Back home in Yorkshire last September, I made the usual pilgrimage to my beloved coastal town of Scarborough. I think I've made enough posts about this beautiful fishing town on the North Sea Coast so you're off the hook on this occasion but on the way back home, on a stunningly beautiful late September day, took the scenic route along the A170 which skirts along the Southern edge of the North Yorkshire moors to one of God's own county's most beautiful villages, Thornton le Dale.
Thornton le Dale can trace its routes right back to neolithic times and can, of course, be found in the Domesday Book. A stream wends its way through the centre of the village, Thornton Beck, upon which a mill has been sat that can be traced back to the 12th century.
This is the Malton to Whitby Road and the gateway to the North Yorkshire Moors and Dalby Forest drive
Thornton le Dale is a beautiful, picture postcard village that's popular with tourists, even more so since it's also the home of Mathewson's Classic Car Auctions which features in the popular UK TV series, Bangers and Cash. It isn't however, totally immune from the general tourist tat that gets sold in such locations as we'll see later!
The other problem is that the village lies on a junction with the old Malton to Whitby Road crosses the main A170. Despite there being a car park, most people manage to find street parking in the centre and it gets messy, as you will see from the photos.
The centre of the village boats a couple of pubs who both serve food, assorted tea rooms and shops selling home baked produce and a village post office and an old fashioned general store that sells everything. This is still a working village and the centre of the local farming community, so it's geared up for locals as well as the hoardes of visiting tourists.
The Buck. I assume this pub was built a little later than most of the rest of the village as it's predominately built in brick as opposed to locally mined stone.
Whilst on the subject of locally mined stone, there was a quarry just outside the village that was in use until the 1960's and was the only reason for keeping the railway line open that ran between Seamer and Pickering and originally opened in 1882 before closing to passengers in 1950 and then completely closing and the track lifted when the quarry closed in 1964 and the remaining frieght trains being no longer needed. It is said that upon the opening of the railway, many local farmworkers jumped on trains to go down South to find better conditions and salaries! The railways station is still there and converted into holiday cottages, but that's for another post!
Probably the focal point for the tourists, the Chocolate Factory and tea rooms housed in what was once the village forge.
In the centre of the road junction lies a shaded oasis where people were simply sat enjoying the late September sun with a coffee, or tea!
Coats off and short sleeves. The trees were just beginning to turn but it was still so warm for the time of year. Google photos tell me that this was September the 18th. Only in England could they build a mini park in the middle of a busy road junction with no zebra or pedestrian crossing or traffic lights!
Why the hell they replaced the traditional phone box with that modern styled box is beyond my comprehension, although possibly a more perplexing question is why is that old fella wearing a hi-viz?
The famous Thornton Beck that runs through the centre of the village. There are signs all along that warn people not to catch the fish. It is alleged there are delicious brown trout up for grabs...in a beck that's barely 6 inches deep in places! In the 50 plus years of memories of visiting here, i have never seen even a stickleback in there!
When it comes to the weekly #shadowhunters contest, I might have peaked too soon! Yes, that is me and the wife!
More cars and coffee shops! As is often the case in Yorkshire, the home of English food, almost all the shops sell homemade jam and pickles.
...and jigsaws!
...and sausage rolls. And Bakewell tarts. And scones!
Sadly, Yorkshire often becomes a pastiche of every comedy sketch show mocking the accent and local pride. This is Yorkshire bread, made from Yorkshire flour, milled from Yorkshire wheat and made with Yorkshire water! And there I was, complaining about Scotland in a previous post!
I mentioned shops earlier, and here is one of them. Grays Emporium. An antique shop. Antique shops appear to mandatory for every pretty little village in the UK. Oddly, the rough mining village I was brought up in never had one. It's also interesting to note they use the word 'emporium' to give it an air of Victoriana, but the word itself would be better suited to the shop next door...
... at Wardill Bros. post office and general store. Shops like these are the lifeblood of a rural village and whatever you need for your second home away from the city, they have you covered!
(This is where I go into #marketfriday mode!)
This is their garden and pet supply part of the shop with a huge and eclectic range of goods on display in the window, but yet, there is some method and organisation to their madness...
Zoom in and look from left to right, you'll see it starts with kitchen items before moving onto DIY stuff, then pet food before ending up with rat poison and other murderous chemicals for your garden! All framed by touristy nonsense such as tea towels and Yorkshire calendars.
Personalised glasses case or stick-on wine label? Wardill Bros have you covered.
If you thought nothing ever happened in these small villages, you'd be sadly mistaken.
And I think that just about wraps things up from Thornton le Dale. Just one more photo. Remember, the old folks sat on the benches earlier without coats and in short sleeves? Here is the wife...
Thanks very much for dropping by, and I wish everyone who's celebrating a very merry Christmas.
Martin
