wight, made famous by the highly successful BBC TV series, All Creatures Great and Small. Published in 1976, two years before the tales hit the small screen, the 255 page, 28 chapter volume is set just after the veterinary surgeon is enlisted into the air force during the Second World War.

Taking the form of a collection of short stories, referenced by the author reminiscing from the various locations his flight is sent to (and sparked by events that happen in his air force training), it’s safe to assume from the pen name that the book will be tales of Yorkshire farming folk. And that’s exactly what it is. Which doesn’t sound either the most exciting or interesting read, and while Vets Might Fly may not be the former, at times it is most definitely the latter.

I hadn’t read any of Herriot’s work for a number of years, but after Rhian had picked this one up for me in town around the time we returned from the north last summer, it seemed the right time to get reacquainted. I’m glad I did, too, as from the story of Mrs Beck’s cat Georgina, to Kim, the Gillard’s dog (with many cows and farms inbetween), the vet’s encounters with his patients and their owners are superbly well crafted.

There’s enough medicality and humour to carry the stories along effortlessly, and as the characters are based on Herriot’s real-life waiting room (or are in fact, genuinely real), they are all believable and three-dimensional. He describes both his experiences and his beloved Yorkshire countryside in vivid detail and clarity, and his genuine fondness for both shines through.

You probably couldn’t get away with writing a book of this type in the present day. In our want-everything-now world full of celebrity culture, I very much doubt it would sell. These gentle tales of farming folk are very much of their time, but it’s a time I enjoy. Reading Herriot’s work, you are transported into his world, howling gales across the majestic fells and all. And that world is very much an enjoyable and safe and reassuring place to be.

• Vets Might Fly by James Herriot, Book Club Associates/Michael Joseph Ltd 1976, ISBN 978-0718115128

After a break of eight months, we were back retracing our steps in the Yorkshire Dales over the long Bank Holiday Easter weekend. It was nice to be back so soon after our last visit in August, and going up by train Thursday evening after work, and coming back yesterday morning via the excellent National Express East Coast service straight into the office made a pleasant change.

They were certainly an action-packed four days. On Good Friday we went to Richmond, which we missed last time, and walked around the hill upon which the castle sits, catching the River Swale falls, the likes of which are almost around every turn in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. A grey and damp day did nothing to dampen our spirits, though, and we spent the afternoon in Barnard Castle, before taking afternoon tea at the French chateau-like Bowes Museum.

Views of green stone-walled fields and sheep litter the pretty Coverdale

On Saturday morning we mooched around the centre of Darlington (it was our base for the long weekend, staying with Viv), before the weather broke and we were treated to very un-Bank Holiday like sunshine, which made the drive into Coverdale and down to Kettlewell very enjoyable. Driving over the steep green hills dotted with sheep and stone walls really does make you want to live there, cut off from the world, surrounded by the beauty of it all, but if you pick the right place, just a short drive from the nearest town.

If we thought we were lucky on Saturday, then Sunday’s sunny spells were even more of a gift. We’d planned to go around Pen-Y-Ghent, one of the Three Peaks in the area, but not long after we’d got on The Stang to the Tan Hill Inn (made famous by the 1970s Everest TV ads, and the highest pub in Great Britain at 1,732ft above sea level) and stopped every few minutes to cross rivers on stepping stones and stand in slightly damp fields to take pictures, we realised that we’d woefully not allowed enough time to fit it all into a day.

Blame that long holiday croissant/teacake/muffin breakfast. In the end, after a sunny lunch in Thwaite, we headed for Hawes (home of the Wensleydale Creamery, which we did last time), then through Gayle, and back down to Hubberholme, before once again stopping in Kettlewell. We hadn’t planned to end up there at all, but when Andrew announced that we had no reverse gear due to the gear knob coming off in his hand, we could do little else. And we only laughed because of the deadpan way that he told us, honest…

So, we didn’t make Pen-Y-Ghent, but we did make it home (the car surprisingly fixing itself, both long enough for us to enjoy the last day, and for Andrew and Sheila to make it home to Essex on Tuesday) for another large dinner, followed by more rounds of Rummikub and cards. Staying in Viv’s really has made it easier and more enjoyable than if we’d have been in a hotel, and with all our kit being taken up in the car prior to us leaving, we really couldn’t have managed it otherwise.

Bank Holiday Monday had planned to be a day in Durham, but although it was only a short car journey away, we took a detour and explored the industrial Teesport area of the north. A now faded source of industry (though oil refinery and power station chimneys still dominate the hazy skyline), it was a diverting visit, and after almost being stopped by the police for touring the estate, we travelled on the Middlesborough Transporter Bridge. Suspended in the nine-car carriage while it moved us 260 metres across the River Tees really was quite strange, but the speed at which it moved was impressive, the groaning of the wheels and cables a reminder of its heavy industrial past.

Cars are carried over the River Tees in the yellow cradle (left of picture)

Durham itself reminded me both of Cambridge and Norwich, its gothic-inspired cathedral and large riverside paths taking in the best of both cities. Unsurprisingly, we looked in wonder around the cathedral and enjoyed a sunlit stroll by the river, watching eager dogs swim in the river, collecting sticks thrown by their owners.

The magnificence and splendour of Durham’s gothic-inspired Cathedral

It really was all very relaxed, which sums up the four-day stay as a whole. Better than staying at home (where we’d invariably end up doing things around the house we shouldn’t, and not having a break), not only were the Dales their usually picture perfect selves, I couldn’t think of a more perfect way to spend the long Easter weekend.

pe-dun-cu-late
adj. Having or supported on a peduncle.

Source: dictionary.com

Linton Falls is one of the easternmost features of the Craven Fault

A stone’s throw away from us in Threshfield, Linton Falls are just outside Grassington in the village of Linton, and are where the River Wharfe spills over a discontinuity in the limestone rock. An impressive fast-flowing sight, we thought they were much more impressive than Aysgarth Falls. I don’t really know why, though; maybe because you can get much closer to get those dreamy, blurry waterscape pictures, which we came away with again here.

And here’s a tip – early morning (around 10am, early for a holiday anyway) is the best time to see them. (Park in the National Park Visitor Centre car park in Grassington and walk through – there was hardly anyone around at the time of our visit this morning.)

Next, we pointed the Polo north east along the B6160, the A684, and the A6108, which eventually delivered us to Masham, the home of the Black Sheep Brewery. Established in the town in 1992 by Paul Theakston, and rubbing brewing shoulders with Theakston’s just down the road (owned by other members of his family), the old Lightfoot brewery building takes its new name from the town’s annual tradition of sheep markets held each September.

Black Sheep Brewery in Masham will give ‘ewe’ a warm welcome

We took one of the brewery’s ‘Shepherded Tours‘ (Black Sheep has cornered the market when it comes to all sheep-related puns), which at just over an hour in length, is a fascinating look into how Black Sheep uses traditional methods to brew its beer, and includes trips around the brewhouse and fermenting room. Starting with the aroma and taste of English hops and malted barley, and going through the brewing and fermenting process, the tour ends up back in the Black Sheep Baa…r, where a pint of any of the company’s six award-winning cask and bottled ales can be sunk.

If you’re even remotely interested in how beer is brewed and find yourself in the Dales, then a visit to Black Sheep is a must. With a more than enthusiastic guide, the tour tells you everything you need to know about large-scale beer brewing. After a quick pick-up of a few bottles of Black Sheep’s finest, it was late afternoon, so we took the unclassified road south of Leyburn at East Witton, and drove back through the beautifully picturesque Coverdale to the village of Kettlewell and onto home.

Coverdale is one of the most scenic dales in the Yorkshire Dales

This 10-mile stretch of road winds up and down and in and out of the tributary Coverdale valley, and leaves more then enough memories to take home with you to remember the Dales with. Stopping the car, it was eerily quiet, and as the sun peeped through the low clouds and lit an area of the landscape like a halo in front of us, we reflected on how enjoyable the week has been.

A busy but fun one, we have many happy memories and many beautiful places and landscapes etched onto our minds. The Polo BlueMotion has been a more than accommodating and comfortable friend, too, even though as an economy special, it might not have been best suited to the steep inclines which almost seemed to appear around every corner.

The Polo BlueMotion and Yorkshire Dales. A perfect combination?

With a stream trickling gently below us, the air still above us, and the sun deciding to let our last day end on a bright note, our thoughts turned to just one question; when exactly we’d be back in the Dales. There is still so much to see, so many more three-bar gates to open, so many more cattle grids to ‘g-g-r-r-n-n-g-g’ over and so many more places to explore.

All Creatures Great and Small used many Yorkshire locations

We started in Askrigg, where Cringley House which doubled as Skeldale House, the surgery is located. The local King’s Head pub also had a part, too, as the Drovers Arms, and bygone pictures of the cast litter the main hallway entrance. From Askrigg, we went to Reeth, which served as Darrowby in the 1974 film. After lunch in the Copper Kettle, when the rain had subsided, we went onto Langthwaite.

This is really the iconic one. Used in the opening credits of the first two series series, Siegfried’s car drives over the little bridge, so for nostalgia’s sake, we did the same in the BlueMotion. If you ignore the handful of modern-day cars in the little square, the tiny hamlet with its tiny streets is unchanged, and looks the same as it did in 1978.

 
‘Siegfried, are you sure that this is the way to Mrs Pumphrey’s?’ 

From there, Leyburn was next (the fictional Ministry of Agriculture building from the TV series was here, although we didn’t find it), and then we finally made Wensley our last stop of the day. It was the Holy Trinity Church here in which James and Helen were married on TV, although we couldn’t go in today, due to the setting up of the local flower festival.

The church at Wensley was used in James Herriot’s TV wedding

It’s been fun and nostalgic seeing the places we watched on the box in the corner as children (and are watching again as adults), and through visiting many of the original locations this week, I think I’ve developed an even greater fondness for the show…

The opening bars of Johnny Pearson’s Piano Parchment theme tune, and the line ‘Darrowby 385’ are iconic, as should be the animal names of Boris, Clancy, and Tricky Woo. The Yorkshire Dales and James Herriot are inseparable, you can’t mention either without also thinking about TV’s All Creatures Great and Small. Adapted from Herriot’s books and based largely on his life (the characters were based on vets at Herriot’s first practice, with Helen being his real-life wife Joan), the Sunday night BBC series from 30 years ago is fondly remembered.

I think my own love of the programme lies in the fact that I used to want to be a vet when I was a small boy (indeed it might have actually been the series that made that subconscious decision). I didn’t become one of course, but did toy with the thought again quite recently, but the eight years of veterinary training soon put paid to any ideas of driving about the countryside wearing checked shirts, cords, and shiny shoes.

Following on from the films All Creatures Great and Small and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, and from 1974 and 1976 respectively, the BBC’s TV series is the most well-known of the on-screen adaptations. First broadcast in 1978, it made household names of Robert Hardy (Siegfried Farnon), Christopher Timothy (James Herriot), Peter Davison (Tristan Farnon), and Carol Drinkwater (Helen Alderson, later Herriot). Timothy became without doubt the most-loved and most famous on-screen Herriot of all.

Christopher Timothy is the most-loved on-screen Herriot (©BBC)

With the beautiful Yorkshire Dales as a backdrop, the series was never to going to be anything but a success. Add in well-acted and scripted scenes, gentle and often humourous stories, and a prime-time Sunday evening slot, and it’s no wonder the show is revered three decades on.

Nothing much happens in each episode (although we recently had one with James’ marriage proposal to Helen, and acceptance, and a preview of the wedding), and that, I suspect is one of the reasons why it works. We find the same thing with the later 1980s Howards’ Way, too. TV execs wouldn’t allow that these days, and would pack each programme full of interwoven and complicated stories.

All Creatures’ interior shots filmed at BBC Pebble Mill, Birmingham

Running for three series, from 1978 to 1980 and with specials in 1983 and 1985, a further four series were broadcast from 1988 to 1990, with 90 episodes in all. The end of the first run saw the storyline cover the outbreak of the Second World War, with the subsequent end starting the second run. The later series saw Oxo commercial mum Lynda Bellingham cast as Helen (but good though she was, it’s Drinkwater – a stage name surely – who will always be the face of the part in my mind).

All Creatures Great and Small ended when all of Herriot’s material had been used, and there were no more stories left to be adapted. Now finally available on DVD, it can charm a whole new army of fans, while appealing to Seventies kids like us, who remember the original broadcasts, and our reliving our childhood Sunday nights.

Feats of engineering: VW Polo BlueMotion and Ribblehead Viaduct

Set in the Blea Moor, and dating from 1875, it was built over a five-year period by a workforce of thousands (200 of whom died during the construction). The longest on the scenic 72-mile Settle to Carlisle railway at 402 metres, it is 32 metres high, and its curvature is so that passengers riding on the train can that goes over it, can see it, too, stretching out in front of them.

It’s just one of 17 major viaducts spanning the ravines and 14 tunnels that make up the last great mainline to be built in the UK, and it very nearly didn’t survive to be as impressive as it is. In the 1980s British Rail attempted to close the line, deliberately diverting traffic away, stating the viaduct was unsafe, and at £6m, too expensive to repair.

Ribblehead train station now a Settle to Carlisle line visitor centre

But, traffic increased as a result, and the structure was saved from a certain crumbling death. Now maintained and restored, only a single track runs across it, preventing two trains from crossing it at the same time. Standing proud at the base of Whernside mountain, it looks a mighty sight when you approach it, even though it appears to be small.

Mighty scale of Ribblehead Viaduct is impressive from any angle

Up close, the scale is arguably more impressive, but although its curvature might be good for train travelers above, on the ground, it prevents you from seeing it end to end, distorting your perspective. Stopping for pictures and surrounded by sheep at the base of the arches, the fair skies cam over dark and mysterious, and we though for a moment that our luck had finally run out.

Spared any wet stuff, we moved to the front of the structure, and snapped some more from the rock ledges some distance away. Being so long, it’s hard to get a good picture of the viaduct, as even cameras with a wide or fish eye lens still don’t quite get it all in their viewfinders. The best pictures of the Grade II listed and listed Ancient Monument are undoubtedly from the road, with a touch of zoom, with a dark and moody sky.

Thankfully, that’s just what we got this afternoon. Deciding we’d had enough of a playtime, the heavens finally opened and we had to jump in the car and head for home, past the Brimham Rocks, which due to the torrential downpour, we had to leave for another time.

James Alfred Wight has left an everlasting legacy in popular culture

Found at Skeldale House, 23 Kirkgate, the museum is housed in the building that was actually the real-life practice and home of Herriot. Now restored to how it would have been in the 1940s, it is of course where the stories of all creatures and small were born. A vet first, and a writer second, Herriot gradually collected humourous and touching stories of Yorkshire farming folk.

After many rejections, he was finally awarded a book deal. But, born James Alfred Wight, it would be seen as advertising if he were to write the books under his real names, and so taking the surname of a favourite footballer, and with a popular series of books, he became a household name.

The museum tells two stories; that of his real-life and that of his on-screen lives. You can’t mention Herriot without immediately thinking about TV’s All Creatures Great and Small of course, but the two films made before that with John Alderton and Simon Ward are featured, too. Without the screen connections, though, it was very strange to think that you were exploring the largely-unchanged house in which Herriot once lived and took surgeries.

Christopher Timothy drove the TV Seven to the museum’s opening

As well as the UK’s only veterinary science museum with over 4,000 objects, an interactive surgery keeps the kids amused, but it’s the All Creatures props and sets that were the undoubted highlight for me. The Austin Seven that Christopher Timothy drove in the first series is parked under a pergola garage, and stepping into the surgery set seemed very surreal.

It looks smaller than on TV, but was it the real surgery, veterinary?

Whether or not there were several sets in varying locations I don’t know, but this one seemed smaller than the one on the DVDs which we’re now watching; maybe it was used for close-in shots. The production stickers on the back of them seemed real enough. With cameras, scripts, and titles on TVs, the exhibit is well done. It even has the blessing of most of the cast of the original series; Christopher Timothy even cut the museum’s opening ribbon in 1999.

The Wensleydale Creamery was our first stop today. The official home of Wensleydale cheese, dairy products have been made in Wensleydale since 1150, when Cistercian monks first settled there and established a monastery, four miles from Hawes. Passing down the recipe to local farmer’s wives, this small town is now home to the Wensleydale Creamery, where all cheese branding the Wensleydale mark is produced.

The creamery’s story is one of struggle and rejuvenation. Facing closure in the 1930s, it was rescued by local townsman Kit Calvert, purchased by the Milk Marketing Board in 1966, closed by Dairy Crest in 1992 (production of cheese was moved to neighbouring Lancashire), and reopened after a management buy-out the same year. A visitor centre was opened in 1994.

Arriving in time for lunch in the creamery’s restaurant (where cheese appears in many dishes on the menu), we placed our orders and ate our food before taking a tour of the on-sit museum and viewing gallery. The ‘Cheese Experience’ tour can take up to 90 minutes on cheese-producing days, but with the cheese having been made a few hours previously, we only saw it being pitched. Cheese isn’t made every day at the creamery, so it’s worth checking if production is timed for the day of your visit.

Passing through the museum first, you can learn all about the history of Wensleydale Cheese and its production through the centuries. Walk through the original farmhouse dairy, taking in the pressure room and maturing room, and then learn about the traditional cheese-making process. The specialist cheese shop completes your visit, where there are shelves of traditional Yorkshire products on offer, and of course all of the cheeses made at the creamery itself.

If you like cheese, then this is the place for you. A visit is recommended, and it’s no surprise that over 200,000 people are attracted to the creamery each year. But, you no longer have to go Wensleydale to buy its cheeses. Now sold in most major supermarkets, you can buy a taste of Yorkshire locally. Just look for the green and beige logo, with the cow’s head on it. And enjoy it the traditional Yorkshire way; with a cup of tea, and a slice of fruit cake.

With the sun still shining, we drove the 1.5 miles further north, to the hamlet of Hardraw, to see the natural wonder of Hardraw Force. Reputedly England’s largest single drop waterfall at 100 feet, access is through the historic Green Dragon Inn. Paying a small fee for entry is worth it, though, and the sound of the cascading water can be heard from several feet away.

The mighty waterfall at Hardraw is certainly a force of nature

Set in a wooded ravine, on Hardraw Beck, Hardraw Force is arguably more impressive than what we saw yesterday. It does have something in common with the wider falls at Aysgarth, though; it too has appeared in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Maid Marian caught Robin Hood bathing at Hardraw Force, behind the gushing water, and although access behind the falls is now prohibited, it takes nothing away from the sheer spectacle of what nature has created.

We stayed for a while, taking dreamy, blurry pictures of the water, before heading home. Little did we know it, but unwittingly, we’d visited another of the All Creatures Great and Small locations; Hardraw’s parish church doubled as Darrowby Church in the series.