This time in Yorkshire, we leave the
beautiful views of Oakworth to drive into the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales heading
for the picturesque town of Grassington, amongst other beautiful places along the way.
Whilst Grassington and The Dales are used as the backdrops for All Creatures Great and Small, there
is much more to this tiny town as we'll discover! Good morning from Oakworth, this was our
view at 7am from the terrace of our lovely Airbnb. Home for just a few days whilst
we explore West Yorkshire and The Dales. The Garden Room is just outside the
village on a farm providing these wonderful views of the ever-changing
weather with Howarth in the distance and the moors that the Bronte sisters
walked and played during their lives. We'll be exploring more of this
in future videos, as today we're taking a road trip to the Dales on a bit of
a grey drizzly day heading for Grassington. The drive takes us through small villages
across farmland and through the narrow winding roads of the Yorkshire Dales some
of which are not for the faint-hearted. The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a hiker and
climbers paradise encompassing thousands of square miles of moors, valleys. hills, beautiful towns
and villages. Grassington is probably one of the most visited, more so in recent years due to
the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small. A tiny town with very much a village vibe. We parked
in the Yorkshire Dales National Parks car park on the outskirts of the centre. This cost
£3 for a day. It's a short walk back into the town square where we start our look around,
in this ancient former lead mining village, which also has some wonderful walks in the surrounding
areas. One of which we'll take a look at later. Grassington was granted a charter to hold a
market and fair in 1282 which continued up until the 1860s. It is crammed full of
independent retailers selling clothes, furniture along with cafes and
gift shops. A few pubs include the Devonshire Hotel famous as the Drover's
Arms for the outside shots from the TV show. Lead mining was carried out around Grassington
from the 15th century. George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland became Lord of The
Manor and he brought skilled men from his Derbyshire mines to work in the mines
on Grassington Moor. You can find out more about this in the Grassington Folk
Museum just on the square. It's open for a few hours a day and run by volunteers.
It's formed by two converted cottages. Right next to the Folk Museum is the property
used as Skeldale House in the new series. They add a portico and change the door to make
it more in keeping with the period. The car has also changed to something a little more
vintage, as well. It's called The Manor House, 17th century and was probably owned by the
Duke of Devonshire now converted into flats. Across from the manor house are a few shops, Enderby Grocers and Dean Drapery and Hosiery
in Darrowby. The building there forms part of what was the Liverpool Warehouse dating
from the 18th century. It became a one-stop shop for the workforce of The Dales till 1920
and goods arrived on the canal from Liverpool. Let's head up Garr's Lane, passing the
impressive Black Horse Hotel including a sweet pub and restaurant. It dates from the
17th century and has had a few name changes over the years. There is a nice outdoor
seating area for a beer. The Grassington Hub community centre and library squeezes
into a little nook to the side of the pub. We'll carry on up Garr's Lane and walk a
loop back down into the square. There are some lovely properties to show you along the way. This is the town hall and Devonshire Institute
built in 1855 as a Mechanics Institute which provided adult education for working men in
the Victorian era. The Duke of Devonshire gave it to the parish council at the end of the
19th century and he gifted a chiming clock. There is a lovely craft and carving shop
at the top of Main Street and the house next door has an amazing display
the front garden is not to be missed. Grassington was mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1087 with arable land being taxed and paid to the king. Farming was also a large part in its development
with 13 mills popping up in the area, some along the River Wharfe. The Romans were here from 50
A.D, the area was an important grain growing site and further back still archaeological sites
in the area show Bronze Age activity as well. Heading down Main Street we are walking
back into the centre and the square avoiding some of the larger agricultural machinery
that squeeze through the narrow streets. The old polishing shop is home to
Rob Kane, a master french polisher, a trade you don't see often these days. He
runs classes and has been on TV a few times. The town holds a number of festivals and
events throughout the year including a 1940s weekend and a Dickensian Christmas
in December. This website has a wealth of information on what's on,
where to stay and what to see. The Forester's Arms, the
third delightful Inn to drink, eat or stay at during your visit to Grassington. As you can see a lot of wonderful shops and
eateries are squeezed into this compact town. Back in the square, we can see more shops used
in the filming of All Creatures Great and Small. In a future video we will visit Thirsk
and the veterinary surgery now a museum, where Alf Wight wrote his James Herriot
books, so do subscribe so you don't miss it. The Rustic Rabbit was the Higgins Bakers and
Walker's Bakery was the ironmongers in Darrowby. This tiny shop was Hurst Laundry. Even the post office didn't escape a
makeover and had its frontage change to Woods, sweets tobacco and books for filming. Grassington House is a lovely
18th Century property once lived in by some wealthy bankers
from Skipton. It is now a hotel, bar and restaurant. Probably one
of the more luxurious in the town. Church House was built in 1694 as a yeoman's
cottage meaning, a free man that lived in the country and owned his own land, usually a
farmer. It was later Chapman's Temperance Hotel, a hotel with no alcohol. In 1925
it was purchased by Linton Church. Walking back to the National Car Park
the Yorkshire Dales information centre is a good place to find out more about some
of the walks you can do in the area. We are going to take an easy downhill stroll to Linton
Falls, just 15 minutes from the town centre. This is the lovely thing about Yorkshire,
the rolling hills and fluffy sheep are just moments outside all the villages and
hamlets, with stunning scenery around you. We just love this dry stone wall that
guides you down to the River Wharfe. Medieval Grassington was the most important
village in Upper Wharfedale, encompassing industry and farming. Many of the Mills that popped up
during the Industrial Revolution were along this river. Sadly they've all been demolished
now. The thundering water that passes through powering the machinery in the textiles and corn
Mills back in the day. When steam power took over huge mills in Lancashire and the Yorkshire cities
developed, aided by the creation of the railways, linking other parts of the country. Smaller mills
in The Dales became uneconomical to maintain. The limestone rocks we see from the bridge were
formed where a fault in the earth's crust shifted millions of years ago, raising the limestone rocks
to the north up higher than those to the south. If you want just a short walk then Linton Falls is
a lovely place to spend half an hour or so and you can walk along the river to loop back into town
rather than following the same path we took out. Your visit to Grassington will certainly involve
some driving through the Yorkshire Dales and we really encourage you to explore the winding roads,
whatever the weather for an exhilarating drive or hike, if you're walking. There are plenty of
picturesque places to stop and admire the scenery. Our plan was to stop at the pretty market town of Hawes,
and as cheese lovers the Wensleydale Creamery but arriving around lunchtime we found
the place very busy due to a midweek market. There was absolutely nowhere
to park, even the creamery was full, so sadly we decided to drive on for a drink at the
Green Dragon in Hardraw a few miles further on. The inside shots of the Drover's Arms in Darrowby
are filmed in this pub but arriving as it started to rain we found that sadly it's been closed until
further notice, due to the rising energy costs making it uneconomical to open. We did manage
a few sneaky pictures through the window of the wonderful old pub where James and Siegfried
have a pint, so it wasn't a total failure. The Hardraw Force Waterfall entrance
is right next to the pub if you want to hike to England's largest single-drop waterfall. Expect the unexpected in The Dales, low cloud and more drizzle obscuring
our view for some of the drive. The map shows you our driving route today. Out
of Oakworth with in a loop across The Dales and back. Of course, this is just a small taste
of what you could see and the villages and towns you could visit. Exploring it
properly will take a number of days. Another interesting stop is at the Ribblehead
Viaduct that carries the Settle to Carlisle Railway. This impressive structure has 24
arches, is 104 feet high and is 440 yards long. Designed by John Crosley, chief engineer
at Midlands Railways. Construction started in 1869. 2,300 men worked on it, hundreds of
railway builders "navvies" lost their lives due to a combination of accidents, fights and a
smallpox outbreak. It was finished in 1874 and the line opened in 1876. You can take a walk
down around the arches if you're so inclined. Now is a good time to tell you what's on
the next episode in our Yorkshire Adventure. The Bronte sisters brought us timeless classic
novels like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and the Tenants of Wildfell Hall, based on their
life experiences in and around West Yorkshire. We walk in their footsteps and visit some of the
places they lived or visited. Piecing together their tragically short lives lived in the shadow
of death. It was for us and hopefully for you a fascinating insight into a family whose novels
still resonate with a 21st-century audience. So that's it for our tour here in
Grassington, what a lovely village, great seeing all the houses and places
used in All Creatures Great and Small new series. We hope you've enjoyed
it. Please do subscribe, give us a like and we'll see you on another video in
Yorkshire very soon thanks for watching, bye!
