The sleepy Yorkshire village where the hippie spirit burns strong

“Ey up, who’s this sniffing about,” I wonder, pulling into Grassington’s car park – that’s more like a field.

Horned Swaledale sheep roam around polished sports cars belonging to ‘offcomers’ (visitors like you and I), here to revel in the glorious beauty of this picturesque part of the Dales.

And it really is picturesque. We’re talking wild, spectacular landscapes of rolling hills stretching to infinity, chequered with rugged limestone walls. Or peaceful walks taking in ancient grass woods, the stunning River Wharfe and sparkling Linton Falls.

But pause before you head for the hills; there’s also lots to discover in the cobbles of Grassington itself. This not-so-sleepy village doubles as fictional ‘Darrowby’, the idyllic setting of Channel 5’s TV series, All Creatures Great and Small, based on the real-life memoirs of rural vet James Herriot.

Today, shop fronts are liveried up for filming of the second series, which airs in September. Next door to the ‘gentleman’s fitters’, the Devonshire Arms pub has morphed into the ‘Drovers Arms’.

Villagers are making hay while the sun shines and the festival spirit’s burning strong, with plans for the Grassington Festival gathering pace for June 2022 – an annual fortnightly romp of music-making and literary events, put on hold due to the pandemic. Previous line ups include talent like BBC comedian Ed Byrne, folk artist Cara Dillon and historian David Starkey.

You won’t have to wait till 2022, to dance on the streets of Grassington. Come September this year, people will don their dancing shoes and polka dot frocks or military uniforms to celebrate the Grassington 1940s Weekend, swinging to the sound of live jazz as vintage cars parade, from September 17–19.

Julia Metcalfe is the effervescent event organiser: “It’s going to be good,” she says. “We’ll have a life-size spitfire in the square, organised tea dances in the Town Hall and jiving in the streets to live bands. There’ll be re-enactments too, with American GIs in Jeeps and a field hospital set in period tents.”

Julia also runs the Flower Loft, where, as well as blooms, you can buy artisan gifts like hand-poured candles, jams and chutneys and metal signs with slogans like: ‘Think less, giggle more.’

Still jiving with the Forties theme, I stop for afternoon tea in one of the village’s quaint tea shops. At the newly opened Cake House, Cath and Steve Boland are taking things up a notch, having completely refurbished their café during lockdown, transforming it into a serene, chandeliered tearoom.

Cake stands are piled high with goodies to rival Bake Off. Carrot cake topped with gooey icing is too good – while the lemon drizzle, parkin and scones filled with cream and jam are Yorkshire-sized.

After draining two large pots of tea and hearing about Steve’s hand-carved bird boxes (also for sale), I mooch around eclectic shops, stashed in higgedly-piggedly lanes, like The Hardware Store selling everything from buckets and nails to pot plants and pegs, (I plump for a vintage biscuit tin).

Grassington is filled with curiosity shops like Ashton House Crafts and Carvings with its garden ornaments and wooden wind chimes, and the village is a real hub for arts and crafts.

I wander through a cobbled arched laneway strung with fairy lights and blink in the sunlight to survey Courtyard Pottery and The Wishbone Gallery run by artists David and partner Corinne.

I chat to David as he works, (he says he likes it when people drift in for a natter) about how after holidaying here, some 24 years ago he fell in love with the village and settled in Grassington – he’s still considered an offcomer, though, despite the fact his children are Yorkshire born and bred.

As I admire his hand-thrown ceramics, he tells me: “They’re individual pieces made with red earthenware clay and slip decorated with abstract ‘scraffito’ design.” His work looks to Ralph Steadman and graffiti for influence. “It’s nice to be different,” adds David, who likes to “mix things up”. He and 3D artist Corinne also create large-scale structures.

“One of our best installations was a secret guerrilla project decorating the tree in the square with decorative ‘balloons’ overnight. It looked like a big bunch of red flowers when people woke up the next day.”

Kooky indie bookshop, The Stripey Badger, also on the square, serves dandelion and burdock pop in its adjoining café and stars as the period greengrocers in ‘Darrowby’.

Nearby, the old water pump (a memorial to lost service men) is signposted, “No mucky boots”, while opposite, the charming Folk Museum is worth a visit (free-to-enter, though donations are advised). Housed in two miners’ cottages, as much part of the area’s history as the exhibits inside, everything on display was donated by The Upper Wharfedale Museum Society in 1975. Reminders of yesteryear include remnants from lead mining and farming like craft tools, domestic accoutrements and World War II memorabilia.

Volunteers regale visitors with grizzly tales like the one about the local blacksmith Tom Lee, who killed Dr Richard Petty after a cock fight in April 1766 when the doctor won a substantial amount of brass (money). Tom Lee hid out in a nearby cave and his ghost is said to be there still.

Crawling around Grassington’s traditional country pubs for a pint of bitter and a ‘beef n’ gravy butty’ makes for a splendid afternoon, but for fine dining that’s a cut above, you can’t go past the Angel at Hetton (awarded a Michelin star in 2020). Patron and two Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall, originally from up north, returned to his roots to reimagine Britain’s first gastropub with wife Johanna.

“It’s lovely and unspoilt up here,” he says, as we enjoy the last of the afternoon sun sitting outside, “And it’s not a cliché, people really are friendly. They don’t mince their words but when they chat to you in the pub, it’s with genuine interest.”

This summer the Angel is teaming up with Hope Technologies to create a pop up inspired by alpine village huts, where cyclists can make a pit stop and enjoy refreshments while getting their bike fixed. (The Tour de France powered through the Dales in 2014).

Passionate about local Yorkshire produce, Michael has plentiful growers on his doorstep, like Frank Carr at Lee Gate farm for beef and lamb. You can ‘pick your own’ at the place he gets raspberries and strawberries from, at Spilman’s Farm in Thirsk, where Michael says, “Just yesterday we were picking the first of the season’s asparagus.”

Three miles up the road at Kilnsey Park Estate, crystal clear lakes are fed by a natural spring providing his restaurant with a fantastic source of rainbow, blue, brown and golden trout.

As it’s G&T o’clock, I sip the house pour of Cotton Gin from local Otterbeck Distillery. It’s refreshing, using botanicals plucked from moorlands and hedgerows here-abouts, decorated with a sprig of rosemary and ribbon of lemon rind.

For dinner, specials include a set custard with handpicked crab and fresh trout roe decorated with nasturtiums grown in the kitchen garden or lightly steamed turbot, smoked with pike roe and served with zesty preserved elderflower.

What a great end to an inspiring day in the Dales.

Getting there

Grassington is just 20 minutes-drive from Skipton, which has regular trains to Leeds (for London’s Kings Cross) and Bradford. It’s 40 minutes from Harrogate by car and visitors can climb aboard steam trains that puff their way through the Dales from nearby Bolton Abbey.

Where to stay

Lap up the luxury in the newly refurbished rooms at the Angel at Hetton, including two suites and four Deluxe Main House rooms, with freestanding baths and stunning views over Rylstone Fell.

Find yourself at the heart of Grassington village in the characterful 17th Century Grade II listed Ashfield House.

Grassington House is a Georgian townhouse with bistro bar/restaurant and rooms on the main square with award-winning chef John Rudden’s roast dinners hard to miss.

For more ideas on where to stay, see our complete guide to the best hotels in Yorkshire.

What’s on

Stay tuned for details of this years’ festivals by visiting, Discover Grassington.