The charming location is a working town with a lot to offer tourists – including a very rude sight which will make you laugh
Bedale, a town you’ve likely only heard of if you’ve driven past it or reside there, is a place you’ll likely bypass completely if you’re not looking for it.
This historic market town in North Yorkshire may not be as picturesque as its neighbours, but it still boasts a certain charm and a friendly high street that the locals love.
While Masham and Leyburn boast town centres that predate tourism, they are now very much visitor-oriented. In contrast, Bedale functions more as a ‘working town’, but there’s still so much to discover.
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Bedale offers tearooms, restaurants, and gift shops, and among the rows of independent shops and pubs, you’ll also find a Nisa, a Costa, and a subtly integrated Morrisons, reports Yorkshire Live.
Holiday homes and second residences are not scarce in Bedale, but they haven’t yet priced out the locals. A three-bedroom semi-detached house with front and back gardens is priced around £250,000, while a four-bedroom detached house with a double garage costs approximately £400,000.
Emma Shevel, who co-owns Silverdale, a jewellery shop on North End, with her sister Helen, insists that the value of second homes hasn’t damaged the local community. Emma, a Bedale resident, recalls how the community demonstrated its resilience during the Covid pandemic.
Helen added: “People genuinely cared about how we were getting on. It wasn’t just a mundane ‘how are you doing?”
So, is Bedale a place for locals? Absolutely, but it also warmly welcomes thousands of tourists every summer. And by ‘warmly’, we mean it’s an incredibly friendly town.
Alison Kent, a property valuer at estate agent George F White, echoes this sentiment: “Everyone says Bedale has a very friendly community and it’s where people walk up and down the street and say hello to each other. Everyone I’ve dealt with has been friendly and appreciative about what we do.”
For those who don’t live in Bedale but fancy a taste of it there’s plenty to entice you.
Bedale Museum, housed within the Grade I-listed Bedale Hall, offers a glimpse into the town’s history, dating back to when Henry III granted a market charter in 1251.
Just across the road, you’ll find St Gregory’s Church, a Grade I-listed building with a tower dating back to the same century. This grand church boasts an impressive collection of stained glass windows and even teddy bears perched on its pews. You might also have a laugh at a memorial that mentions an ‘Admiral Sir John Poo Beresford’.
One of the most peculiar sights is the Leech House on the east bank of Bedale Beck. What appears to be an outhouse was actually where ‘medicinal’ leeches were stored in containers fed by the beck.
These leeches were sold to pharmacists who, at the time, erroneously believed that leeches could cure all sorts of ailments by sucking away ‘bad blood’.
Today, the UK’s only surviving leech house is thankfully devoid of leeches. However, it is quite a sight with its crenelated walls, pointed door and windows, and its precarious position next to the beck.
A couple of miles south of Bedale is the Thorp Perrow estate, boasting 100 acres of landscaped gardens and a bird of prey and exotic mammals centre. So, Bedale is a working town and we appreciate ‘authenticity’ with plenty to satisfy curiosity-hungry visitors..
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