Emmerdale star Charlotte Bellamy has described a Sandsend café as “the perfect job” during an appearance on Channel 5's Our Great Yorkshire Life. The 53-year-old actress, known for playing Laurel Thomas on the ITV soap since 2002, swapped the drama of the Dales for a peaceful exploration of the Yorkshire coastline in Friday's (September 25) episode.
A special place in Yorkshire
Narrated by former Emmerdale star Dean Andrews, who played Will Taylor, the show celebrates the locals, locations, and passions of Britain's biggest county. During the instalment, Charlotte, originally from Kent, travelled to the small village of Sandsend, an area near Whitby in North Yorkshire she has visited for many years.
“Sandsend is my special place in Yorkshire. I fell upon one day on a day trip and I just loved it, I absolutely loved it,” Charlotte explained while looking over the coastline. “I don't know what it is, it's just really magical. I come here every year, I come with my daughter and her best friend, and her mum, who is one of my best friends,” she added.
From nostalgic stays in a converted railway carriage to seaside lunches and a bracing dip in the North Sea, Charlotte shared why this area of the shoreline is her sanctuary. She visited one of Sandsend's “hidden treasures”, in the form of Mary's Sandwich Shop, which has become a regular fixture of her trips to the idyllic neighbourhood during her breaks from filming Emmerdale.
'This is like the perfect job'
“I'm quite hard to please, but this place is off the scale,” Charlotte explained before sitting down with the owners, Gabriel and Cameron Hill. The brothers started their business in a horsebox before opening their café in a gorgeous location, serving food and drinks chosen by the owners.
“This is like the perfect job,” Charlotte told the brothers, “Look at the location, you could never tire of that.” Gabriel explained: “It's like the nearest you can get to having a holiday while you're at work, and if you're doing a lot of hours in a week, you do want to be working somewhere quite nice, if you can.” He added, “It's nice to go for a swim on your break”, leaving Charlotte in awe of their workplace, “That's so cool”.
Before Charlotte tucked into her panko fried chicken sandwich, she said, “I'm in heaven. Holy moly, oh my goodness, this is just amazing,” before taking a bite. The soap star's day ended with hot saunas and cold water plunges, courtesy of a mobile wellness experience, based in a converted horsebox. Our Great Yorkshire Life airs Fridays at 9pm on Channel 5.
