N.Y.M.R

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway carried more than 350,000 passengers in 2009, possibly making it the busiest steam heritage railway in the world. It runs for 18 miles between Pickering to the south and Grosmont to the north and is operated  by a mainly volunteer workforce of engineers, firemen, drivers, guards, signalmen, station masters, caterers, shop assistants, museum curators... There are opportunities for all kinds of service for those who love the world of steam!

There is no question in my mind that these huge engines have much more personality than their modern diesel and electric counterparts. The sounds and smells of the steam engine are a feast for the senses. There is an awareness of the power contained within, waiting to be unleashed; like a tethered dragon fizzing and hissing, snorting and screeching with fire raging in her belly!"

There are other attractions, apart from steam, which help to make the line popular. For the walker, it offers easy access to the moorland footpaths, visitors love to explore the stone built Yorkshire villages, Pickering is an attractive market town and there is now a steam-operated extension to Whitby and the seaside.

In addition, the station of Goathland is famous as Aidensfield in the British Yorkshire TV series Heartbeat and doubled up as the station Hogsmead in the first ever Harry Potter film 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. Imagine a very young Daniel Radcliffe standing here overshadowed by the towering bulk of Robbie Coltraine.

Moors

Inland from the Yorkshire coast are the moors. The North Yorkshire Moors are the largest expanse of heather moorland in the UK and the colour is spectacular when the heather is blooming in late summer; a sea of purple visible even from great distances.

The N Yorks moors cover an area of around 554 square miles, stretching from the coast in the east, to Teeside in the north, the Vale of Mowbray to the west and the Vale of Pickering to the south. A large part of this is designated as a National Park, having been granted this status in 1952 through the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.

The Moors are a wonderful place to walk, They have a feel of being untamed, even though they are mostly managed or farmed. I always have a sense of being out in the wide open spaces and away from the clutter and pressures of daily life. They are like a breath of fresh air after a crowd filled room, with the main companions being sheep and larks.

This particular sheep is a Swaledale and she was very intrested to see whether we might be bringing something edible for her.

Odd to think that, around 200 million years ago, this whole area would have been a tropical sea. The shale (from which the alum can be extracted) and the sandstone are accompanied by limestone which formed from the dead bodies of shell fish and belts of coral. In more recent years (geologically speaking) ice ages have formed glaciers and caused floodwaters, which have gouged out the areas of lowland surrounding the moors. The Vale of Pickering was, for example, once a vast lake.

Today, the moors are drained by the rivers Esk and Derwent (Derwent, Yorkshire; not to be confused with the completely separate Derwent, Derbyshire). The Esk flows out into the North Sea at Whitby, while the Derwent pursues a more southerly course, eventually flowing into the River Ouse.