The North York Moors is an upland area of 554sq miles, criss-crossed by numerous valleys
and dales - all cut-off from one another by high moors.
Although the National Park, established in 1952,
includes the coast we’ll be exploring the scenery, villages and historic sights
that make up the rural hinterland. The only towns lie in the south of the area, at Helmsley
and Pickering - and it’s there that we start our journey.
This is Pickering Station, the southern terminus
of the North York Moors Railway, 18 glorious scenic miles of the valley
bottoms of the North York Moors up to the port of Whitby. The line was designed and
built in 1836 by the famous Victorian railway engineer, George Stephenson, he, of The Rocket,
of course, and the Stockton and Darlington railway, some miles to the north of here.
Now, interestingly, when the line was first built, well, there wasn’t a steam engine
to be seen. The coaches and the wagons were all pulled by horses. The first steam engines
didn’t appear until 1847, and then, of course, the line was used to carry coal, stone and
passengers. Well, you can hear the noise, I think it’s time to get on board to enjoy
the glorious scenery of the North York Moors Railway!
Until 1948 the railways in this country were operated by private companies.
But then came nationalisation and the need to rationalise the network.
So this particular line was axed by the infamous Dr Beeching in 1965.
But so incensed were local people that they got together to see if they couldn’t keep the line open
and run the occasional steam train. Well, the services were so popular, that by 1973,
the whole thing had to be formalised into the North York Moors Railway. These days,
there are 150 employees, supported by 300 volunteers. And they do everything from stoking
up the boilers before the first train at five o’clock in the morning to damping them down
again after the last train gets back at seven o’clock at night. Well, these days, this
line links in to the national rail network at Whitby. There are services every day during
the spring and summer months, and at weekends during the winter. And most years, well about
300,000 people, or more, travel this line.
Well, this is our stop, Goathland.
You may of course recognise this place as the fictional village Aidensfield in the ITV series ‘Heartbeat’
or, also, as Hogsmead station in the Harry Potter films.
About a mile from here the valley drops 300ft into
Beck Hole and that posed a few problems for the early engineers.
They came up with an ingenious solution: a rope and pulley system would haul; the trains up
the incline, and that worked fine until 1864 when there was an accident: the rope snapped
and two people were killed. So then they tried to work out and find a flatter route, so they
blasted through the rocks. And shortly after that, steam engines came along which were
powerful enough to cope with the incline. But, anyway, let’s go up the road and have
a look at the village.
There are no major towns in the North York Moors National Park.
Most of the communities are little villages like this: a cluster of houses, shops,
a church, and a pub, gathered around a village green. So, there’s not much industry and there’s
not as much farming as there was either, so most of the income in an area like this, depends
on tourism. And for Goathland that means: ‘Heartbeat’, ‘Harry Potter’ and the
North York Moors Railway. So, days like today, glorious days like today, are absolutely vital
for the people who live here, who try to make a living here. But, if you want solitude,
and you want the peace and the space of the North York Moors, all you’ve got to do is
to walk to the end of the village…
At one time the sea covered the whole of this area
and sandstone, limestone and ironstone strata were laid down. Then two million years
ago, during the Ice Age, glaciers and meltwater carved out the valleys.
Perhaps the most spectacular geological feature is the Hole of Horcum,
a vast amphitheatre, now crossed by the main road from Pickering to Whitby
- it’s a real switchback!
This road remains the only route across the moors,
although, earlier, the Romans built a road: Wade’s Causeway from their
fort at Malton to the coast. You can still follow its route across Wheeldale Moor.
After the Romans left, stone markers were erected across the moors.
This one’s called Fat Betty
and this Ralph Cross.
Other high roads give superb views across the moors -
like this one at Bilsdale.
The oldest remains found in the area are on the southern edge of the moors.
And they’re not human!
They’re bones of elephants, hippopotamus and rhinoceros
- some 70,000 years old. It is thought they were brought into the den, near Kirkdale,
by hungry hyenas.
Nearby, is St Gregory’s Minster.
There is a sundial dating back to Saxon times.
On either side of the sundial the inscription translates as:
‘Orm, son of Gamelson bought St Gergory’s Minster when it was all broken and fallen down.
And he that made it new from the ground. For Christ and St Gregory. In the days of King Edward.
In the days of Tostig the Earl’. That dates between 1055 and 1065.
An earlier church may have dated back as far as 750AD.
There’s a church of similar age at Lastingham.
This was built in 1078, on the site of a 7th century Celtic monastery.
There was a Cistercian Priory at Rosedale - but there are no remains left,
as the stone was used for building the village now known as Rosedale Abbey.
In late March, in Farndale, thousands of people come to walk
alongside the river Dove, between Low Mill and Church Houses, to see the wild daffodils
that are thought to have been introduced by the monks of Rievaulx Abbey.
The abbey is on a secluded valley, along which the river Rye flows. It was where the strict Order of
French Cistercian monks settled in 1132. It rivalled Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, for
its riches - also founded on sheep and mining. But like all monasteries, it was dissolved
by Henry VIII in 1539.
Helmsley is three miles away from Rievaulx.
And it was here that a castle was founded by Walter Espec in 1120
- the man who gave lands to found Rievaulx Abbey.
Helmsley was given a Borough Charter in 1191. The recipient was Roger de Ros,
an heir to Walter Espec who died in 1135.
The market remains at the town centre today.
The monument in the centre is to William Duncombe, the 2nd Earl of Feversham, who lived at Duncombe
Park, just off the town centre.
The Duncombe family bought the lands from the heirs of the de Ros family
in 1689, and still own them today.
The town is highly picturesque with cottages and gardens lining Borough Beck.
Although the moors are now mostly used for
grazing sheep or shooting; once they were busy with lead mining and quarrying.
Above Rosedale can be found these old iron ore mines. They were sunk in the mid 19th century and
continued operational until the 1920s.
The output was such that a railway had to be constructed
to take the minerals down to Esk Valley line - even though some was smelted in the kilns
that can still be seen dotting the moor side.
Old customs survive from this time; at Egton Bridge
in 1800 the first Gooseberry Championship was held - as it has been every year since.
And always on the first Tuesday in August.
It’s an exact and serious business, where just one grain
may or may not mean being crowned champion of the year.
Today, visitors come to the moors
to see the attractive villages like Hutton le Hole, where the Ryedale Folk
Museum is located on the village green.
A Roman road; wayside crosses, a railway, and, of course, this…
it’s RAF Fylingdales - a radar station built to monitor any potential military
threat to Britain or its allies.
So, the North Yorkshire Moors are a place of quiet
country lanes, wide open moorland spaces, and an awful lot of history. But…
I think we should be getting back to the station. It sounds like our train!
So here comes our train again, time for us to get on board again.
Next stop: the coast.