Suns up, rise and shine. - Friday 5/7/24
Got off to an early start today, mainly due to the roosters in the field behind us, who seemed to be in competition with the roosters over the road over who could crow louder and longer. We had booked the steam train at Pickering to go to Scarborough, so needed to be off fairly promptly anyway, as we needed to post a parcel first at the post office.
Stopping off at the Post Office in Pickering, we were amazed at the queue inside waiting for the counter to open. After this unforseen holdup, we arrived at the station carpark to find huge queues at the ticket machine, due to the fact it didn't take cash, and the internet signal was so bad it was taking ages to process each card payment. Pay by phone wasn't an option either as there was no mobile signal. It was looking very much like we were going to miss the train, but we managed to finally board ok as they were aware of the problem and held it up until everyone had arrived. It was a bit dissapointing as I would have liked to look around the station first, but at least we caught the train.
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs through the moors, sometimes known as 'Heartbeat Country' after the TV series, from Pickering to Whitby. Apart from Heartbeat, the railway has featured in several TV programmes and films, such as Harry Potter, Dads Army, Downton Abbey, All Creatures Great and Small, Casualty and Brideshead Revisited to name a few.
Just before arriving in Whitby, we passed under the Larpool Viaduct, which used to carry a single track rail line over the river Esk and the NMYR, but now just carries a cyclepath over the Esk valley.
Alighting in Whitby we spent several hours wandering around the town. One of Whitby's claims to fame is Bram Stoker chose it as the port where Dracula arrived in England by ship from Transylvania. The tourist industry here certainly makes the most of that. Another thing Whitby is known for is Jet, which is a type of coal but actually a gemstone and is used to make jewellery and sold in many shops around the town. We stopped for coffee by the quayside and admired the view before heading back to the station.
Above is Whitby Swing Bridge crossing the river Esk.
Half of the bridge swings to one side to allow shipping to pass at high tide.
Back on the train, we got off at two of the stations we passed through on the way this morning.
To the left is the old clock on the platform at Grosmont.
The area was largely unpopulated prior to the railway arriving, basically just the site of a priory established in the 13th century.
In 1836 the opening of the railway brought industrial development from mining, and Grosmont grew from that. Several of the buildings are now listed, including The Station Tavern, Grosmont Bridge and the Station itself.
Next stop was Goathland, which was Aidensfield in 'Heartbeat'.
If not for that, the place would be fairly unremarkable.
I'm fairly sure that the bulk of visitors come here because of Heartbeat and the railway, as did we.
Below we have Bernie Scripps garage and funeral directors, and the village shop complete with 1966 Ford Anglia police car
I beleive we called them 'Panda Cars' back in the day. Panda cars were the predessor of the 'Jam Sandwich', so named because of the red reflective stripe that ran along the sides.
We had decided during our day out to return to The Wheatsheaf again and stay another night, and have a go at the quiz.
Alice, the girl who had told us about it was there again, and joined us on our team. We had a great time and actually won, and more surprising than that fact, there was prize money!
After the quiz was over, the landlady served up a free buffet for all present, which included not only the usual buffet fare, but huge helpings of shepherds pie as well.
