We arrived in York on a Sunday and visited York Minster Cathedral for their evensong service. The cathedral is a gothic building dating from the 13th century. We enjoyed hearing the organ and impressive boys choir, and during the message we learnt an unexpected amount about the history of York, Shakespeare, Britten, Arden, and Greek Drama. There was a context – it was about being authentic people.
During our tour of York North Moors, we visited Whitby, spent time in the ruins of the haunting Whitby Abbey, travelled by steam train to Hogsmeade Station, and visited Aidensfield (fictional town in the T.V. series Heartbeat). The moors are also the home of non-fictional veterinarian James Herriot. However, the producers considered Yorkshire Dales to be a prettier area to film, so the challenges faced by James Herriot were not among the rolling green hills shown in the TV show but in a starker land, less photogenic for the purposes of television.