“If anyone accidentally stumbled across this village they would get a bit of a shock.”

One of my travelling companions made this comment as we began a tour of a picturesque hamlet in the Yorkshire countryside.

I had come to Emmerdale to tour the set that is home to the long-running soap set in a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales.

Booking in advance, I was due to take my friend, a huge Emmerdale fan, but when she came down with a stomach bug, my husband stepped in.

He was not keen. “I haven’t seen it for years,” he said, as we waited in the car park at Weetwood Hall on the northern ring road in Leeds, for a coach to arrive to take us to the village, on the Harewood estate.

But he was soon enjoying himself, especially as we approached the village - entering through tight security - and had the pleasure of a red kite swooping down just yards from the bus. The majestic birds have been successfully reintroduced on the 300-acre estate.

The soap was originally filmed in the village of Arncliffe in Littondale, then at Esholt near Bradford, moving to Harewood in 1998.

Constructed in just 20 weeks by 100 builders, it is the biggest TV set ever constructed for a soap. With rows of neat stone cottages, a pub, a couple of shops, a garage and church, it looks every inch a genuine village. But it is all false.

“The houses all connect, you can walk through from one to the other,” explained our guide Andy Withers, pointing out which house serves as a store for props. Horse manure and yogurt was sprayed on the stone-clad facades to encourage moss to grow.

“The sack of potatoes outside David’s shop is filled with blocks of wood - it is all smoke and mirrors,” says Andy.

For a tiny community, the characters move about a lot. “That house is owned by Debbie Dingle. It used to be Ashley and Laurel’s,” says Andy. “Pearl used to live in Jacob’s Fold in Church Lane, but ran up gambling debts and sold it back to Eric Pollard.” It is currently home to Chrissie White.

“One house has never been lived in, it is just there in the background. The village may look smaller than it does on TV - they use a wide-angle lens to film,” he adds.

It felt strange walking along what felt like a real street in a real village, but wasn’t.

“How many of you watch the Emmerdale?” asked Andy. I was surprised when a few hands remained down. “By the end of this tour you will all be fans,” he says.

Surprisingly, my husband’s memory of far earlier episodes served him in good stead when Andy asked questions. “Who is the longest-serving cast member?” “Eric Pollard,” he correctly said.

We sat outside the famous Woolpack. “No filming takes place inside it – other than in the live episode,” says Andy. “One side is a storage area.” He was keen to stress, however, that the beer is real.

Interior scenes for the soap are filmed in studios in Leeds. Tours of a replica interior set are equally enjoyable.

“The Dingles’ garage can only service Minis, because anything bigger won’t fit in,” says Andy.

People had travelled long distances to visit the attraction, coming from as far afield as Somerset, Blackpool, Manchester and Shropshire.

The original church was burned down by vet Zoe Tate, who my husband remembered. It was not rebuilt, but its location changed to the former village school and tea room buildings.

I was amazed to see the characters' gravestones in the churchyard. Other headstones were transported from a cemetery in London after part of it was cleared to make way for new flats.

Cars parked in people’s drives and at the garage belong to the characters and have to be maintained. “Each of them only travels about 100 yards a year,” says Andy. “The Dingles’ van is brought down when it is needed.”

Guides walking tours of the outdoor TV set on the Harewood estate north of Leeds take place on selected weekend dates and must be booked in advance. The tour lasts 1.5 hours.

Tel: 01904 261262

continuumattractions.com/emmerdale-village-tour