“Training” Day

As we were in the North York Moors it wouldn’t be right to leave the area without having a look at the North York Moors Railway, a heritage railway mostly operated and staffed by volunteers. We drove to Grosmont where the railway station (main) has a 1950s theme and it was like going back in time. Because of the high fire risk with all the dry weather we have been having, no steam trains are being used to pull the trains just now but we were fortunate that one had been brought out of the train shed to the station for a short time for folk to see it (extra).
While we were eating our lunch in the sunshine on the platform, watching a couple of  trains running between Whitby and Pickering come and go, we decided to catch a train to the next station, Goathland, then walk back along the Rail Trail to Grosmont. What a great afternoon we had! The forecast rain never appeared but the sunshine did and after our fifteen minute train ride we had a most enjoyable walk through a beautiful rural landscape dotted with the remains of ……….. heavy industry! 
Who would believe that ironstone was mined here and that Grosmont was the site of a major industrial complex producing nearly 1000 tonnes of pig iron every week in three blast furnaces between 1862 and1881 (extra). Now the heavy industry has melted back into the landscape, leaving only a few lumps and bumps here and there. What a fascinating place!