Yorkshire Dales,TV Soap Country with Andy & Rachel

Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country 

The Emmerdale studios was a huge hit with us all. First, we watched a video of all the big iconic Emmerdale story lines, before looking at some of the many awards that Emmerdale has won. We learnt how makeup is applied and got to see replica sets of so many different parts of the show including the cafe, pub, beauty salon and lots of the characters houses. We couldn’t believe how much effort it takes to film just one scene! 

                             

The highlight of our day was visiting the Woolpack pub that was used in the filming of Emmerdale in the early days. We got to be landlord of the pub and showed off our pint pulling skills.

A day learning about where cheese originated from and how cheese making has developed over the years was fascinating. We saw some really old cheese making equipment that we couldn’t believe was actually still used to make cheese! We watched a live demonstration of cheese making whilst explaining the process, that we would later see in the factory. As we entered the factory we got to see the huge amounts of cheese being made. 

There were statues of the cheese loving characters Wallace and Gromit, which made for a great photo opportunity. One of our favourite parts about the day…...tasting the cheese! We tried all different types, including quite a spicy cheese.

 We got to try different grains which had different tastes which they then use in the different beers before our tour started at The Black Sheep Brewery. At the end we got to try lots of different beers, which was a chore… but someone had to do it! 

 Another day, another soap tour and next on our list was Goathland, the home of the hit tv show Heartbeat. Here we saw police cars from the actual show and the village that it was filmed in. It was great recognising so many of the iconic building and scenes. Before we left Goathland, we had time to visit the Aidensfield garage and have a drink in the pub from the show! 

We then climbed aboard the North Yorkshire Moors steam railway from Goathland to Pickering. We learnt that Goathland station was used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone! We watched the mighty steam train arrive, and we jumped aboard, took our seats and relaxed, taking in the beautiful scenery. We felt like we were actually in Harry Potter as we sat in old fashioned compartments just like in the film!

The soap journey continued to the village of Holmfirth, where The Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. On the way we saw some beautiful views of the Yorkshire Dales, including free roaming sheep and lambs. Once we arrived we went on an old fashioned bus that took us on our tour! Our guide showed us so many different places, explaining where certain famous parts were filmed. We searched  for Nora Batty’s house before having a drink in Sid’s cafe. 

 There was so much to see and do in the town of Whitby. We saw a street performer who was a statue of Henry the Eighth and he suddenly moved when you went close to him. It gave us a real shock! We took to the waters on a boat that looked like a pirate ship. It was a replica of Captain Cook, the Yorkshire explorers ship. We learnt about life at sea in those times and Captain Cooks voyages. We went out to sea and looking back inland we had a spectacular view of the Whitby coast line and Whitby Abbey, sat on the hill. On the way back we had great fun singing along to the sailor music doing our best impersonations of a pirate! 

 The brave amongst us went into the Dracula Experience, which was not for the faint hearted. This unique tour took us through the Dracula story and the connection to Whitby using animated scenes, electronic special effects and live actors!

  Big Sheep, Little Cow farm is a family run farm  which provided us with a unique hands on farm experience. We got to hold a guinea pig, a ferret and a rat. The rat liked climbing all over us so we had to sit really still. Next we met a gorgeous Shetland pony, lamas, pigs, cows, alpacas, sheep and goats. We got to feed the greedy goats and brush the pigs. Lastly we bottle fed lambs who were very strong and didn’t take long to drink all of the milk. 

We don't ever need an excuse to treat ourselves to a delicious ice cream!

The Wonders of the Isle of Wight with Darren & Marguerite

The Wonders of the Isle of Wight

We were excited to visit the the infamous tourist attraction, The Needles at Alum Bay. Our day was spent making our own colourful sand souvenirs where we got to choose our own glass ornament and carefully fill it with different coloured sands that can only be found on the island itself. We were very proud of our end results and they made a great memento.

A day at the seaside wouldn't be right without a tasty ice cream treat!

The Model Village in Godshill is set in 2 acres showcasing scale models of Shanklin and Godshill villages as they were in the 1920’s. We spent a lovely morning wandering around here in the glorious sunshine admiring the different scenes.

 The Military and Heritage museum had an interesting mix of tanks, artefacts, war vehicles, small arms and a range of uniforms from the 19^th century to the present day. We took turns in handling the war arms and learning their history. We learnt about life in wartime and about those who contributed so much to the war effort.  

 Norton Grange had such beautiful grounds and we loved exploring them. The bird aviary was popular and photo opportunities were taken with the cute canaries and colourful parrots. They were very noisy for such small animals! 

A great morning was spent watching demonstrations of glass blowing at the world famous glass shop. The craftsmanship that goes into making these products was simply incredible to watch. Next, we moved onto the sweet factory where we saw how sweets are made, prior to sampling some of these tasty treats! Lucky us!

As always, we weren’t disappointed as the music kicked in from the resident band ‘Higher Ground’ after our meals. We jumped onto the dance floor and practised our ballroom and line dancing, which we all picked up really quickly. We then took our seats for the shows provided by the fabulous entertainment team. We were dazzled by the fantastic singing and dancing and we were soon up on our feet once again, dancing the night away.