We spent three nights in a tiny village that we consider the best town in the Yorkshire Dales, especially for fans of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small. And no, it’s not the town of Thirsk (where the James Herriot museum is located). It’s the lovely town of Grassington and its tiny neighbor Linton that may have turned us into Herriot devotees.
“And the peace which I always found in the silence and emptiness of the moors filled me utterly.”
James Herriot
Background for James Herriot initiates
The first thing to know is that James Herriot is the pen name for James Alfred Wight, who lived from 1916-1995 and wrote a series of books set in the Yorkshire Dales of the 1930s-50s. While fiction, his novels read like autobiographies as he pulled from his nearly 50 years of being a veterinarian in Yorkshire. His books have been recreated in film and TV with a recent remake in 2020 spawning a new generation of devotees.
I read All Creatures Great and Small when I was in high school, it was one of my mom’s favorite books, but I wouldn’t consider myself a Herriot enthusiast. Before our trip, everyone assumed we picked Yorkshire Dales because of the book — being a librarian gives that assumption — but we actually had no idea we were heading into Herriot mania.
Fans of the 2020 TV remake of All Creatures Great and Small will recognize that Grassington is the fictional town of Darrowby where the series takes place. We had no clue but as soon as we walked into town we knew something was afoot. The pedestrians were different. In addition to the baa baa doo covered boots and energetic hounds crowd, this Yorkshire town featured selfie-takers and pampered pups being pushed in baby strollers over cobblestone lanes. An interesting mix of hikers and sightseers, and we loved it!
Why Grassington is our favorite Yorkshire Dales town
Grassington, a Yorkshire foodie and walker’s paradise
Despite the crowds, we fell in love with Grassington. Every path and building had character and the town was just the right size to explore the Yorkshire Dales way of life. Big enough to have a small grocery store and choice of restaurants but small enough to walk everything in one day. We walked from Linton, which took us past the 12th century St. Michael and All Angels Church, Linton Waterfall and up through the “snake walk” which is a narrow stone walled path connecting Linton and Grassington. We walked the green paths along River Wharfe, explored every road in town, stopped for tea and cake and some shopping, then returned to Linton by crossing the river via the Linton Stepping Stones.
Linton, the quiet alternative to Grassington
Now that we’ve covered Grassington, which was our favorite town in the Yorkshire Dales, let’s talk about its tiny neighbor Linton which is equally worth a visit and where we suggest you seek lodging. We stayed at the Fountaine Inn and while our room was humble in size, the inn itself had some of the best food of our trip. Breakfasts were standard English fare, but the coffee was good and the dinners were inspiring!
There were several nice walks from Linton, including the 8-mile walk from Malham to Linton that connected us from inn to inn. That route was tough at the start as it began straight up a mountain. We might have been cursing Matt and Helen from Muddy Boots at the beginning but as soon as we reached the summit we appreciated why they chose the route. It was our first of many 360 degree views of the Yorkshire Dales and probably the loneliest walk of our entire trip. We passed only three people on the trail that day, which was fine by us because the landscape of moors and pasture are best when experienced in solitude. It’s part of the magic of the Dales.
With nothing from the modern world to distract, we found our senses focused on things often overlooked, such as the wind moving the grass and the crackling sounds as it moved through dry heather.
Our first scheduled rest day occurred in Linton. We always schedule in a day for me to rest after three or four days of hiking. It seems to be the magic number for preventing a Rheumatoid Arthritis flareup while hiking multiple days. It also gives us a chance to wash laundry or adjust for bad weather. So on day five when the rain came, we opted for a short walk from Linton to Threshfield and spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the rain hit our slate roof while I washed underwear in a tiny sink.
It was a good thing we rested, because day six of our Yorkshire holiday was the longest hike of our trip. Stick around or subscribe to this blog to find out what town we visited next. If interested in your own trip, visit our Trips to Walkabout site to read our review of Muddy Boots Walking Holidays and why they’re our top pick for Yorkshire Dales hiking.
Did you miss our first story from this trip where we talk about Pub Hiking in the Yorkshire Dales?
