Steam Trains of Yorkshire

Following breakfast we will transfer to Pickering where we will enjoy a one-way trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, as featured on Channel 5’s TV series The Yorkshire Steam Railway. The NYMR was first opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, having been planned in 1831 by George Stephenson as a means of opening up trade routes inland from the then important seaport of Whitby. The initial railway was designed and built to be used by horse-drawn carriages. The line closed in 1965 and was reopened in 1973 by the North York Moors Historical Railway Trust and today offers one of the most authentic steam rail journeys in the country.

We will leave the train at Grosmont and continue by coach to the pretty harbour town of Whitby, famous for its association with Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. We will enjoy some free time here for lunch (not included) before visiting Whitby’s newest attraction, a full-size replica of Captain James Cook’s bark Endeavour. The original ship was built here in Whitby and launched in 1764 as the merchant ship Earl of Pembroke, before being purchased by the Admiralty in 1768, when she was re-fitted and re-named before her famous voyage of discovery to the Antipodes. Exhibits on board include the Captain’s Cabin, the Capstan and Ship’s Wheel, Nautical Knots, Looking into the Stars and Botanical Bounty.

After breakfast we depart for Keighley, the starting point for our journey on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, one of Britain’s premier heritage railways, which packs a lot into its relatively short five-mile length. It is a very popular location for period dramas with scores of TV and film credits, most notably the 1970 classic The Railway Children and more recently the BBC’s Peaky Blinders. The steep gradient out of Keighley has been a challenge for locomotives ever since the line opened on 15th April 1867. The sound of a steam locomotive tackling this climb echoes from the steep sides of the valley, while great clouds of steam add drama to the scene. We travel the length of the branch to the terminus at Oxenhope then return as far as Haworth.

Here we will alight and to avoid an uphill walk our coach will be waiting to transfer us to the Brontë Paronage Museum. Set in the modest parsonage where the Brontës lived in the mid-nineteenth century, the museum tells the story of how sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne came to write some of the most powerful and dramatic novels in the English language. 

Following our visit we will complete the train journey back to Keighley and return to Harrogate where the rest of the afternoon will be free to explore this genteel spa town.

After breakfast we return to York where the morning is free to shop and sightsee at leisure, though many of us will wish to visit the National Railway Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of railway memorabilia from tickets and posters to giant locomotives. Among these are the world’s fastest steam engine Mallard, the exquisitely streamlined Duchess of Hamilton, a replica of George Stephenson’s pioneering Rocket, Queen Victoria’s royal carriage and the only bullet train to be found outside Japan. Just as fascinating as the rolling stock are the smaller items connected with the working of a railway, from signage to signalling equipment and there is an entire hall filled with such railwayana. Look out too for the large-scale model railway and the workshop, where there is usually a locomotive from the NRM’s extensive collection receiving attention. (Admission is free though donations are welcome.)

Depart independently for home.