Sutton Bank on a Summer’s Night
James Herriot once said that the view from Sutton Bank is the finest in England, and it is hard to disagree with his assessment. Summer days are long in North Yorkshire, and when the sun is shining carpe diem is the order of the day, so one night after dinner my family and I decided to seize the golden hour and drive up to the top of Sutton Bank for a walk and to enjoy the view. You can see for miles and miles from this vantage point on a clear day. I love the late-summer fields and all the wildflowers and purple heather.
The path wends its way along the top of the bank above the Kilburn White Horse. It's a landmark hard to find when first pointed out to you from a distance but impossible not to see once you know what you're looking for. It took countless occasions of people pointing and saying, “Right there!” for me to locate it reliably.
Sutton Bank offers a feast for the eyes with both vast open spaces and the smallest of creatures—butterflies and ladybirds alighting on flowers. Like James Herriot, my family returned here again and again—in the autumn when the blackberries were ripening and for sledding on a February snow day. It’s a great walk to pair with a visit to The World of James Herriot in Thirsk.
For more pictures of Sutton Bank and North Yorkshire, visit the Picture Gallery.