Missing Happy Valley already? Take a Yorkshire road trip and keep the story going

Road Trips

Feb 6

Happy Valley, the must-see TV drama set in Yorkshire, has ended, but why not make it the beginning of a driving adventure in God’s Own Country?

Set in the Calder Valley just east of Bradford the series highlighted some of the region’s most scenic drives, albeit usually with a grisly crime at the end.

For example, the open moorland of Cold Edge Road and Withens Road on the way to Oxenhope features in a variety of stunning aerial shots and driving scenes in Happy Valley, including a particularly shocking scene in series one where young cop Kirsten McAskills stops a white van for what starts as a simple background check.

If watching Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood in action has made you want to explore more of Yorkshire’s great Detours and Pit Stops then it would be positively criminal not to investigate the drives below.

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Detour #238: The Steepest Road in England, Yorkshire, UK

Rosedale Chimney Bank is so steep that cyclists call it The Chain Breaker, but what’s it like to drive?

Detour Pit Stop #103: The Motorist, Leeds, UK

From MoTs to packed car meets and corporate hosting, The Motorist is fast becoming Yorkshire’s go-to hub for all things automotive.

Detour #181: Dales, Moors and Much More, Yorkshire, UK

A one-day dash across God’s Own Country leaves Nik Berg wanting Yorkshire more.

Detour Pit Stop #94: Oliver's Mount, Scarborough, UK

England’s only ‘public road race track' is a maddeningly twisty circuit climbing into the hills above Scarborough which you can drive or ride whenever you wish.

Detour #156: Wolds apart in undiscovered Yorkshire, UK

Squeezed between Yorkshire’s urban centres of Leeds and York, its busy east coast holiday resorts and the open spaces of the moors is an under-appreciated region rich in history and cracking driving roads.

Detour #100: Retracing the RAC Rally, UK

The Toyota GR Yaris on the epic route of the 1993 Network Q RAC rally along the finest roads England, Wales and Scotland have to offer – strap in!

7 days, 7 Great British roads and a Caterham 7

Living in London and owning a Caterham Seven means that getting to a good road to enjoy it takes some work. But no pain no gain. So in a brief interlude between lockdowns Nik Berg and son Max embraced the effort and sought out seven of the mainland’s most amazing roads in just seven days.

Detour #83: Marek Reichman's Yorkshire, UK

Aston Martin’s Sheffield-born chief designer Marek Reichman lives by a mantra of ‘find the beauty’, so that’s exactly what Dan Trent searched for in his native Yorkshire.

Detour #63: Buttertubs Pass, Yorkshire, UK

Jeremy Clarkson is a Yorkshire lad, so you can trust that he knows the local roads. He’s also pretty well travelled so when he describes the Buttertubs Pass in the Yorkshire Dales as “England’s only truly spectacular road” he’s probably not wrong.

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Detour #223: The real best bit from Basic Instinct, Highway 1, California, USA

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Helen Stanley, Artist and TV presenter

Away from the cameras Helen Stanley is fan of the weird and wonderful and her Favourite Detour took her on a 400-mile round trip to an abandoned theme park.

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I was The Stig

For the pilot episode of Top Gear the producers called Nik Berg to put on the now-famous suit.

Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans shows his drive for perfection

Steve McQueen: The Mans and Le Mans leaves you in no doubt that McQueen was one stubborn son of a bitch.

Detour #21: Transfagarasan Highway, Romania

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have a lot to answer for. Before Top Gear visited Romania, the Transfagarasan Highway was near enough a secret.

On Any Sunday: the film that Steve McQueen couldn't say no to

We all have a film that we remember as first inspiring us to hit the open road. For many, On Any Sunday is one of those films.

Happy Valley

Nik Berg https://detour-roadtrips.com

Missing Happy Valley already? Take a Yorkshire road trip and keep the story going

Happy Valley, the must-see TV drama set in Yorkshire, has ended, but why not make it the beginning of a driving adventure in God’s Own Country?

INEOS Grenadier: The adventure vehicle conceived in a London pub goes for a Highland fling

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