The delights of the Dales: Country highs and pork pies on a weekend in Yorkshire
Roger Tempest is the 31st generation of an unbroken 900-year male line to live at Broughton Hall.
That's impressive.
Orange is the colour: The Yorkshire Dales are at their finest during autumn
I'm also chuffed to learn that Wuthering Heights, starring Ralph Fiennes, was filmed here, conjuring all kinds of Heathcliff fantasies during our stay in the sublime Yorkshire Dales.
We're not guests in the hall itself, but are lodged within the 3,000-acre grounds in a converted farmhouse that sleeps 13 and is strewn with modern art. Eden, as the house is called, is the ideal spot to explore the Dales, perfect in autumn, with plenty of open fires to keep you toasty.
It's a few minutes from the medieval market town of Skipton, North Yorks, and there are glorious walks in rugged scenery, blood-curdling history, outstanding food and bracing air.
Ours is a family holiday: my parents, brother, sister and me.
At Skipton Castle we learn that during the Civil War, it was the last royalist bastion in the North, but was slighted by Cromwell after a three-year siege in 1645.
If you're lucky enough to bump into Sebastian Fattorini, the current Lord of the Honour who lives at the castle, he'll take you down to the underground dungeon and show you the holes in the walls on the top floor, designed for easy disposal of unlucky prisoners' bodies.
Best foot forward: Yorkshire has plenty of scenery ideal for a weekend stroll in autumn, including the ruined Bolton Abbey (left), and Swaledale, where the River Swale runs through Yorkshire Dales National Park (right)
Sebastian has a nose for good food, too. He recommends the hot pork pies from celebrated butcher Stanforth down the road, and shares with us the secret to eating them.
'When you take your first bite lean over the pie rather than holding it up to your mouth,' he says. 'It avoids spilling hot oil all down your front.'
No such advice is needed at the Michelin-starred Burlington restaurant at The Devonshire Arms hotel. It's all crisp linen tablecloths, with waiters ready to pounce. But while Stanforth pies cost a couple of quid, here three courses come in at £65.
You can't come to Skipton and not take a slow boat ride down the canal. We see weasels and a kingfisher, not to mention hearty walkers with poles and dry-stone walls criss-crossing the landscape.
Given the relaxed pace of life and thrilling scenery, plus gorgeous men with long historical backgrounds, I can't believe it's taken me so long to find the Yorkshire Dales.
Travel Facts
Seven nights at Eden costs £2,600, based on 13 sharing (01756 799608, www.broughtonhall.co.uk/eden).
More information about the Dales via www.yorkshire.com.
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