Flying Scotsman and North Yorkshire

My photographer friend Pete Stockton and I decided to enjoy a couple of days in North Yorkshire taking in a few landscapes and also following the Flying Scotsman as it visited the North Yorkshire Moors railway section between Pickering and Grosmont.

The first day gave us wall to wall sunshine although it was quite cold – especially on the top of the ridges looking back towards the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge where I spent an evening. Lovely old inn, in the middle of nowhere but full of folk enjoying the great food and beer. We took the “lone tree” options available to us as well as a few panoramic views. There was a pleasant church in one small village which we thought would prove interesting but, as is a sign of the times today – it was locked.

When I looked out of my window on the second morning I couldn’t see a thing. The fog was incredibly thick, so I resigned myself to the fact that not much would be done. Pete arrived and said that there was some better vision lower down so off we went to Grosmont and on the Goathland. The railway crossing in Grosmont was closed so we sat and waited as hundreds of train aficionados milled backwards and forwards across the road. Eventually we caught sight of the Flying Scotsman as it belched a plume of thick white smoke across the road, making half of the folk scatter and the other half invisible. We got going shortly afterwards and drove through to Goathland , stopping just outside the village at a suitable crossing where we claimed our precious square foot of territory and waited. It was freezing cold and we had light drizzle and a head wind. My favourite image of the train coming through is from this spot. There’s plenty of smoke and almost an equal amount of fog to create some atmosphere. Following on from this we went down to Darnholme and also Beck Hole. A great couple of days.