On Location Enjoy the ever-changing scenery of unspoilt North Yorkshire.

A direct train from London’s King’s Cross to York takes just under two hours. From York, use local services or hire a car to explore.

NORTH YORKSHIRE

Hill, Dale and Coast

From gently bucolic to rugged and wild, this vast county’s scenery enchants

North Yorkshire is England’s largest county and one of its most beautiful and remote. It contains neither motorways nor cities, and more than 40 per cent of its area is taken up by National Parks: most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors lie within its boundaries.

The vet and author James Alfred Wright, better known as James Herriot, was born here in 1916 and wrote the area into popular culture with his books about life in the Yorkshire Dales. In works including It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, he captured the reputation of those who live here: hardy, modest, careful with money. Later television adaptations showed off the unspoilt scenery at its very finest.

While North Yorkshire’s rural identity and bitter winters demand a certain rigour, the spa town of Harrogate is altogether more refined. It owes its

Rolling fi elds and dry stone walls are quintessential elements of the Yorkshire Dales.

prosperity to the mineral waters widely appreciated by the Georgians: in 1842 the Royal Pump Room was built to service demand and now operates as a museum with daily tours.

Just west of Harrogate lies RHS Harlow Carr, one of many notable gardens in the region. Further north, fi nd the Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, where some 1,400 rhododendron and 150 magnolia varieties grow. On the county’s North Sea coast, Scarborough o ers traditional seaside entertainments, while the picturesque fi shing town of Whitby is famous as one of the settings in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A gem made of fossilised wood and known as ‘Whitby jet’ washes up along the coast in this area, its lustrous blackness being so intense that it is the origin of the term ‘jet black’.

Great Escapes

Sample hearty local specialities, stay in Georgian luxury and explore contrasting gardens at Scampston

TRADITIONAL FARE High in the Yorkshire Dales, the village of Wensleydale gives its name to a crumbly cheese made only in this area. Harrogate tearoom Bettys, meanwhile, is renowned for its fat rascals, a cross between a scone and a rock cake, with a ‘face’ made from dried fruit and almonds. Pop in for tea and cake. bettys.co.uk

STAY IN HARROGATE To appreciate the sensibilities of upper-class Georgian life, consider a stay at Harrogate’s Hotel du Vin, built from a row of Georgian houses. Its on-site Bistro du Vin serves classic French cuisine. Later, take in a show at the Grade II-listed Harrogate Theatre. It was built in 1900 and Charlie Chaplin and Sarah Bernhardt have appeared on stage here. hotelduvin.com; harrogatetheatre.co.uk

A GARDEN TO VISIT Just outside the market town of Malton, you’ll fi nd Scampston Hall and its wonderful gardens. Built in around 1700, the house is a glorious example of Regency design and its extensive grounds include a landscape by ‘Capability’ Brown. In contrast, the Walled Garden houses the largest of designer Piet Oudolf’s projects in the UK. An exercise in New Perennial planting, it is cared for by head gardener Andy Karavics. scampston.co.uk