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Battlefield
History Tours |
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We woke to what we were told was going to be a wet day with heavy winds. This did not sound good as we were to go on our special lunch aboard the Pullman Dining Car on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the rain would have disrupted the views that we were expecting. However, the day turned out to be fine and we saw all those views as we trundled along over the Yorkshire Moors.
We arrived at Grosmont at 1000 to start our day on the Moors. Grosmont is the home to the operating and engineering world of the railway and where the shed is and where they maintain and restore their steam engines. To get to the shed we had to go through the George Stephenson tunnel that was built in 1835 and had horse drawn trains using it. During WW2 it was the Bomb Raid Shelter for the village.
After looking through the shed, watching the Locomotive coal up and viewing this beautiful little village at the bottom of the valley, we boarded our Pullman Dining Car for yet another adventure. My, have we had some adventures on this tour and more to come. What a beautiful heritage carriage, the Teak as ours was named, it was the oldest carriage on the train with its high plush soft seats. Our silver Service was laid out before us and once we were all seated our first drinks orders were taken. Our starter followed and just before the main course arrived we pulled out of the station.
The views along the route were, as we expected, spectacular with the little valleys. rocky peaks, small hamlets and the lovely little stations that we pulled into and passed. Our first station was Goathland, a celebrity station as it was Hogsmeade Station in the Harry Potter movie and featured at Adensfield in the TV programme, Heartbeat. This is a station where those walking the Moors usually leave from and today there were many doing just that.
Our route took us from Grosmont to Pickering and return and we had 15 minutes in Pickering while the Locomotive changed ends of the train. Pickering is a 1930s themed station that really takes you back to the steam era. This Market Town still holds its traditional market every Monday. Back to Grosmont and onto our coach as we decided to head into Whitby for a quick visit.
Whitby is steeped in history and known for its quirky narrow streets and bustling harbour which is overlooked by the ruins of the Whitby Abbey, another casualty of Henry VIII's vendetta against the Catholic Church just because the Pope wouldn't allow him to divorce. Also in Whitby we saw the monument to Captain James Cook who was born a little further north of here but learned his seamanship skills here. There is also a Cook museum in the cottage where he resided here. A big day, wonderful day and we left Whitby and headed home for tomorrow we head further north for another steam driven adventure.
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© Battlefield History Tours ABN 74107857705, PO Box 201, Northmead NSW 2152, AUSTRALIA, Phone: 1300 450 436 or +61 412 399 693
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