Yorkshire Walks BBC Four series announced with artist Shanaz Gulzar exploring Bolton Abbey, Whitby and beyond

Yorkshire's beauty spots will be featured in a new four-part television walking series as artist Shanaz Gulzar explores her home region.

In the BBC Four series starting in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire later this month, called Yorkshire Walks, Gulzar uses her artist’s eye to present an immersive view of the county using a 360-degree selfie-style camera to film herself and everything around her.

-> Five beautiful Yorkshire countryside walks to blow away the cobwebsGulzar, from Keighley in West Yorkshire, visits destinations in the series including Bolton Abbey and Whitby as well as the village of Heptonstall and the market town of Leyburn in Wensleydale.

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Each episode features a different walk that was completed and filmed in a day.

Shanaz Gulzar. Image: BBC.Shanaz Gulzar. Image: BBC.
Shanaz Gulzar. Image: BBC.

Gulzar sets out on a planned route each time and along the way she has chance meetings with fellow walkers, uncovers forgotten histories, recites poetry and sketches the Yorkshire landscape.

She said: “It has been a privilege to walk in such stunning landscapes, and meet such a wide range of people.

"Walking helps me as an artist – to think and gather inspiration, but also as a human being who likes to recharge the batteries and get away from the rush of modern life.”

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-> Kes Reimagined to air on BBC Four with dancing, music and puppetry homage to Barnsley classicIn the first episode Gulzar walks from Leyburn to Castle Bolton and discovers evidence of an industrial past, and talks to a volunteer worker on the heritage railway line.

Bolton Abbey. Picture: Tony Johnson.Bolton Abbey. Picture: Tony Johnson.
Bolton Abbey. Picture: Tony Johnson.

She takes in both sides of the Calder Valley in episode two, starting in Heptonstall and walking along the canal in Hebden Bridge, before climbing uphill to the peace monument of Stoodley Pike.

Episode three takes Gulzar to the coast to walk part of the Cleveland Way, starting in Runswick Bay and finishing at sunset in the seaside town of Whitby.

And in the final episode Shanaz heads to the Bolton Abbey, where she meanders along the banks of the River Wharfe before climbing up to Simon’s Seat and experiences its views across Wharfedale, Nidderdale and beyond.

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Commissioned for BBC Four, Yorkshire Walks is produced by Cy Chadwick from Atypical Media.

Whitby. Picture: Ian Day.Whitby. Picture: Ian Day.
Whitby. Picture: Ian Day.

-> The 10 wild Yorkshire swimming spots you have to try this summerThe executive producer is Tony Parker for BBC England.

He said: “The films are a real treat for viewers – gorgeous, gentle rambles through some of our country’s finest landscapes.

"Shanaz brings a fresh perspective on the landscape, responding to what she discovers as an artist.”

Yorkshire Walks will broadcast nationally on BBC Four in December 2019 and regionally on BBC One in the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire regions from November 25 at 7pm.