My favourite Yorkshire place is a secret gem near Rockley Dam - Jayne Dowle

IN part two of a new year mini-series on Yorkshire tourism, Jayne Dowle reveals her favourite hidden gems.

If I told you where one of my favourite places in Yorkshire is, you probably wouldn’t be able to find it. That might be why I like it so much, but I’ll let you into the secret.

It’s a hidden valley three miles from where I live in Barnsley. You will have heard of Wentworth Castle at Stainborough, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, now Northern College. The gardens, resplendent with rhododendrons in late springtime, are owned by the National Trust.

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Sir Thomas Wentworth (1672-1739) created these gardens and fashioned the surrounding landscape in constant attempts to outshine his cousin’s grand pile at Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham; only eight miles separate the two estates.

Wentworth Castle Gardens, in Stainborough near Barnsley. Picture: Scott Merrylees.Wentworth Castle Gardens, in Stainborough near Barnsley. Picture: Scott Merrylees.
Wentworth Castle Gardens, in Stainborough near Barnsley. Picture: Scott Merrylees.

With respect to the ‘Barnsley Wentworths’, I must also put Wentworth Woodhouse in my top five favourite places in Yorkshire. This vast 18th century house – believed to have 365 rooms, one for every day of the year – is magnificent, breathtakingly beautiful and fully deserving of the multi-million-pound renovation it is now receiving thanks to the National Trust and the tireless efforts of volunteers and the Wentworth Preservation Trust. The garden centre, antiques sellers and the village pubs and bistro are also a draw.

However, my very favourite place is far away from the pomp and circumstance of Palladian fronts and political one-upmanship. If you were to set off at Rockley Dam, to the south of Wentworth Castle, and walk up around the back of the estate, you would eventually come across a monument to the Duke of Argyll, built by William Wentworth, the second Earl of Strafford, in 1744 to honour his father-in-law.

I stumbled across this Corinthian column topped with a statue of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, on a walk a few years ago. To my shame, until then I didn’t even know it existed. The monument is splendid, and more so for being so unexpected, but it looks down upon a verdant valley of undulating fields, and that valley is special. Unchanged for centuries, untouched by modern life, I hope it stays hidden forever.

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Some of my ancestors lived at Rockley. Perhaps that is why I’m drawn to this land. The family connection certainly took me to the quiet village of Austerfield, near Doncaster. One of my great-great-great grandfathers, Richard Batty, was an innkeeper there in the 1830s at the White Hart.

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As we wandered around the churchyard we were invited in to see the font. It was a strangely emotive experience, imagining Bradford’s perilous journey from South Yorkshire to Massachusetts, and in retrospect, a sad one.

Where Yorkshire ends and the world begins is also at the heart of my fourth choice; South Landing, on the south side of Flamborough Head. It’s difficult to choose one favourite spot anywhere around here, such is the natural beauty of the chalky cliffs – the most northerly limestone cliffs in England – and the gannets wheeling overhead.

However, as I am obliged to decide, I’d say South Landing, because here the shingle and pebble beach is eerily quiet. It’s only a mile or so to walk to Dane’s Dyke, linking us back immediately to the Vikings who landed on these very shores and contributed so much to the rich culture, traditions and language of Yorkshire.

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It’s also the place where I realised that my daughter, 14 at the time, possesses great courage. I’m not recommending this for a moment (she’s a strong swimmer and was accompanied by my husband), but one stormy summer afternoon, I sat on that shingle beach hardly daring to look as she took to the crashing waves in her wetsuit with her body-board.

When I asked her what on earth possessed her to do it, she said she wanted to pit herself against the force of nature. Growing up in Yorkshire, both my children – I have a 19-year-old son, Jack, too – have had plenty of opportunities to do that. However, my fifth and final favourite place is a city. It’s got to be York.

I’ve loved it since my first visit, as a child on a school trip. And I’ve passed on my enthusiasm to my children. From the National Railway Museum to the Christmas Markets, it’s always been the best day out for all ages. We’re blessed with so many places in Yorkshire, but our proud and historic Minster city takes a rightful crown.