In the same way that there used to be an “Epilog” at the end of The Streets of San Francisco, providing the all-important commentary on what had happened earlier in the programme, it struck me that it might be useful to pull together a distillation of some of the highlights of my Bettys Tour for the benefit of anyone thinking of making a visit in the future. We all have slightly different requirements when it comes to something as important as elevenses and tea time, and it would be a pity not to share some brief observations in the hope of helping others to work out how best to satisfy their own particular penchant.

York, seen by many as the capital of Yorkshire, is a place of great historical and religious significance; a walled city on the Rivers Foss and Ouse with roots as both a Roman and Viking settlement, a street plan in the centre which remains largely as it was in mediaeval times, and a more recent association with railways, chocolate and, of course, Bettys. For me, however, its significance is more personal in nature. Unlike Ilkley, Harrogate and Northallerton, I already knew York quite well before I arrived, having lived there for three years, initially as a student and later as a lecturer at the York branch of the College of Law. York is also the place where in a wider sense my Bettys Tour really started.  It was, therefore, with a sense of anticipation tinged with sadness that I arrived for the fourth and final leg of my Bettys Tour 2019; anticipation at the thought of reacquainting myself with a place I used to call home, and sadness that much of what originally connected me to that place is now no longer there.

As the county town of North Yorkshire, Northallerton is to York as Albany is to New York City; often overlooked in favour of its larger neighbour in an "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" kind of way. It is, however, a charming place. You just have to look a bit harder to see it than in Ilkley and Harrogate.

All I knew about Harrogate before I arrived there for Day 3 of the Bettys Tour 2019 was that it's a spa town which has two branches of Bettys, is the hub of the Bettys empire, and once hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. The last time I visited was to go to a concert at the Conference Centre as a student in York. The concert was fairly dull and Bettys was full, so I arrived very much hoping that my second visit would be more rewarding.

Ilkley is a gem of a place, located on the banks of the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales, and overlooked by the famous Moor rising above it to the south. Nothing says Yorkshire to me quite as much as Ilkley Moor does, so when I arrived at the station for Day 1 of the Bettys Tour 2019, I was ready for an espresso shot of Yorkshireness and wasn’t disappointed.