From the first time we watched gin clear spring water trickling and tumbling over limestone rocks into a Dales river bed on the cinema screen, North Yorkshire's desirability as a prime film location was assured.
 | | Spectacular views of Swaledale |
Wensleydale, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale ceased to be just holiday destinations for the hardy rambler, the moment fresh-faced actor Simon Ward became young post-war vet James Herriot and drove his little black car over hill and dale. It was 1974 and a global audience looked on in wonder, whilst making travel arrangements to see for themselves the magic we have always known and taken for granted. Alongside Simon Ward, stars Anthony Hopkins and Lisa Harrow made history, with real-life 'Mr Herriot' Alf Wight watching from the wings. Nothing could have been further from All Creatures Great and Small to the 1976 film Escape from the Dark starring British movie stalwart Alastair Sim. The genius Scot played Lord Harrogate, a Yorkshire mine owner who turned from pit-ponies to machinery to make his 'brass'. Prunella Scales joined in as the fate of the small work horses looked grim and even the impressive Ripley Castle location couldn't save an anxious tear. In fiction, the avid Christie fan wanders the streets of St. Mary Mead working out the machinations of the plot by the legendary lady author, but for film makers it was fact taking over from fiction when Vanessa Redgrave played Agatha in the movie of the same name. Made in 1978 by Michael Apted - who would later direct a Bond film - the choice of location would be simple - for it was indeed the 'scene of the mystery' itself. Harrogate's life in film | "Hollywood made the trip to Aysgarth Falls in 1991 for the Kevin Costner stab at donning the tights cast aside by forties' mega star Errol Flynn." | |
As Christie's first marriage fell apart in 1926, she disappeared for 10 days. Theories of all sorts of skullduggery filled the newspapers, she finally 'reappeared' in the White Swan Hotel in Harrogate - as did Vanessa. Harrogate stayed in the limelight for the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire. Yorkshireman Colin Welland wrote the story of two British runners up against each other and the world's best athletes in the 1924 Paris Olympics, and used part of the beautiful Crescent Gardens for his 1981 epic starring Ian Charleston and Ben Cross. Revisiting Brideshead Television history was made the same year but 40 miles further east. Teddy bears and petulant young men in boaters with boat loads of family angst brought a local stately home onto a million tea -towels and into the minds of an equal number of American fans. Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons waltzed through Castle Howard as they stormed ahead of legends such as Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud in Brideshead Revisited.
 | | Fountains Abbey |
Meanwhile, something very worrying was been filmed at the perfectly spooky Fountains Abbey. In the Final Conflict, Antipodean star Sam Neill brought Damien to adulthood and headlong into conflict with a group of monks. The decade ended with two more directors utilising North Yorkshire's massive scenery, Jenny Seagrove, Debroah Kerr and John Mills starred in A Woman of Substance with Brimham Rocks in the background in 1988. On the coast, Scarborough played host to A Chorus of Disapproval, a co-production with local theatre guru Alan Ayckbourn and Michael Winner. Hollywood at the falls Hollywood made the trip to Aysgarth Falls in 1991 for the Kevin Costner stab at donning the tights cast aside by forties' mega star Errol Flynn. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves used the Dales waterfall as the river fight between this Californian-born Robin and Little John. Secret Garden was back to the big screen in '93 as the Frances Hodgson Burnett classic brought us Maggie Smith as the mean housekeeper of Allerton Park. Scarborough's seedy side spoke volumes for talented comedienne Jane Horrocks as she sang her way through Little Voice in 1998 with Michael Caine as her equally seeded manager. A new millennium and a new idea - the least likely social group taking their kit off for a charity calendar, but where the magnificent Rylstone WI lead many have since followed. Calendar Girls opened on 5th September 2003 bringing thousands of new fans to the archetypical North Yorkshire village of Kettlewell. So we finish where we started on this cinematic trivia tour, in the breathtaking Yorkshire Dales that we now gladly share with, er, a wider audience...... | 
