The spotlight briefly fell on the centre of Bishop Monkton this week when the village featured in BBC One's afternoon broadcast of “Escape to the Country”.

A couple with four children were wishing to relocate to North Yorkshire and although none of the houses they viewed were in this area, the locality was certainly “mentioned in dispatches”.

Shots of St. John's Road (on a very wet day it has to be said) were seen, as a “three bed cottage overlooking the beck in the centre of a popular village” was shown as being available for rent, in May 2025, at the cost of £1,200 per calendar month. The pretty grassed area around the ford was also pictured.

The programme started with a visit to Burton Leonard, described as a village of all stone cottages, set around a village green, while Ripon itself, with shots of the cathedral and Kirkgate, had, the presenter said, "a fine line in Georgian town houses and Victorian terraces".

Catch up with the programme on BBCiplayer (Series 26, Episode 5 shown on Monday September 15th) or follow this link, please click here.