All Creatures Great and Small village Grassington taken back in time

Nicola Rees/BBC Filming in Grassington for All Creatures Great and SmallNicola Rees/BBC
Filming of the fourth series of All Creatures Great and Small is under way in Grassington

Parts of the Yorkshire Dales are going back in time to the 1940s as filming takes place for a new series of All Creatures Great and Small.

Grassington has been transformed into the fictional town of Darrowby for the fourth series of the period drama.

The Channel 5 show has been adapted from James Herriot's stories about life as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales.

Filming has been taking place at the village's Devonshire Pub which doubles in the series as the Drovers Arms.

One of the owners Carl Anderson said the show's popularity had attracted international tourists.

Filming in Grassington for All Creatures Great and Small
The outside of the Devonshire Arms has been transformed into the fictional Drovers Arms

He said: "Grassington has always been a tourist area but since the filming we've not just seen people coming from the UK.

"Throughout the last summer there wasn't a week that went by that we didn't have an American family staying with us and we get people from Denmark, New Zealand, Canada so it's really stretched quite far."

Nicola Rees/BBC Filming in Grassington for All Creatures Great and SmallNicola Rees/BBC
The town has been taken back to the 1940s
Nicola Rees/BBC All Creatures Great and Small filming in GrassingtonNicola Rees/BBC
The ironmongers is actually a bakery when filming is not taking place
Nicola Rees/BBC All Creatures Great and Small filming in GrassingtonNicola Rees/BBC
In 2023 this is normally a craft and design shop

The pub's exterior has been completely changed, so much so that Mr Anderson said some visitors had struggled to find it.

He added: "They take everything down outside and we get people driving past thinking they've missed us."

Nicola Rees/BBC All Creatures Great and Small filming in GrassingtonNicola Rees/BBC
Tourists look on as film crews shoot the latest series

Several other village businesses have been transformed including Hutch crafts and design shop which has been dressed up as Higgins bakery and Walker's Bakery appearing as Darrowby Ironmongers.

A key location in the drama is Skeldale House, where Herriot lives and works but in real life is a private residential home.

Fibreglass columns have been put up outside the property along with wooden railings and a new front door make it more in keeping with the era.

Filming in Grassington for All Creatures Great and Small
Skeldale House on the edge of the market square doubles as Herriot's home and surgery

Owner Paul said: "It's been fascinating watching Grassington being transported back in time.

"It's good for the village. Even when the film crew have gone people come to visit and see where it has been filmed."

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