The diverse landscapes of Yorkshire has been constantly used in some the Britiain’s best loved TV shows. Here’s a run down of some of the locations that were used on some of the finest small screen series.
1. All Creatures Great and Small 1978-80, 1988-90 & 2020 to present
The fictitious Dales village of Darrowby was the home to James Herriott and his vetenairy friends. The village has been represented by several places in North Yorkshire. Firstly the opening credits saw James Herriot and Siegfried Farnon drive over the bridge and past the pub in Langthwaite. The Kings Arms Hotel in Askrigg was used as Darrowby’s village drinking hole, where James would go after a hard day’s vetting. He would marry his fiance’, Helen at Holy Trinity Church in Wensley. On market day the vets would go to Hawes Cattle market and visit Mrs Pumphrey at her home in Ellerton Abbey. In the current 2020s version of All Creatures on Channel 5, filming has moved to the Southern Dales, with many of the 1930s street scenes filmed in Grassington. The nearby Malham Tarn and Cove have also been used in some scenes and Mrs Pumphrey is now based at Broughton Hall near Skipton.
2. Emmerdale (Farm) 1972-present
Yorkshire’s soap, Emmerdale Farm has moved around several locations in West and North Yorkshire since it hit our screens in 1972. It started off in Arncliffe, high up in the Dales north of Grassington, which posed as the ficticious place of “Beckindale.” Filming then moved to Esholt on the edge of Bradford from 1976-96 for outside shots of the village, including the legendary Woolpack Inn. From 1997 to the present day, Emmerdale is filmed at a purpose built set, modelled on Esholt in the grounds of Harewood House. Other locations used in the soap have been Otley, (Hotten), Meanwood Road, Leeds (Tate Haulage) and Creskeld Hall in Bramhope, which acted as Home Farm.
3. Heartbeat 1992-2010
Back in 1992, the retro police drama, Heartbeat burst onto our screens and for a while Sixties mania hit the remote village of Goathland in the North Yorkshire Moors. Noted for its barren moorland, sheep and steam railway it became a mecca for nostalgia-loving tourists. They wanted to see the ficticious village “Aidensfield” in all its 60s glory, complete with pub, garage, shop, police station and Claude Greengrass for themselves. To actually see Ashfordly police station they would have had to travel many miles west to the then disused Otley Courthouse. The moors, country roads and sheep are still there for all to see on a visit to Goathland!
4. Queenie’s Castle 1970-72
Older residents of Leeds will remember the Quarry Hill flats in the City Centre, which were built on the site of what is now the West Yorkshire Playhouse. This rather austere concrete building, constructed in the 1930s included its own launderette, nursery and shopping facilities. Quarry Hill was also the setting for the 1970s sitcom, “Queenie’s Castle.” This was written by Keith Waterhouse and ran from 1970-72, starring Diana Dors as “Queenie Shepherd.” The series profiled the lives of the residents of a Leeds tower block. In 1978, just a few few years after the series finished the flats were demolished.The community is still remembered by former residents to this day as a unique and interesting place to live.
5. Last of the Summer Wine 1973-2010
Last but not least, the longest ever running sitcom in the world, Last of The Summer Wine. Most of the familiar locations have been in Holmirth, such as Sid’s Cafe, but Auntie Wainwright’s shop is actually in nearby Marsden. While Holmfirth is recognised as the spiritual home of “Lotsw,” filming locations covered quite a wide area of West and South Yorkshire. Over the years, the show took Foggy, Compo and Clegg to Spurn Point, Scarborough, Grassington, Sheffield and even the Franco-Belgian coast!
