A Bus ride and Waterfall walk, Hawes, Wensleydale

Now that I have finished my trio of Welsh posts, I'd like to follow that up with a group of three individual posts. As with the last series, the reasons will become obvious by the third post.

I have been loosely associated with a West Yorkshire social and walking group for some time, My friend, known to you as the Scarborough Sandcastle manager has a similar friendship to the people in the group. The Leeds link asked him to organise a Yorkshire Dales day event and this is the ... err ... timing challenges that he came up with. Apologies for the ordinary bunch of images but due to the snapshots, constant catch up and exhaustion of the day ... I'm putting a bit more effort here into the autobiographical writing style on this occasion, hope the variety holds it.

At the start of the day, I had my unfounded doubts on some unknown variables such as how many people would turn out for an early start so far from their usual stamping ground and was the day too ambitious ?

We descended with our cars in Leyburn and caught up with old friends before the vintage bus arrived from Ripon in mid morning. Thankfully there were enough seats for everyone.

It was a pleasant journey along some less well known roads through Wensleydale  from Leyburn in the East to Hawes in the west.

For those interested in the route here's a link for the current ...  Vintage Dales bus timetable

Not the most vintage bus in the fleet but reliable nonetheless !

Essentially the bus covered the tourist hot spots along the way such as Castle Bolton, Aysgarth Falls and a connection point with the Wensleydale Railway car park at Redmire (above). A suitable photo opportunity and a quick stretch of the legs while we waited for the arrival of the train from Leeming Bar.

On arrival at the Hawes Railway station car park, it was somewhat surprising to be greeted with the above scene considering that the railway currently terminates at Redmire.

Transport of the past going to places in the future !

On closer inspection, it turned out that this was a static exhibit realising the dream for the public of the hopefully not too distant future... I was left wondering whether in turn that would retire the vintage bus service for good.

The narrowest but longest shop award ... in my opinion

Readers may remember that I've been here before in an autumn deluge of rain ... (Hawes 2010)  and covered a few shots and history of the town including the rope makers. The weather was that bad on that day that I chose not to photograph the front door of the unusual Ropemaker's shop. Hope this redresses the balance.

Enough of transport and history, it was time to stock up on some packed lunch as there was no time to shop in Leyburn. We were inspired to pick up some local delicacies in this Butcher / Baker's shop.

Unfortunately though not everyone was welcome in the shop despite the longing eyes wondering what the contents of the paper bags were.

My friend and organiser for the day is known for his walks and to be fair the next leg of the journey was only a flat 4 miles (6.4km) round trip on flat terrain to a waterfall. The group of 9 people that turned out from the Yorkshire social group (plus myself, the organiser and another friend) had experience in walking and those that were just interested in tourism seemed to stay away.

Despite the short distance, there was always the thought in the back of my head about what time the bus departed at and whether or not this short distance was achievable or not. The scenery was quite pleasant anyway crossing over the fields.

It wasn't long though before we arrived at the toll point of The Green Dragon Inn.

13th century Inn

The land to the rear of the pub which includes Hardraw Force is maintained by the owners of The Green Dragon Inn. A quick look at the website reveals that the fee has increased with inflation to the princely 2014 sum of £2.50.

Hardraw Force at the end of a short wooded ravine walk is reputed to be England's highest single drop waterfall. Visiting here on a school geography trip when I was about 14 years old, I remember walking behind the waterfall on a ledge. Sadly today with erosion, water spray, slippy rocks, Health and Safety, that is no longer possible or even inviting for that matter.

Time for lunch followed by a communal dessert sample of Yorkshire Curd Tart that one kind person bought in the shop earlier.

... and enough time to sample the delights of The Green Dragon before the walk back to Hawes.

We made good time and had about 30 minutes spare to have a quick look around before the bus departed. It was an opportunity to catch anything I missed or couldn't take because of the weather on the previous occasion. Come to think of it, I've never ever been here on my own before to look ... and wait ... for the best shots, it's always been a rush !

As I didn't have the time to lose myself in what I was doing I opted to retake the shepherd sculpture in the middle of the street.

 It is apt to mention at this point that the Tour de France cycle race has an opening leg in a foreign country and this year part of that is in Yorkshire. Le Tour passes through Hawes on July 5th 2014 en route to Swaledale at the northern end of the clockwise Dales circuit.

The bus journey back to Leyburn between 3 and 4pm seemed less memorable than the outward one partly because we were covering the same ground in reverse, but more importantly with the talking all done and the constant drone of the engine, most of us to nodded off for a snooze at various intervals.
However everyone had a rude awakening on the rickety approach turning off the main road and award winning reversing manoeuvre into Redmire Railway station car park.

One thing that kept me going was the thought of a pub meal at 6pm in Leyburn square. However little did I know what was in store for me next. Some of the girls fancied the freedom of a 1 hour shopping spree ... not something that readily comes to mind in Leyburn considering the flagship shop is an Ironmonger !!
The town wasn't conducive to photography as there were too many cars parked everywhere so I went with the alternative plan from my friend who doesn't give up easily on walking.

The Leyburn Shawl walk is one of the most subtlest inclines and is essentially an extension of a walk to the park where the visitor is constantly enticed to go a little further for a slightly better tree free view. I knew I had to do this option as I was the reins on this walk that looked like galloping away and missing the 6pm gastro appointment. I distinctly remember saying "We need to go back, it's 5 o'clock now" and "It's ten past five now" !! The downhill section in 50 minutes seemed more acceptable !!

We were met by the shoppers 3/4 of the way back in the park who didn't know what else to do, so thought they'd wait for us with the immediate view of Wensleydale to enjoy.

All in all it was a great day out, but we hardly had any slack in the timings to send a postcard ...

... and we could have done with the services afterwards of one of the Leyburn businesses...

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, West Yorkshire

One of the reasons that I stopped in Haworth was not only to visit the Bronte Parsonage but to attend the annual diesel gala on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. This was an opportunity to indulge in one of my transport interests and station architecture that inspired the makers of The Railway Children film.

The KWVR is a 4 - 5 miles (8km) stretch of preserved railway line in West Yorkshire. The line originally opened in 1867 to serve the textile industry in the area with the transportation of coal to fuel the woollen mills.
         

Additionally, its use was to provide an early tourist opportunity to make the Bronte Parsonage more accessible by rail.

Such were the difficulties of the gradient that in the year before its opening, a test train took two hours to complete the line up to the terminus of Oxenhope and only 13 minutes back down the mainline station of Keighley.

Many of the branch lines and unprofitable railways of Britain were closed in the 1960's following the infamous Dr Beeching report. The KWVR was one of these victims and closed in 1962.

A new concept at the time was a railway preservation society that planned to operate the line independently as a heritage railway, their plans came to fruition 6 years later in 1968.

This business opportunity needed a boost at a time when passenger numbers were low on these branch line railways. The answer came two years later in 1970 with the filming of The Railway Children at Oakworth Station and "the rest they say is history" as visitors increased beyond their wildest dreams !

It may seem strange to say that in the very year that the railway re-opened, steam locomotives were withdrawn permanently from the national rail network. The unpopular diesel locomotive, which had been running alongside it for several years came to the fore.

D6700 ( The first Class 37 in original livery and numbering, preserved by NRM)

Most train drivers began to see the benefits however as they took less time to start in the morning and were relatively cleaner. The diesel gradually gained a following from the newer generation of railfans and such were the choices of types of traction that splinter groups of fans were formed for each locomotive.

Despite the 1960's cuts of Dr Beeching to save the national railway network from financial collapse, the 1970's saw little improvement as the dinosaur type structure carried on eating up the money. By the 1980's, plans were afoot to replace the diesel which was viewed by the company, rightly or wrongly, as ageing and expensive by a newer railbus or multiple unit. Although the cumbersome and difficult to maintain diesel hydraulics were withdrawn in the 1970's, the reality of diesel withdrawals and journey to the scrapyard began in earnest in 1981 when the class 55 Deltic was removed from The East Coast main line, to be replaced by the Inter city 125 which had been running alongside it for five years. In their infancy, diesel preservation groups tried to be one step ahead of the withdrawal game, but as there were numerous examples running to unusual places on the network, the take up was slow. The second half of the 1980's saw an acceleration in pace in the exchange of diesel locomotives for multiple units and for want of a better word ... railbuses !

For many years, the KWVR prided itself on running a steam service for the tourist with an early morning diesel railcar service for shoppers and commuters.

Due to the inception of The Diesel Gala concept by the larger pro-active preserved railways and the opportunity to ride behind the now well loved traction no longer available on the main line, The KWVR had to follow suit as these events became one of the big paydays of the year.

37264 leaving Keighley ( ex West Highland line locomotive in Large Logo livery)

My theory ... "The more unusual the visiting locomotive, the larger the audience proportional to the financial outlay" !

This set was taken on two different occasions, the first on my journey to Manchester and the second only recently as I wanted to sample 37075 for the first time.

Keighley at the north end of the line is the start and end of the journey where connections can be made to and from the main line.

I struggled a little for material on a walk into town and even though the set wasn't strong enough for its own post in this blog ... I can inform you that it still open for business.

Goathland, North Yorkshire

I thought it was time to wish you all a belated Happy New Year by finding something seasonal in my photo collection to publish. After all, it's difficult to display this kind of set at Easter or in the summer ! It's not the best set of images in the world as firstly the sun seemed to be on an away day, but it shows that I'm still alive and keeping my head above the water even though it has taken some time to get this post together and published. I'll catch up with your blogs over the next week.

Last year was a difficult year and even though I had to go with it as decisions were taken out of my hands, that doesn't seem to be easing with the arrival of a New Year. Extensive house clearance and it seems the only way forward is to trust God with difficult decisions to make just around the corner. Unfortunately, my hands are still tied in numerous ways as I still await the financial clearance to deal with my Mothers affairs.

Although the North York Moors can seem a bleak place with its plateau like features ideal for long walks, it has some unimpressive hill contours and yet dramatic deep valleys. Personally I find it a place of great beauty, particularly with the colours of heather in summer. Many of the undulating summits peak at just above 300m which is twice the height above sea level of the lovely village of Goathland.

Goathland attracts a lot of tourists for many reasons with the historic North Yorkshire Moors railway running through the village.

The railway was originally opened in 1836 and closed by the infamous Dr Beeching in 1965 and although many railways remained closed, it seemed right for a preservation trust to re-acquire the line a few years later.

The current 18 mile railway is the second longest private railway in the UK with The Severn Valley Railway claiming the number one spot for that title.

The railway recommenced services in 1973 and for the majority of its life has operated from the enforced terminus at Pickering to Grosmont where it joins the Middlesborough to Whitby line. In recent years, the company has negotiated with the owners of the national rail network to extend the service on special weekends into the coastal town of Whitby following in the footsteps of Victorian passengers but more importantly as a trade route from the sea. I must confess that after having attended many diesel and occasional steam galas over the years, I have never sampled this section with historic traction as there is always plenty of interest in the Goathland / Pickering direction at the standard railrover fare.

Goathland station was chosen in 2001 as a location for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" and branded with the temporary name of "Hogsmeade". The Warner Brothers film crew also made use of other sections of the railway line for filming purposes.

Back in the real world, this was a very cold bank holiday january day photographed during the afternoon of my infamous Robin Hoods Bay post that you may remember... haha, but I felt the warmth and heat of the steam ...

... for a limited amount of time and then I was left out in the cold again. The train departed for Pickering and was the only one for a while on a reduced winter timetable.

Time to find something else to look at...

Within walking distance of the village, The 70 ft Mallyan Spout waterfall was possibly one of the first tourist attractions and has been attracting walkers and travelling Spa visitors since the 19th century. Unfortunately and to my shame, my various interests as a traveller and tourist to this destination have left it unseen and consequently no photograph ... After writing this, I might try and visit if a future occasion arises.

Probably the most popular reason for visitors coming to the village (of errr ... Aidensfield !) is to see some classic locations from the retro 1960's police TV series Heartbeat.

The programme was filmed over a period of 18 years (372 episodes)  as a slow feel good police / village life drama with subtle humour, 60's music and scenic interest on sunday evenings. In later years, in my opinion, the characters and story lines weren't as strong and ratings continued to fall until the producers decided that it was time to record the last series shown in 2009.


YouTube clip ...  Classic TV Heartbeat clip starring Claude Greengrass

Aidensfield stores ... hope this is just a renovation and not a closure !

The Goathland hotel also known as The Aidensfield Arms has become a magnet for fans of the show as so many scenes were filmed in here. What is apparent on entering however is the miniature size of the room compared with the TV version. It looks like it could have filmed in wide angle or re-created in a film studio.

Scripps garage in real life has become a bizarre tourist shop that seems to resemble a car boot sale with a classic car in the workshop behind the make shift counter and yet in its time has had some interesting garden items for sale alongside the usual tourist items for sale.

It seems a shame that these classic cars should be open to the elements, on the other hand, maybe I should get back to my car before I get snowed in !!!

In summer time, it is not uncommon to see sheep roaming anywhere and everywhere in the village to the extent that they are not allowed in the places that would seem more obvious ....

More realistic however is the right for several centuries for the tenants of the Duchy of Lancaster to graze their sheep on the village green and surrounding open moorland ...

"The grass is not always greener  on the other side of the fence"