Whitby & North York Moors Guide - Days Out Leaflets
Whitby & North York Moors Guide - Days Out Leaflets
Whitby & North York Moors Guide - Days Out Leaflets
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Behind the scenes of<br />
HEARTBEAT COUNTRY<br />
Author, Nicholas Rhea, takes a closer look<br />
at the landscape that made the show<br />
used location - except Goathland. Scenes<br />
were often shot in the market square where<br />
the old town hall stands on stilts, and also<br />
in Skinner Street’s 1960s atmosphere.<br />
The harbour-side with piers, lighthouses<br />
and narrow alleys (ghauts) made regular<br />
appearances as did the beach with its waves,<br />
caves and cliffs.<br />
The ancient and poetic fishing port of<br />
<strong>Whitby</strong> and its ruined abbey, viewed through<br />
the whalebones on the West Cliff, are<br />
enough to make anyone’s heart beat. You<br />
might even see the ghost of Dracula…<br />
Whichever way you look at it, Heartbeat<br />
Country is a great place to visit.<br />
Heartbeat was an ITV rural police drama<br />
series that was broadcast from 1992<br />
until 2009, with Goathland portraying<br />
the fictional village of Aidensfield. The<br />
series was based on the Constable books<br />
written by Nicholas Rhea.<br />
Heartbeat Country does not appear on many<br />
maps, although the village of Goathland<br />
can be found in its lush hollow on the <strong>North</strong><br />
<strong>York</strong> <strong>Moors</strong>. Some nine miles from <strong>Whitby</strong><br />
and 500 feet above sea-level, a visit requires<br />
a slight diversion from the A169 (Pickering-<br />
<strong>Whitby</strong> road) or you can use the historic<br />
steam railway. There are spectacular routes<br />
via Eskdale too.<br />
If it’s your first<br />
visit, the village<br />
may seem<br />
familiar because<br />
it doubles as<br />
the famous<br />
Heartbeat village<br />
of Aidensfield -<br />
the shops and<br />
garage belong<br />
to Aidensfield<br />
as does the<br />
Goathland Hotel whose alter ego is The<br />
Aidensfield Arms. Aidensfield’s weddings<br />
and funerals used the church, and many<br />
outlying areas featured in scenes from the<br />
TV series.<br />
But as well as a film set, Goathland is<br />
also a real moorland village and makes a<br />
splendid base for tours of the surrounding<br />
countryside. With its open spaces, fine<br />
hotels, boarding houses, shops and cafés<br />
plus the <strong>North</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>Moors</strong> Historic Steam<br />
Railway it’s a place of character and delight.<br />
Around Goathland are some wonderful<br />
footpaths - Wheeldale Moor boasts one of<br />
the best preserved Roman roads in Britain<br />
(signposts will guide you) whilst behind the<br />
Mallyan Spout Hotel is the romantic 70-foot<br />
high Mallyan Spout waterfall. Hereabouts<br />
waterfalls are fosses or spouts and nearby<br />
are Nelly Ayre Foss and Thomasson Foss.<br />
Dominating the <strong>Moors</strong> is Fylingdales Ballistic<br />
Missile Warning Station’s truncated pyramid<br />
which, in Heartbeat time, consisted of three<br />
huge white balls nicknamed duck eggs<br />
or golf balls. On the <strong>Moors</strong> nearby is the<br />
“as well as a film set, Goathland is<br />
also a real moorland village and<br />
makes a splendid base for tours of<br />
the surrounding countryside”<br />
country’s earliest Christian relic, Lilla Cross.<br />
In AD 626, an assassin tried to murder King<br />
Edwin of <strong>North</strong>umbria but his bodyguard, a<br />
Christian called Lilla, leapt forward to<br />
protect his sovereign - and was killed. King<br />
Edwin erected that cross to Lilla’s memory<br />
and later founded the church that became<br />
<strong>York</strong> Minster.<br />
If you want to see the Aidensfield Fire<br />
ablaze in the bar of the Aidensfield Arms, I<br />
can tell you that the real fire that inspired<br />
it was in the Saltersgate Inn on the road to<br />
Pickering. Sadly, the old pub, built in 1648<br />
as the Waggon and Horses, is undergoing<br />
major refurbishment so you will need to<br />
check whether it has re-opened. For over 150<br />
years, the real turf fire was never allowed to<br />
die out because a murder victim was said to<br />
be buried under the hearth - the everlasting<br />
blaze kept the secret secure!<br />
About a mile from<br />
Goathland is the intriguing<br />
hamlet of Beck Hole, often<br />
used in Heartbeat and a<br />
favourite with cast and<br />
crew when off duty. Here<br />
is the Birch Hall Inn,<br />
one of the tiniest pubs<br />
in England with one<br />
of the smallest bars -<br />
usually crowded! Its<br />
inn sign is an original<br />
painting by Algernon Newton RA. Very few<br />
inn signs were painted by members of the<br />
Royal Academy. Algernon’s son was Robert<br />
Newton, the actor who famously played<br />
Long John Silver in Treasure Island. Also in<br />
Beck Hole is a quoits pitch sometimes used<br />
in Heartbeat - world quoits championships<br />
have been held here!<br />
Egton Bridge has often appeared with its<br />
local inn, The Postgate, featuring as the Black<br />
Dog Inn with scenes depicting Egton Manor<br />
in various roles. One of Heartbeat’s<br />
most famous<br />
scenes was<br />
shot here - the<br />
drowning of Dr<br />
Ferrenby. The<br />
fatal stepping<br />
stones are in the<br />
River Esk near the<br />
Horseshoe Hotel.<br />
Beggar’s<br />
Bridge near<br />
Glaisdale Station<br />
made frequent<br />
appearances in<br />
Heartbeat. Built<br />
in 1619 as a packhorse<br />
bridge, it often<br />
featured as a setting for romance and drama,<br />
or sometimes searches for missing people.<br />
Built by the Lord Mayor of Hull, a former<br />
pirate, it was erected in memory of his wife,<br />
whom he courted at Glaisdale.<br />
On the coast, Sandsend featured regularly<br />
in Heartbeat due to its wide sea views<br />
and wonderful sandy beach, but perhaps<br />
<strong>Whitby</strong> itself was the most regularly<br />
opposite, main image: actors nick Berry & niamh Cusack in<br />
the original series of Heartbeat. inset: aidensfield Garage. This<br />
page, clockwise: Birch Hall inn at Beck Hole, mallyan Spout<br />
Waterfall, aidensfield Stores, Bench at Goathland Station.<br />
12 <strong>Whitby</strong> and the <strong>North</strong> <strong>York</strong> <strong>Moors</strong> Holiday <strong>Guide</strong> 2012 | 13