I CAN'T say I have ever been a fan of Emmerdale. Yorkshire's very own soap has always seemed the poor relation of its Lancashire and London equivalents. Certainly not a patch on Corrie for humour, apart from the memorable time a plane crashed on the village and all the sheep killed in the hammy tragedy were shown lying on their backs, legs up in the air.

Nevertheless, places where such TV dramas are filmed always have a certain extra interest for visitors.

Although it's now shot on a purpose-built set at Harewood, Emmerdale used to be filmed in a village just outside Bradford called Esholt.

We called in one Sunday afternoon recently and there in front of us was the Woolpack, straight out of the programme.

I decided to pop in for a pint, but only after we had visited St Leonard Farm Park. This is one of Yorkshire's child-friendly animal farms which is now fully back in business after last year's foot and mouth crisis.

We had rung beforehand and been assured it was open until 6pm. So when we turned up at just before 4 o'clock, we were disappointed to be told that the pony which my daughter had been keen to ride had just finished for the day.

To be fair, I think it was more to do with the rain than the time.

We then only just made it into a small animal enclosure where we saw some small guinea pigs and chipmunks, which Gabrielle was delighted to hold.

The visit really took off, however, when we visited the sheep, goats and chickens.

There was a tiny lamb which had only been born a matter of hours earlier, and which was staggering to get to its feet. That drew plenty of "aahs" from the kids gathered round the stall.

There was also a goat and some chicks, the former of which my daughter was allowed to cuddle.

We took advantage of a break in the drizzle to have a wander round the fields, seeing horses, cattle, pigs and, slightly bizarrely, a wallaby. My daughter also had a brief go in the adventure playground, which consisted of tunnels and passageways created out of stacked hay inside a barn.

Then it was time to go in that pub. The bar was okay, but there was nothing exceptional about it. I felt the landlord could have made more of the pub's Emmerdale connections really. This place is a piece of TV history but you would hardly have known it once you stepped inside.

We grabbed our brollies ands finished our afternoon by taking a stroll around the village.

Even on a miserable Sunday, it really was quite attractive, particularly around the church area.

It was hard to believe we were only miles from Bradford.

Fact file

St Leonard Farm Park, Esholt, Bradford. Just off the A6038 from Shipley to Guiseley.

Open: 10am to 6pm daily.

Admission: £2.00 per child, £2.50 per adult

Further information: 01274 598795

Disabled access: yes.

To contact the Woolpack, call 01274 582425.

Updated: 10:34 Saturday, August 24, 2002