"I’m five minutes from York and live for cold, bright mornings. Pool Bridge is my go‑to: dip, sauna (choose from five saunas, Steamy Sky View is my favourite with it's glass ceiling), steam curling into the pines, and that delicious post‑swim calm. If you’ve time, pair it with a slow loop through quiet fields and finish at one of the surrounding village pubs!"
This week, Ruth, on our marketing team, shares her favourite wild spaces in North Yorkshire.
Autumn arrives beautifully in Yorkshire. The air turns brisk and bright, the heather deepens, and the moors and dales invite you out; muddy dogs, muddy boots, and cheeks warmed by wind. It’s a season made for long walks and pub lunches, for outdoor swims and star‑pricked skies.
In this vast and wild county, elemental days meet indulgent nights: cabins folded into the landscape, Michelin‑starred kitchens, woodland saunas, and hidden sanctuaries that feel like they’ve been waiting to help you restore and reset. Here are a few favourites:
Stay
Rest & Wild, Yorkshire Dales
Design‑led cabins that sit quietly in the land. Mornings begin with mist lifting from the rolling dales below; a yoga mat on the deck; coffee cupped as the last stars fade. Barefoot luxury, deeply connected to place.
Broughton Hall & Avalon Wellbeing
An extraordinary estate you can stay and retreat in, dedicated to transformation. Woodland saunas, wild swimming, restorative treatments and guided practices woven through ancient grounds. Renewal, held gently. Tilly loved her time here:
" I first visited Broughton on a rain‑bright March weekend as guests of its custodian, Roger Tempest, and his wife, Paris. We were among the first to take a cold dip in the lake; utterly exhilarating. The wildness of the landscape, their passion for the land, and the vision for the Avalon wellness centre truly moved us. It’s beautiful, calm and quietly transformative. I can’t wait to return — a few uplifting days and the most wonderful reset."
To eat
The Star Inn at Harome
A thatched village inn with centuries in its beams. Seasonal, soulful cooking with a Michelin star by Andrew Pern that brings the countryside to the table; hearty, elevated, and warm.
The Black Swan at Oldstead
Michelin‑starred and rooted in the land. Much of what’s served is grown, reared or foraged nearby- refined, elemental, and unmistakably of Yorkshire
The Durham Ox Crayke
Low beams, a proper fire, and generous plates. Walkers and dogs welcome; mud tolerated. A proper post walk pub spot.
Explore
Baroque grandeur rising from sweeping parkland and the set of Brideshead Revisited. Lakes, fountains, woodland paths and avenues that feel both cultivated and wild. A place for long walks, slow pauses, lingering beauty.
The Yorkshire Arboretum (next to Castle Howard)
Autumn sets the canopy alight: scarlet, gold and copper drifting underfoot. A kaleidoscope that stills the mind.
Wild Spaces
Pool Bridge Farm, York
Outdoor saunas and wild swimming for elemental reset. Cold water, hot wood, steam rising into the trees, regular soundbaths, lakeside yoga and other events are bookable too. Go and see what all the fuss is about.
“I’m five minutes from York and live for cold, bright mornings. Pool Bridge is my go‑to: dip, sauna (choose from five saunas, Steamy Sky View is my favourite with it's glass ceiling), steam curling into the pines, and that delicious post‑swim calm. If you’ve time, pair it with a slow loop through quiet fields and finish at one of the surrounding village pubs!"
The Moors, Dales, Peaks and Wolds
Horizons that stretch and hold silence. Open moorland veiled in deep-purple heather (you might just catch this in late September); limestone valleys; rugged edges; gentle, rolling wolds, each a chapter of wild Yorkshire. Everywhere you look, there are moorland animals, wild ponies and secret swimming spots underneath cold, bracing waterfalls and natural pools.
Janet's Foss or Kidson Force are invigorating places for a wild swim.
Into The Mystic
When you return, let the season follow you indoors with Into The Mystic ,named after the Van Morrison song, perfect for an autumn reset.
"And I wanna rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float
Into the mystic"
This uplifting, natural fine fragrance invites you into the forest, its green, resinous elements letting you reconnect with nature and Mother Earth.
Hand-crafted in Britain from the highest quality pure essential oils, Into The Mystic is a blend of cedarwood, lavender, oakmoss and galbanum.
