Last of the Summer Wine

FOR OVER 30 years the BBC has been producing episodes of Last of the Summer Wine in Holmfirth.

Sid’s Café and Nora Batty’s house have become major tourist attractions in what is an otherwise typically hard Yorkshire mill town. Bus tours leave from outside the café and a museum and tearoom have been set up at ‘Nora’s house’.

The cameramen working on the Last of the Summer Wine make the most of the stunning moorland scenery that surrounds the town. This walk enjoys that countryside with a trek around Ramsden Reservoir..
 
The route


Starting, as many BBC comedies have done, as a one-off play in the Comedy Playhouse series, Last of the Summer Wine has gone on to become the longest-running comedy programme on TV. The story is simple enough, a group of retired gentlemen enjoying their second childhoods.
 
Compo and Clegg have became household names as they wreak havoc in a staid Yorkshire town. The third main character has varied from time to time. Blamire, Foggy, Seymour and Truly Truelove taking their turns as comedy foils.
 
Add to that a supporting cast that included established actors playing long-running characters like Nora Batty, Wally, Howard, Pearl, Marina. Thora Hird found a perfect role for her talents, but she was unable to stop the mayhem that occurred each week.
 
There were even cameo roles for Ron Moody, Norman Wisdom, Cardew Robinson, Ray Cooney, Liz Fraser, Brian Glover, Gorden Kaye and John Cleese.
 
The constant filming had an effect on the town. A humble paint shop was done up as ‘Ivy’s’ then ‘Sid’s café’. It is now a full time café.
 
Recently the disturbance caused by filming has resulted in compensation payments that have reached such high levels that the BBC even threatened to pull out of the town. Peace was restored, however, and the programme goes from strength to strength even surviving the deaths of major character actors.
 
Visit the town and see the café and Nora Batty’s house, then take the A6024 to the west. Turn left in Holmbridge to take the road alongside Brownhill Reservoir. Park in the car park next to the dam of Ramsden Reservoir. The towns of South Yorkshire have an insatiable thirst for water and these reservoirs, along with many others, were built to meet some of that need.
 
Take the steep path down from the road halfway down the dam bank and cross to the other side of the valley. Start to climb the far side before taking a left turn leading gently downwards parallel to the reservoir.
 
The slope is gentle but take care on damp days. I tripped and fell while walking down this rocky path amongst the ferns and needed a new pair of spectacles and a new pair of walking trousers as a consequence. Who said walking isn’t dangerous!
 
Continue on the path until it reaches a bridge over a stream. Cross the bridge and climb a steep path to the left up to a gate in the stone wall. Pass through this and continue upwards on a broad path through the trees. The path comes out onto a road. Turn left and follow the road back through the trees, passing Riding Wood Reservoir on the right, before turning left and following the banks of Ramsden Reservoir back to the car park.
 
For anyone wanting a longer walk there are footpaths all around including a six-mile walk that starts in Holmbridge and takes in Flush House, Digley Reservoir, Holme and Riding Wood Reservoir before returning to the start. 


WHERE TO STAY:

HOLME VALLEY CAMPING AND CARAVANNING

Thongsbridge, Holmfirth HD9 7TD Tel: 01484 665819 Website: www.ukparks.co.uk/holmevalley Open: All year Facilities: Gas, showers, shop,laundry, fishing, dogs welcome Location: Off A6042, 1 mile north of Holmfirth Description: Picturesque setting in summer wine country,bordering Peak District.

GREENSPRINGS TOURING PARK

Rockley Abbey Farm, Rockley Lane, Worsborough S75 3DS Tel: 01226 288298 Open: April-October Facilities: Showers, gas Location: Off A61, south of Barnsley Description: A quiet site in picturesque woods and farmland

Back to "Travel" Category