Today (24th June 2022) I travelled the first leg of the YHA tour that Alf set off on with his son Jim and friend Ian Brown in the 1950’s.

I mapped out the route by reading the story that Alf writes in his wonderful book ’James Herriots Yorkshire’. Here is my copy which comes with me on my trips to the dales.

The Day 1 route is in light blue on the map below.

I started the day leaving from the original Skeldale House in Thirsk and Driving to Leyburn just like Alf would have done hundreds of times in his days working for Ewan Ross (Frank Bingham in real life) at his Leyburn practice.

The journey took me through Bedale which Alf describes as the ‘gateway to the dales‘.

Then on to Leyburn which Alf describes as being ’on the doorstep’ of the Dales‘. It hasn’t changed much as you can see. The flag is flying for the Queens Jubilee in today’s picture.

Before i set off from Leyburn towards Aysgarth I had a stroll along the Shawl – a walk that Alf was shown by Frank Bingham, the local vet, with much pride.

Today was market day so I popped in to see some young Cattle under the hammer. Interestingly Frank Binghams Veterinary Surgery was just around the corner so I expect he and Alf may have visited this market to inspect or attend to cattle? I noticed today that for each animal their TB test certification was displayed on a computer screen – and I thought of Alfs TB testing experiences in the area, even on his honeymoon!

Time to set off! I’ve explained that much of the route has no roadside footpath and since its a busy road nowadays I will cycle those bits. It would also allow me more time to do some interesting little detours. All I needed for the 4 day route is packed into a nifty pannier that converts to a back pack for the hill walking parts.

I left Leyburn behind and cruised down the hill on the A684 towards Wensley taking in the photo locations in James Herriots Yorkshire. The village hasn’t changed much but the church looked sadly neglected and the churchyard somewhat overgrown.

After Wensley I crossed the river Ure bridge, which Alf described in his account.

Next, Alf commented on the turning to ‘Spigot Lodge’ on the left. I had to go and investigate. The road leads off from the A684 to the left and soon rises quite steeply. After getting as far as I could I walked the last bit and I’m glad I did because it was now totally silent. Just me, some distant birdsong and the sweet heady scent of Elderflower in the hedgerows.

I noticed a strange looking building to my right which turns out to be ‘Polly Peachams Tower’ – a folly built by the Duke of Bolton in the 1720’s. Castle Bolton can be seen behind it in the distance.

At the top of the long hill is Spigot Lodge. It is still a racing horse stable with a very grand entrance.

I noticed some young jockeys milling around nearby with their ‘silks’ on and a few sleek racehorses grazing in the open fields. Alf describes how he and Siegfried had conducted many horse operations up here, I could imagine them in this field with Siegfrieds cries of ”he’s not going to go down Jim!”

Then on to West Witton. Scene of Herriots ’brakeless car’ drama. I wanted to check those hairpin bends out on the steep hill behind the village. And it is very steep indeed! Near the top I stopped to look at a curious old milestone which featured in the first TV series of ACGAS in the episode ‘A New Chapter‘. James pulls up right here and decides to take Siegfrieds advice to put his very sick dog Dan down and save him further suffering. But Dan saves James the trouble by passing away peacefully on their last walk in a sunlit meadow that evening. Thank you to Patrick & Helen (experts on the TV series) for finding this location and posting a video of it recently.

The best bit though was zipping down through the hairpins on my bike to experience what Alf had all those years ago. Alf wrote ‘ I sometimes wonder if I would have rocketed into West Witton village itself if it hadn’t been for those sheep in the road‘. I captured my own descent on my GoPro camera so will check that out and upload later when I have figured out how to do that.

At the bottom of the hill I re-joined the main road from Leyburn and carried on through West Witton. I soon passed the Wensleydale Heifer which was a favourite of Alfs. It is a nice 5* hotel and restaurant with themed rooms such as the ‘James Herriot‘ and ‘All Creatures Great and Small‘. I learned earlier at Leyburn market that a ‘Heifer‘ is a female cow that hasn’t yet calved. A young bull is called a ‘Stirk‘. And a ‘Steer‘ is a bull that has been castrated. The unusual language of livestock farmers!

I continued on past the village and was soon on the tree lined stretch where Alf described the view of distant Bolton Castle. Here is the view from the road.

The tree lined road was a relief from the hot sun and soon l came across Temple Farm which Alf mentions in the book. It is named after an ancient Knights Templar community.

Curiosity got the better of me again and I found a little gateway just on the left of the road just past the farm with a stony footpath leading up the hill behind the farm to see if I could find remnant of the old Knights Templar Chapel…

Look what I found at the top of the path!

I’d never had lunch in an ancient knights Templar chapel before but it beat sitting in a posh restaurant by a country mile. The only company I had were these nearby cattle wondering who this strange fellow was wandering around. Seems that cows share my sense of curiosity.

After lunch I clattered back down the stony path to get back on the road to Aysgarth. A bit further on I passed one of those old AA ‘sentry’ boxes. They were there for motorists to get help in the old days before mobile phones. They offered shelter and contained maps, a telephone and a fire extinguisher. At one time there were 1000 of them but now only 19 survive as historic artefacts from a bygone age.

After this was a steady incline to give my legs a final bit of work to do before reaching Aysgarth. When I got to the top of the incline I could immediately see the original YHA building still standing there defiantly. It is no longer a Youth Hostel so I couldn’t stay there but there is a hotel right next door called the Aysgarth Falls hotel which was the next best thing so this was my home for the night.

I did wander around the outside of the old YHA building and curiously all I could see was that every single room had rows and rows of books and bookshelves. Some serious readers must live there now or perhaps it is an archive of some sort? A mystery.

Since it was still early afternoon I set off down the road towards Aysgarth falls. I passed the church just as Alf did. It remains unchanged with its higgledy piggeldy gravestones.

Then, walking down the steep road further, I came across the low wall which Alf had another incident with. The poor brakes on his car meant that one day he stalled on that hill and rolled backwards into the wall which saved him going over the edge!

And then further down is the bridge where you get a fine view of the falls. There was not a great deal of water flowing at this time of year but it is still impressive to see the rock formations carved out by the river.

As I walked across the bridge I looked back to see the imposing Yore Mill – there is a nice Café on the lower floor..

I decided to stop for Tea and a slice in the visitor centre on the other side of the bridge instead. And while sat there I realised that I had time to walk on out of the village to Carperby, the place where Alf had spent his honeymoon in 1941. Just past the visitor centre a little further up from the the old railway bridge is a little gate on the right. That path led through a wood and emerged onto lush green pastures where the path continues past some typical barns on its way to a gate directly opposite the Wheatsheaf hotel.

I’d done this little walk before and, for me, its how I imagine heaven might be when sheep are grazing around my own headstone. It really is a thoroughly enchanting walk.

I was able to rest my legs, and my mind, here outside ‘The Wheatsheaf’. And had time to think about what Day 2 might hold. Incidentally, inside this hotel is the original visitors book that Alf and Joan signed as ‘Mr and Mrs Wight’ for the very fist time. I imagined how thrilled Alf was when he wrote that.

Alf wasnt famous at this time in 1941 but a few weeks later a famous person did sign in and stay here – Greta Garbo the famous American actress. She was over in the UK entertaining the troops at the time. So if you ever stay here you can just imagine that your room might be the one that James and Helen stayed in that night – or even Greta Garbo !

And it was cheerio from the two ladies that run this lovely hotel that means so much to Herriot readers and watchers. I have stayed there on a previous visit and highly recommend it. I walked back through the fields back to Aysgarth to get ready for Day 2 of the James Herriot YHA route…