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The best things to do in North Yorkshire
It was the scale that struck me first. Running late for lunch in pre-smartphone days, I was simultaneously willing a habitation into existence, so I might locate myself on a map, and awed by the heather-clad moorland, stretching into the distance on either side of the empty road, interspersed only by pockets of dry-stone-walled fields of sheep.
My parents had moved to the Yorkshire Dales from Dorset, and it felt like a whole new world, with the ravines and ruined abbeys - victims of Henry VIII's Reformation - emphasising the gothic grandeur of a land layered with artistic and literary association. Twenty years on, it still holds me in its thrall - and continues to bring new surprises.
The county of North Yorkshire extends from the mighty Pennine peaks (which are nonetheless eminently ascendable: I have climbed even the highest, Whernside, with an eight year old) across the Dales and the Yorkshire Moors to the North Sea. There, rugged cliffs are punctuated by villages and towns that have ranging histories. The ever-popular Whitby is where Bram Stoker set his 1897 novel Dracula. He was inspired by the windswept headland crowned with haunting remains of a Benedictine monastery and the jet that still washes up on the surrounding shores, ensuring - to my children's delight - a glut of shops devoted to this semi-precious stone.
Staithes
Ten miles north is the fishing village of Staithes. At the turn of the 20th century, Harold and Laura Knight were among the artists who rented rooms on the steep, winding streets that lead down to its harbour, and painted both the people and the place.
Sandsend & Runswick Bay
Between lie fossil-rich, bucket-and-spade beaches of wholesomely picturesque appeal: Sandsend and the more secluded Runswick Bay. A 10-minute stroll from the former, a new hotel, Saltmoore, promises a sophisticated alternative to guest houses and holiday cottages, with a spa and several restaurants. The room schemes reference both sea and moor, for it is only a short skip into the heather.
Rosedale Valley
Venture further inland, to the Rosedale Valley, and you will find a recently inaugurated attraction of a different type. Commissioned by the Ross Foundation and created by Andy Goldsworthy, Hanging Stones is an immersive six-mile walk studded with his wonder-provoking installations that are informed by geology, land use and love of the Yorkshire Moors.
Sutton Bank
Carry on, past small market towns of honey-hued houses built from local stone to Sutton Bank, once frequented by Joseph Mallord William Turner, sketchbook in hand. On a clear day, you can see right across the Vales of Mowbray and York - the plains that separate the Moors from the Dales - even to the towers of York Minster, with its exquisite windows of medieval stained glass. And, among fields and farm buildings, there are various houses of significant appeal to those who are interested in art and interiors.
Brockfield Hall
At Brockfield Hall, there is a large collection of Staithes Group artists' paintings. Taking its name from the town in which it is situated, Thirsk Hall (seen in House & Garden in November 2022) has a commercial sculpture garden and gallery. The current exhibition is devoted to modernist sculptor Austin Wright, who lived some 20 miles south at Upper Poppleton and whose work speaks of that area. (Also in Thirsk, on the first Saturday of every month is the rural-centric Fur & Feather auction, where lots run from ferrets to Faverolles chickens.)
Castle Howard
Castle Howard was famously used as a stand-in for the Flvte family's ancestral home in the 1981 Granada television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Now, the richly ornamented interiors and gardens are, on occasion, augmented by contemporary art programmes. And should you plan a visit, it is worth knowing that the nearby town of Malton is the county's food capital.
Swinton Park
Across the Al, on the edge of the Dales is Swinton Park, a hotel of more than 20 years standing, with a fairytale facade, deer park, cookery school, spa and lake bathing, and acclaimed restaurants popular with the locals. Family portraits on the walls and a proper drawing room maintain the feel of a private home within a majestic landscape.
Hackfall wood
Three miles southeast, the folly-studded Hackfall wood was a repeat subject for Turner. The River Ure that cuts through it offers an invigorating swimming spot when unswollen by rain - its peat-stained water bestows what my family calls 'a Yorkshire tan'.
Haworth
It was just beyond the Dales, in the Pennines, that the Brontës lived. Their village of Haworth is, technically, in West Yorkshire. But there is no visible county boundary in the seemingly unending moorland that turns green-gold and purple with the seasons and, two decades on from my first experience of being lost, there is still scant phone reception. But you can hear a curlew's cry in spring and see swallows swooping in high summer and, over 150 years after it was written, a line spoken by Catherine Linton in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights often resonates with me: 'I'm sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.' It is not only my parents who keep me coming back: North Yorkshire's scenery is a salve for my soul.
Rooms from £290 at Saltmoore (saltmoore.co.uk)
and £285 at Srinton Park Hotel (swintonestate.com).
hangingstones.org | brockfieldhall.co.uk | thirskhall.com | castlehoward.co.uk
Daniel Casson1/5Fountains Abbey was among a number of ruined monastic sites depicted by JMW Turner.
Daniel Casson2/519th-century Owston's warehouse on the banks of the River Derwent.
Daniel Casson3/5A doorman welcomes guests at Swinton Park Hotel.
Daniel Casson4/5At Swinton Park Hotel spa, a freshwater pool offers a more sedate alternative to the wild swimming lake in the grounds.
Daniel Casson5/5At the hotel, breakfast is served in the elegant Samuel's Restaurant.
