Sessay

Sessay is a village for those who want a genuinely rural base rather than a bustling tourist hub. Hotels in the immediate village are non-existent, but the surrounding villages and the market town of Thirsk, just four miles away, offer a good range of options, from traditional coaching inns and pubs with rooms to farmhouse bed and breakfasts set among working farmland. Staying nearby puts you within easy reach of the Vale of Mowbray's quiet lanes, the Hambleton Hills escarpment, and the North York Moors National Park a little further east, while Thirsk itself gives you shops, restaurants and the James Herriot connection on your doorstep.

Because Sessay is so small, most visitors treat it as a peaceful stopover or a day-trip destination rather than a base with its own hotel infrastructure. Country house hotels and inns around Thirsk and the wider Hambleton area tend to make the most of their setting, with gardens, log fires and locally sourced menus featuring Yorkshire produce. If you are visiting for the cricket, for fishing at The Oaks Lakes, or simply for a quiet weekend away from the crowds, booking a room in Thirsk or one of the neighbouring villages gives you the flexibility of a short, easy drive back to Sessay itself, along with a wider choice of evening dining than the village can offer on its own.

Sessay is more about peaceful countryside and nearby market towns than a run of visitor attractions, but there is plenty within easy reach.

• Thirsk — The historic market town made famous by vet-turned-author James Herriot, with the World of James Herriot museum, a cobbled marketplace and regular markets.
• The Oaks Lakes Fishing Complex — A coarse fishing venue with several stocked lakes and an on-site café, right on the edge of the village.
• Hambleton Hills and the Yorkshire Wolds — The escarpment rises to the east, with walking and cycling routes including views towards Sutton Bank.
• Sessay Cricket Club — A genuine slice of village life; matches are played through the summer at this Lord's-winning club.
• Byland Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey — Impressive ruined Cistercian abbeys within a short drive, set among the Hambleton and Howardian Hills.

Sessay does not have its own pub, so the nearest options are just outside the village. The Moor & Pheasant in neighbouring Dalton is a popular country pub, while the café at The Oaks Lakes Fishing Complex is known locally for its breakfasts. White Rose Holiday Park also has its own on-site pub. For a wider choice of restaurants, cafés and traditional Yorkshire pubs, Thirsk market town is only a few miles away.

Wild camping is not permitted in England without the landowner's explicit permission, so anyone keen to camp near Sessay should stick to proper sites rather than pitching on farmland or verges around the village. The good news is that the flat, fertile Vale of Mowbray and the rising ground towards the Hambleton Hills give this part of North Yorkshire a good spread of caravan and camping parks within a short drive, several of them built around fishing lakes or family-friendly facilities.

The Oaks Lakes Caravan Park, right on the edge of Sessay itself, combines touring pitches with coarse fishing lakes and is a natural first choice for anyone wanting to stay close to the village. A little further afield, Thirkleby Hall Caravan Park and the White Rose Holiday Park near Thirsk offer a broader range of pitches and static options, along with on-site pubs and, in White Rose's case, a swimming pool, making them well suited to families. For something closer to genuine wild countryside, sites towards the Hambleton Hills and the fringes of the North York Moors give access to open moorland walking without straying from a proper, permitted pitch.

Camping here works best from late spring through to early autumn, when the Vale of Mowbray's farmland is at its most scenic and evenings are long enough for a walk down to Birdforth Beck or an evening at the cricket ground. Ground can be heavy after wet weather given the low-lying, clay-rich land, so a well-drained pitch matters more here than in the hills proper. Glamping options are thinner on the ground immediately around Sessay than in the more tourist-heavy North York Moors villages, but static caravans and camping pods at the larger parks nearby offer a comfortable alternative for anyone who wants fixed accommodation with all the countryside on the doorstep. Whichever you choose, the appeal is the same: wide Yorkshire skies, quiet lanes, and easy access to both Thirsk and the moors beyond.