Steam Railways in Yorkshire with Marguerite & Jackie

 Steam Railways in Yorkshire 

Our jollybus headed towards Pickering station to board the steam train to Goathland made famous for the filming of both Heartbeat and Harry Potter. The station was bustling with like-minded travellers and as the train puffed into the station the noise of the whistling steam was deafening. We boarded and enjoyed an hour’s trip taking in the scenic views along the way before disembarking at the picturesque station of Goathland. Here we made our first stop at the souvenir shop buying Harry Potter memorabilia, everyone excited to be standing on the station that was once transformed into Hogsmeade Station. 

Our next stop was at Scripps Garage, made famous by the fictional TV series Heartbeat. We posed for photographs outside and then purchased more souvenirs to take home.

Ready for our next steam train adventure we drove to Bolton Abbey station and boarded the 1903 electric autocar, a restored unique wooden bodied Edwardian autocar and auto coach which had been found buried in a hedge and had initially been used as camping accommodation. It was lovingly restored to its original specification and now is enjoyed by the public transporting passengers to Embsay station. We passed through the rolling green hills of the Dales spotting much wildlife and marvelled at the Embsay Crag, an impressive natural landmark in the hills above.

Today we visited York to the National Railway Museum to immerse ourselves in the home of iconic locomotives and an unrivalled collection of engineering brilliance. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. Everyone loved wandering around this huge hanger marvelling at the sheer size of the exhibits. There were plenty of photo opportunities and Kevin shared his train knowledge with us throughout the day which was very interesting. 

At Whitby harbour we climbed aboard the Black Pearl Pirate boat where we channelled our inner Jack Sparrow. This was a fun cruise around the harbour and out to sea. We dressed up whilst we cruised and took some great photographs donning hats, holding cutlasses and skulls. What a fun experience. 

A fun day was spent and we were keen to see who we could leave behind at the Prison and Police Museum in Ripon. We first visited the workhouse museum and garden and spent time learning how people lived, worked and slept in the workhouse and read stories of separation, poverty and social inequality, sad lives in Victorian society before the welfare system. 

The gardens covered a wide area, and a huge variety of vegetables and fruit were grown here. We then took a short walk to the Prison and Police Museum to discover what life was like for Victorian prisoners. 

 

Plenty of photo opportunities were taken whilst we were here. Kevin and Michael really loved this experience and took every opportunity to dress up and role play, great stuff guys!