We arrived yesterday, after our 225-mile road trip through six counties. We’re to spend a week exploring the Yorkshire Dales, and have the Polo BlueMotion from the VW Press Office in which to do it. And while I’ve yet to pop my Dales cherry, with Northern parents, Nik used to visit as a kid.
A picture is around every corner in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
There’s much to see, and I wonder if we’ll fit it all in a week. Back home we’re reliving our childhood Sunday nights and watching the first series (from 1978) of All Creatures Great and Small, the BBC’s fondly-remembered adapted series from Yorkshire vet James Herriot’s books, so the countryside already looks familiar.
With so much to see, though, where do we start? We’re staying in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park near Grassington, and decided to stay close to home today. Waterfalls and trickling streams are a common feature in this part of the country, and so taking the B6160 and A684 to Aysgarth, we visited the impressive Aysgarth Falls.
Aysgarth Falls a popular attraction in the small village of Aysgarth
A triple flight of waterfalls, the mighty River Ure has carved its way through the mid-Wensleydale landscape, and here, thousands of gallons of iron-rich orange-tinged water cascade over the broad limestone steps. Made up of three sections, upper, middle, and lower, they are one of the local beauty spots and are quite something.
You’ve probably seen them, too; scenes from the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner were filmed on the falls themselves. Seeing the fast flowing water with its strong currents, the shoot must have seen some tricky, and not to mention slippery conditions.
After a tea and scone stop-off (I have a feeling there may be quite a few of those over the coming week), we pointed the car north-west, and arrived at the very picturesque Bolton Castle. One of our listed locations to visit on the Herriot trail, the quadrangular structure dates from 1399, imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots in 1569, and although damaged in the English Civil War, has been used in many TV and film productions.
The imposing Bolton Castle, overlooking Castle Bolton village below
Our link was of course, All Creatures, as it was here that James proposed to Helen (yes, of course she accepted), but it has also starred in Elizabeth, Ivanhoe, and Heartbeat. On a quiet Sunday afternoon, and lit by hazy sunshine, it really is quite beautiful. It’s arguably even prettier and almost imposing on approach, as it peeks out from the small houses in the village of Castle Bolton which surround it. It can also be picked out a few miles away, sitting proudly on its hill, among the lush green landscape round it.
With good weather (I have doubts that that will last), it’s been a highly enjoyable first day ‘up north’, and I look forward to the sights and sounds that the Dales has to reveal. From what I’ve seen and experienced so far, I think she’ll have lots to offer…
