Yorkshire holiday 3
My final stop on my journey to the east coast was the moorland village of Goathland. It's an odd kind of settlement, really quite small but strung out along the road, with wide green areas of common land. I understand some of the land belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster (the Queen) and tenants have a historic right to graze their sheep on the common land. So there are lots of sheep wandering around!
It has been used as a film location, most notably being the fictional village of Aidensfield in the TV police drama series 'Heartbeat', set in the 1960s. Many of the small shops bear the name.
My own reason for revisiting was a touch of nostalgia. When I was a child, aged maybe about 8 or 10, we had a family holiday staying in the Mallyan Spout Hotel (named after a nearby waterfall). The hotel is still there but I wasn't able to go in (these Covid times!) to see if the writing room was still there.... I recall feeling very grown-up, sitting writing postcards at a proper writing desk with lots of little cubbyholes for papers, in a room dedicated to that purpose. Actually, that and the sheep are really all I can remember about that holiday!
Everything looks so green, freshly painted and well cared for. The sheep are doing a grand job keeping all the grass trim!
ReplyDeleteA lovely little memory. Sorry you couldn't see if the room as still there.
ReplyDeleteWe watch Heartbeat all of the time - it is on weekly here.
ReplyDeleteI'm still here despite blogger issues.
http://occasionaltoronto.blogspot.com/
A pleasant place.
ReplyDeleteLovely pics of this town. I like the hay truck and the sheep on the common. Nice to revisit a childhood holiday destination.
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