Today I travelled the second leg of Herriots YHA walk which Alf Wight did in the 1950’s and is described so vividly in the book ’James Herriots Yorkshire’. Alf did this walk with his son Jim and a friend but also did similar walks staying in Youth Hostels with his daughter Rosie too. Alf passed his love for the area on to them both and they are now doing the same for future generations.

The second days route is shown in orange in the map below and follows the exact steps that Alf trod in 1957.

The day started well with a hearty cooked breakfast, the sun was shining with a nice fresh breeze. I was a bit sad to bid farewell to Aysgarth but Day 2 held great promise and it was nice to be back on the bike heading for Keld.

Shortly after leaving Aysgarth, on the road towards Hawes, the road levelled out and I spotted this interesting cluster of Scots Pine trees on the right hand side. It is known locally as ‘Lady Hill’. The trees were planted to commemorate a Queen Victoria Jubilee and the wall around it was built by a local game dealer to enclose a warren of silver-haired rabbits which he bred for the fur trade. The fur was sent as far away as Russia where they use Rabbit Fur to make their distinctive fur hats.

The road carried on following the river Ure along the valley. Soon I passed this place (below) with a car parked outside the gates waiting for opening time – it must be very good ice cream to have had a queue forming that early in the morning!

A bit further on I managed to attract the attention of some curious spectators. Cows are rarely seen where I live so it added to the very warm feeling I had about today.

Part of the pleasure so far was that this section of road was pretty flat. This morning my legs had complained following yesterdays assault on them when cycling up to Spigot Lodge.

I passed a quaint little pub called ‘The Victoria Arms’ just before entering Worton – but sadly it looked like it was closed.

This is where Alf turned right and continued over the bridge that crosses the river Ure. Immediately afterwards another hill presented itself and wound its way up through a wood to a T junction. I turned sharp left onto the road leading into Askrigg.

At the top of Askrigg was the steep turn right which Alf followed on his walk. But today, another little detour beckoned me. And its one which turned out to be special. Today, Alfs daughter Rosie was accompanying Oliver Crocker (a popular and accomplished author of the book ”All Memories Great & Small) at a book signing event. The book is the definitive history of the making of the original TV series ”All Creatures Great & Small. Further, the event was taking place at the newly opened Skeldale House in Askrigg from the original TV series. This building is now an excellent hotel with rooms themed around James Herriot. I was so delighted to meet with Oliver and Rosie. Rosie was such a nice lady. She put me at ease straight away and showed an interest in my YHA tour which I was doing in honour of her Dad. It was such a privilege to talk to her and share thoughts on her Dads books too. She is doing some great work currently supporting the protection and rebuilding of the barns dotted all over the dales. Alf would be delighted with that.

Skeldale house is certainly a ‘must stay’ for any visitors – a perfect base to explore Herriot country.

https://www.maison-parfaite.com/skeldale-house/

A little further up the street is the Kings Head pub/hotel which was ’The Drovers’ in the same TV series. I dropped in there for a drink before continuing my journey to Keld. Inside the walls are adorned with pictures of the various scenes filmed there for the first TV series. I could almost hear Tristan telling some of his raucous tales at the bar. Another ‘must visit’ for any Herriot fans.

It was time to head off, so I reluctantly headed up the high street to rejoin Alfs footsteps. A little way up that road is a house on the right hand side that is another point of interest – this time not directly connected to James Herriot. The house is where Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley lived. These two ladies spent their lives documenting life in the dales. They wrote and illustrated books about the dales in the 1930’s just before the time Alf arrived as a young vet in the area. I now know that Alf had copies of their books so those ladies may well have provided him with some of the historic aspects that Alf had an interest in. What I find interesting is the way they capture life at that time and the quaint descriptive language that they use.

Here’s one of their books and some example pages relevant to todays destination on Alfs walk – Keld.

But first we have to get to Keld by crossing from Wensleydale to Swaledale. Sounds easy doesnt it? Well it wasnt for Alf and it wasn’t for me today either. And here is the reason why:

Yep, that hill is steep. And long. I soon realised that I would be walking it just like Alf did. In the story he mentions the barns on the way up – here they are..

I stopped now and then to get my breath and look back over Askrigg and Wensleydale just as Alf did in his account.

Then, after much more climbing I eventually reached the gate which Alf described… ”That gate was the last touch of civilisation for about 5 miles…. and at the very instant I dropped the latch and turned towards the yawning moorland he (the weatherman in the sky with a sense of humour) roared ‘let it go! … and solid sheets of water fell upon us for the rest of the day”

Luckily, today there was no rain. Just silence and some patches of tacky black tarmac melting under the sun. I had been luckier than Alf with the weather.

The road then levels out and passes the wild rugged landscape of Oxnop which Alf glanced at through the persistent rain.

Alf then writes: “Then at last, perhaps a mile ahead a barn appeared. But it was too late now – we were thoroughly soaked.” Here is that barn:

From this point on it was downhill – and steep! I braked constantly and descended whilst admiring the expanding vista of Swaledale which Alf described as “a heavenly vision of peace“. I captured this on video and will post here once I have figured out how to do that.

Once I got to the bottom I turned left to follow their route again towards Muker.

After passing through Muker they came across Thwaite and the sight that Alf most wanted at that moment; a shop with an open door. The rain soaked trio took refuge and benefited from the kind and jovial nature of the shopkeeper.

Today I stopped at the very same shop/ teashop. But just as I arrived the shopkeeper flipped the sign over to CLOSED. Providence once again played a part on this trip because having seeing the disappointment on my face he opened the door to say that their equipment hadn’t been turned off yet and that as long as I wasn’t too long he would happily serve me. Result! I stepped in and conversation flowed easily as he brewed the tea and carefully laid out a ginger biscuit on the tray. No chocolate or oranges as Alf recounted in his book – but the Tea and biscuit went down just as well.

I was the only customer in the shop and I began to think that there must be something about this particular shop that creates very kind hearted shop keepers – he was very friendly and talkative. As I sipped my tea I explained my Herriots YHA route and ended up reading the bit about the shop to him. “I knew he was big in these parts” he said, but he hadn’t heard this particular story – until today.

I was so happy to find that it is still a charming shop and café after all those years. And even happier that it wasn’t raining.

Keld was not far now. I cycled on through Angram where they would have trudged, soaked to the skin. I shared Alfs pleasure when the imposing form of Keld YHA appeared above Keld. It was busy, mainly with dedicated walkers. The man on the front desk was friendly and did what they always do at hotels – fired a barrage of information at me which is impossible to remember – room number, floor number, dinner is served at this time, breakfast at that time, Wi-Fi code is this, drying room access code and packed lunch options etc. If only he had realised he was talking to a man that cannot remember where his car keys are 5 minutes after putting them down. But it didn’t matter, the reception desk doubled up as a bar so I stayed for a while chatting to a local couple, the wife being a Herriot reader so conversation flowed easily.

After a shower and change of clothes I had a hearty dinner in the very same room that Alf had eaten in by the roadside. It has a marvellous view of the hills and the hillside path I would follow on tomorrows journey. The view from that dining room is etched on my mind and I felt a bit sorry for the chef that kept popping in because, as I sat there gazing out the window, the view captured my interest far more than the food, good as it was.

Having eaten I went to my room to reflect on the day. I looked out my window at the moody sky and hoped the weather would hold for tomorrow. But for now sleep was the priority, I had a long day ahead tomorrow on (Day 3) both walking and cycling.

End of Day 2.