Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
Both the 1980s and 2020s TV settings of All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot’s heartwarming tales of a vet’s life in mid-1900s Yorkshire, were shot mainly in Askrigg and the Dales. But Herriot himself – real name Alf Wight – in fact lived and practised in Thirsk. Nothing about the town is familiar to…
Bike pace is perfect for getting under the skin of things, as countless mosquitoes and fleas chomping me this summer could verify. And today’s ride – a sixty-mile circuit west of Thirsk via Masham and Ripon – revealed some delightful bits of quirky, off-piste Yorkshire. From Thirsk’s market square I headed northwest past the racecourse…
Little back lanes through little back villages got me to Eccleshall, a handsome small town that has more than you’d expect from something of this size: craft-beer bars, artisan bakeries, Young Offender Institutions. After some thought I decided the most appropriate of those for me just now was the artisan bakery, and snaffled a gourmet…
The morning was silent, save the gentle throb of hangovers from the neighbouring tents. A short day in prospect today, with the Welsh hills behind me. And the Shropshire hills in front of me. I explored Welshpool, which didn’t quite have the picturesque centre I imagined, though I got a glimpse of the canal towpath…
The railtrail up Elan Valley (NCN81) is superb: smooth flat scenic tarmac for miles, from Rhayader to the head of Garreg-Ddu reservoir. The weather was a bit less superb, grey and damp and spitty, but I was happy, winching my way up the waterside paths. Waterside information boards showed the sort of rare animals you…
On a beautiful sunny morning, a beautiful ridgetop ride from my farm campsite to Aberaeron. I’d not even heard of it before, but it turned out to be a pleasant harbour town with a high count of bistros, cafes, and agreeable locals giving me helpful route suggestions. I headed east out of town along the…
With international travel tricky, I’m doing Geneva to Florence, for a possible magazine article. Not from Switzerland to Italy via the Alps, though: it’s from Carmarthen to the Potteries via mid-Wales mountains. Which means some spectacular passes, at least. Geneva, Wales is pretty small. Not a village. Not even a hamlet. Not even a farmhouse….
Of all 57 Yorkshire dales, Emmerdale is the best-known. Which is remarkable, as it doesn’t exist. Emmerdale is, of course, fictional: the creation of the long-running TV soap which, from the first episodes in 1972 to 1989, was known as Emmerdale Farm. Which, confusingly, was set in the equally fictional Beckindale, though this was renamed…
We pub pretty well in Yorkshire: 3,725 of them in all (or only 17, if you believe Wikipedia). These include not just the highest of all Britain’s 45,000 boozers (the Tan Hill Inn up in the Dales, 528m up, to be precise); but also the oldest. There are many claimants (this site lists 15) but…
Gravel roads, gravel pits, gravel bike. Perhaps you can spot the theme here: birds. Most weeks I cycle from York to my mum’s, outside Hull. At just the right point for a refreshment stop, about three-quarters of the way, is North Cave Wetlands: a quarry being turned into a 21st-century nature reserve. It has lakes,…