The parked vehicles act as the most reliable way to date these historic photographs of Grassington.
Quite simply, little changes in the village square, which is as recognisable today as it would have been half a century before – not after – these photographs were taken.
While the Fords and Austins suggest an early 1970s vintage, the timeless quality of the village square – which made it so appealing as the fictional Darrowby in the recent television incarnation of All Creatures Great and Small – remains.
Today, one of the buildings that made up this community is home to Grassington Folk Museum, an idea which was probably still a few years away when these photographs were captured.
These archive images are among more than 6,500 historic views of North Yorkshire available at the County Record Office. Buy a copy or browse the collection.
