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The low lying stretch of land to the north of York that borders the Dales to the west and the North York Moors and Wolds to the east is known as the Vale of York and is the heartland of another delicious food route. It takes in unspoiled market towns large and small, castle and cathedral, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and the chance, in season, to stock up on England’s finest grouse and game direct from the moors.
Leave the plains for two dearly loved gastropubs in beautiful village settings, for the horseracing hotbed of Middleham, and for sweet treats in Masham with its two fiercely independent Yorkshire brewers, before heading back via the glories of Fountains Abbey and Ripon to York.
 The broad high street of this country town is distinguished by handsome Georgian buildings and some proudly individual shops. On market days (Wed & Sat) stalls line both sides. Look out for Carricks, an old established family firm selling fresh and smoked fish, fruit and vegetables. The natural first stop has to be the most northerly outpost of Betty’s Tea Room, half way up the high street. With typically charming service and setting, indulge in a late breakfast, a warm fat rascal, or hot crumpets and top grade tea and coffee from a silver pot. Another famous landmark is the inimitable emporium of Lewis and Cooper. Founded in 1899 it carries some 32,000 different lines in food and drink. We won’t list them but from saffron to sherry, from marmalade to Madeira it has the lot. Don’t miss the prodigious cheese counter. Or make someone happy with a hamper; they ship them all over the world.
 On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Langthorne’s Buffalo Produce 01609 776937 is open for the bizarre sight of 250 Romanian water buffalo grazing in a north Yorkshire field. Stock up from the farm shop with creamy buffalo milk, authentic mozzarella, buffalo burgers and sausages. Paul Langthorne also has wapiti - a 6ft American elk; an iron age pig; wild boar and a couple of yaks. He also has Aberdeen Angus beef, venison, Herdwick lamb, mutton and free-range veal. Look out for his stall at farmers’ markets around the region.
 En route to Bedale at Aiskew, pop into Big Sheep and Little Cow. Young children love it. They can have fun and learn about farming at the same time, by bottle feeding lambs and piglets, feeding the cows, even bathing a pig, before lapping up a creamy ewe’s milk ice cream made on the farm. Strategically placed between the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, Bedale catches the best game produce from both. Cockburn & Son 01677 422126 is a remarkable family butchers in the market place which every year dresses some 20,000 grouse for shops and restaurants across the whole of the UK. For local consumption they also stock pheasant, partridge, mallard, woodcock, teal, free range poultry, free range pork, traditionally reared beef and organic lamb. Look out, too, for Yorkshire heather honey. A distinctive local product with a pronounced flavour from bees that roam the ling covered North York Moors. On Tuesday a market fills the high street. Track down Carricks, for fresh and smoked fish and local fruit and veg.  Heading into Lower Wensleydale, market lovers will love Leyburn. Wednesday and Friday is the regular market day. On Thursday mornings home made cakes, savouries and jams star at Leyburn Country Market in the Methodist Hall. On the fourth Saturday of the month The Northern Dales Farmers Market brings together farmers and small food producers with some distinguished local produce. Look out for Elizabeth Smedley’s preserves, Swaledale cheese, organic vegetables and top quality Yorkshire meat. On May Day weekend Leyburn hosts the Dales Festival of Food and Drink and the town becomes a tented village for a mass celebration of all the very best regional food.  The perfect place to sample prime Yorkshire game is the Blue Lion in the much photographed village of East Witton. Fittingly, it’s a gorgeous old pub with oak settles, stone floors and crackling log fires. Until 1990 it was owned by the legendary Bessie Fletcher who only unlocked the front door to people she knew. Happily Paul Klein, the current owner keeps the door open for hand-pulled ales and hearty well-cooked food. Just down the road, in the historic town of Middleham, the Kleins have moved into The White Swan in the market square, transforming a dowdy old pub into a bright modern hotel and brasserie. Before leaving town, have a look at the crumbling castle which was Richard III’s hunting base, and watch out for some expensive horseflesh on the all-weather gallops at the ‘Newmarket of the North’.  A lovely town at the edge of Lower Wensleydale, dominated by a large and ancient market square, and full of taste treats. Masham’s proximity to the monastic granges of Jervaulx and Fountains and their flocks of sheep spawned an historic market with 80,000 sheep bought and sold each year. The sheep fair is still held in September with regular markets on Wednesday and Saturday. The award-winning Masham Sausage Shop boasts 25 varieties of sausage, including a quality ‘children’s sausage’. Bah Humbugs is an old-fashioned sweetshop that brings back the days of Parma violets, cherry lips, aniseed balls and, of course, mint humbugs. Temptingly, yet more sweets, chocolates and deli items can be found at Joneva just across the Market Place. Apart from two sweet shops, Masham has two breweries. Theakston’s began brewing in Masham in 1827 but in the 1990s, after a bitter dispute, the family firm was taken over by Scottish and Newcastle, and Paul Theakston decided to set up on his own. As the family black sheep he named it Black Sheep Brewery and began brewing right under the nose of his cousins. Today Black Sheep is an established and well-loved quality Yorkshire brand and the brewery run regular tours, a shop, a bistro and, of course, a ‘baa..r’ . Theakston’s - and its distinctive Old Peculier is also back under family control. Fences have been mended with, they say a friendly rivalry between the two breweries. Theakston’s, too, have a visitors’ centre for brewery tours and tastings. In the little village of Healey three miles west of Masham, Rosebud Preserves 01765 689174 make some of Britain’s best jellies and condiments, stocked by Harrods, Harvey Nichols and exported globally. Elspeth Biltoft uses local vegetables, herbs and fruits like wild rowan and crab apple, for jams, pickles, relishes, sweet preserves and chutneys that are packed with flavour. The rosemary, sage, mint and English herb jellies have a light set and uniquely delicate flavour. This is a workshop not a shop but visitors are welcome during normal office hours. Masham has some sophisticated dining options, Vennells in Silver Street will serve you foie gras and truffles alongside steak and mushroom pie. Samuel’s at the super swanky Swinton Park, a luxurious country house hotel on the edge of town, has quail breasts and wild sea bass on the menu, and a renowned cookery school where the charismatic Rosemary Shrager will help you master precision party pieces or bread and pastry basics.  The city of Ripon is more of a cosy market town with a lovely cathedral than a city, as officially designationed. Naturally, the ancient cathedral deserves inspection. So do the farmers’ market on the third Sunday of the month and a regular market every Thursday, both in the market square. Eat casually at Lockwoods or at the more upmarket Old Deanery. Stock up with fine wine at the vast Great Northern Wine Warehouse, 01765 606767 an inspiring wine merchants with helpful and knowledgeable staff. But don’t start drinking on the street; Ripon has its own Wakeman, an ancient keeper of law and order, who for 900 unbroken years has sounded his horn at 9pm to warn people he is on the prowl. Three miles from Ripon is Fountain’s Abbey the 12 th century Cistercian monastery, an unmissable visit with or without its world heritage site status. The modernist visitors centre serves efficiently from a busy child-friendly cafeteria style dining room with a strong line in local produce. After a walk from the majestic ruins to the far end of the park your reward is the Studley Tearoom and ice cream kiosk. On a sunny day, not much beats a Yorkshire ice cream in the garden overlooking the lake and the deer park.  For a high-class gourmet dinner before heading back to York, book first and head out to Ramsgill in Nidderdale and the beautiful Yorke Arms, owned and run by Frances Atkins. An 18 th century coaching inn set on the village green, it provides a warm welcome of comfortable sofas and log fires, two smart dining rooms and an outdoor dining terrace. The food is Michelin-starred and gives the finest of Yorkshire ingredients a sophisticated lift. |