Give Me the Country Life

 SONG - Intro to All Creatures Great & Small

Day 28 - May 27

Jump on in and take a ride with us to the Yorkshire Dales!

About a one and a half hour drive from York is the incredible Yorkshire Dales.  Neither of us had ever been there before but we had heard it was well worth seeing. Our first stop was Grassington. Unfortunately the parking lot looked like Disneyland filling field after field with cars and tour buses.  I had no idea that so many people enjoyed All Creatures Great & Small which (in case you haven’t seen it) is a TV series about a veterinarian from Glasgow that begins his practice in the Dales and falls in love with the countryside, the people and a local farm woman. I just couldn’t go there knowing it was going to be overly crowded so we went up to the next village on my list, Arncliff which was small and lovely. 

We had lunch at The Falcon Inn which was a cozy pub with friendly service. 

We drove back down to Grassington and I was hopeful that people would be leaving since it was a Monday on a Bank Holiday. Nope. Possibly more full now than earlier but by this time I was ready to brave the crowds. 

We walked from the car park into the lovely town of Grassington where they film parts of All creatures Great & Small.  

In the photo above, the building with the blue sign is a book store but is turned into a grocery store for the TV show and the plain building on the far right is the Veterinary Clinic & their lodgings. 

Most storefronts have photos of what their shop looks like on the show. It was fun to wander around and enjoy the sunny day. Mr. B bought me a glass of wine at The Devonshire Inn which is the local pub on the show. 

We sat at an outdoor table and watched the villagers trying to get on with their daily life when thousands of people arrive at their doorsteps daily. 

Mr. B kindly stood in line to purchase us ice cream cones for our walk back to the car park. 

I would go back to the Dales in a heartbeat because the scenery, stone buildings & walls, sheep and open skies were just incredible. Photos just don’t do it justice.  

Mr. B had made us reservations in town at Nola’s which is a Jazz bar & New Orleans style restaurant. No live Jazz tonight but the food & atmosphere were great. 

On our walk home, the sun was setting and it was a beautiful sunset on the River Ouse. In fact it was such a still evening we decided to walk for a bit on the Roman/Viking Walls surrounding the city. 

I was so proud of Mr. B driving on those tight little country roads in the Dales. 

Thanks for a great day!