An Inspired Day Out

You don’t have to be an artist or a writer to be moved by the North Yorkshire market town of Leyburn, says Tony Greenway

- Tony Greenway

LEYBURN, in North Yorkshire, is both pretty and pretty special. Er... isn’t it? Local artist Lynn Ward, who has a studio in the town, sometimes forgets that. ‘But I think that’s because I’ve lived here all my life,’ she says. Well, fair enough. You can take a place for granted when you look at it day in and day out. But come on. Leyburn, a cobbled market town sitting on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, surrounded by dramatic countryside, is undoubtedly picturesque, and a big draw for ramblers and tourists. It also has a mix of quaint and quirky shops (one of them is even called Quaint & Quirky), decent pubs and good cafes.

Fancy a Costa coffee? Well, bad luck, because you won’t find one here. There are no high street chains (well, apart from the Co-op), just a string of quality independents and that makes a rather refreshing change. It helps Leyburn stand apart, somehow. ‘I do get people coming into my studio and telling me how nice they think Leyburn is and how friendly the people are,’ says Lynn, who also plays cornet in Leyburn Band. ‘When you hear that, it makes you appreciate your surroundings a lot more.’

Visiting Leyburn in late July with Betsy, my 10-year-old daughter, was like being whisked back in time because it was the 10th anniversary of the town’s 1940s Weekend. If truth be told, I’d forgotten the event was on and only remembered when I pulled up in the car park and saw Winston Churchill talking animatedly to an American GI. So I was expecting to see maybe a few people dressed in military uniforms and 1940s fashions but practically everyone wore some kind of vintage gear.