Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country with Russell & Debbie

 Yorkshire Dales, TV Soap Country 

With a full day planned we headed out early to Goathland in the middle of the North Yorkshire Moors. The village is the true setting for the fictional village of Aidensfield from the hit show Heartbeat. As we drove into the village, we had to stop for the sheep that walk around the village. We had the theme tune to the series playing very loudly, whilst singing along to it. Down at the station we saw two steam trains come in one going in both directions and we had a little look around the station, which wasn't just seen in Heartbeat but was also used in the first Harry Potter film as Hogwarts station. 

The soap fanatics in our group loved exploring the iconic sets of tv classic Heartbeat. Scripps Garage looked exactly the same as it did the series but is now unique shop full with memorabilia. 

It was off to visit Holmfirth the setting for the UKs longest running sitcom in TV history, Last of the Summer Wine. Our first stop was Sid’s Café, the place that Compo, Clegg and Foggy would meet at for tea and cake. Walking around the town we ended up at Compos house which is now a small exhibition. There was plenty of information about the series, the actors and we saw some of the props they used when filming. There was an information video and some clips from the series that we spent a while watching. We all agreed it was great to relive some of their best bits. 

We couldn't believe the Woolpack Pub is real! After a drink the landlady allowed us behind the bar to pull a pint! 

Next, we set off to the top-secret filming location of Emmerdale, it was a much-anticipated trip as it is one of our favourite tv programs. We saw the vets and walked down through the cemetery seeing all the headstones of the characters that have passed away over the years. It was then onto the village hall and the church, and on the other side was David’s shop and the Barton and Dingle garage. It was brilliant to see such iconic places.

A morning was spent at the famous Wensleydale Creamery passing through some beautiful scenery on our way. On arrival we had a quick look around the shop to see what gifts were available for later before we headed off to see a cheese making demonstration. 

It was very interesting and the man doing the presentation was very funny and made the presentation full of humour. After the demo we headed over to the café to try some of the cheeses in our lunch; the cheese toastie was a must! 

The creamery is the natural home of Wallace and Gromit, who made Wensleydale cheese famous throughout the world, so we had a few pictures taken with them, before heading back to the shop, where we bought not just cheese, but also some local beer and our postcards ready to write and send home. 

Before heading home, we stopped off in Harrogate to explore and do a spot of shopping. We wandered around popping in and out of the quaint shops where we all managed to buy some gifts. After shopping we went to the well renowned Betty’s for afternoon tea. It is so popular that we had to queue which just added to the anticipation. We had tea with real tea leaves so had to use a strainer and we were served with an amazing selection of the finest sandwiches. This was followed by scones with clotted cream and jam and three lovely small cakes one of which had a small Betty’s sign on it.