Monday 15 September - Shildon

Keep looking up.  Decoration on the Starbucks coffee shop in the Lendal

Today's forecast was for rain and, even though it is Mary's birthday, we agreed that I would go to the National Railway Musem at Shildon leaving her free to go shopping etc., at York.
I caught a train to Darlington where I changed to a two car pacer to Shildon. After Darlington we were on the route of the first public railway with steam haulage, the Stockton and Darlington of 1825. In spite of the long industrial heritage of the area we were soon in fields of sheep with coveys of partridges.
The museum is a little walk from the station with the collection building at one end of a short running line and some historic buildings at the other.
The collection building is purpose built and pleasant to walk through. However, it suffers from the problem of several long lines of locomotives and it is difficult to get back far enough to see them properly. Just after I walked in there was a public announcement to evacuate the building. None of the staff took any notice and it seems it was merely a test of the system  

This GWR pannier tank was in the workshop area.   I remember standing on the flat top of one of these taking water at Reading Low Level, holding down the chain to take water and getting completely soaked in the process

A fireless locomotive.

A Stockton and Darlington Railway passenger coach, patterned after a stagecoach.

Several historic locomotives were on display, the most interesting to me being the GWR 2-8-0 and a GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank, both of which types I have worked on. The exhibits are not all identified, many locomotives being identified merely by a large luggage label. I personally would not have included a few coal wagons or BR  rolling stock but that is a matter of preference.
The really interesting part of the display was at the other end of the line which has coal staithes, stables used by the horses on the original railway, an early goods shed, the first industrial building in Shildon, Timothy Hackworth's house and the Sans Pareil, Hackworth's entry for the Liverpool and Manchester Rainhill locomotive trials.

The Goods Shed

The Sans Pareil.

Early chauldron waggons

First industrial building in Shildon

Timothy Hackworth's house.

It is a peaceful area now. Waiting for the train to Darlington I could hear a parliament of rooks, a murder of crows, a magpie and some robins.

The rain was light at times

The tranquility of Shildon was shattered by the crashing and banging of a Pacer, the train everyone loves to hate, as it crashed and banged its way over the poor track to and from Darlington.

Click here to see my pictures from Shildon

Sunday 14 September - Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens

It feels just like Sunday morning at home - as we made our way through the vomit and dried blood on the sidewalk. People come into York on Saturday evening to get drunk.  Some of the women look more formidable than the men.
Half of York was shut down today for some bike riding. Good day to get out of town. There is a once a week bus to Fountains Abbey on route 812. It was reasonably full by the time we arrived, mostly local people going further towards Grassington to hike in the Dales.
The National Trust visitor centre had everything we needed including a good restaurant.
We set out to walk down to the ruins of the abbey and were immediately struck by the large numbers (coveys) of pheasants. They were everywhere and did not seem bothered by us at all. There were a large number of rooks, (a parliament), flying around the tower.
The Studley Royal Water Gardens were very peaceful in the still, morning air. A few swans added a graceful feel to the place.

And called it macaroni

 

 

Partridges were everywhere

If a number of rooks is a parliament these must be MPs.

We walked in a circle around the ruins and gardens to come back to the visitor centre for lunch. The roast pork and Yorkshire pudding was good and a good Black Sheep bitter helped it down.
This afternoon we walked off lunch by exploring the ruins and walking down to the bottom lake. We came back along side the Deer Park but didn't see any deer.

St. Marys Church

Click here to see all pictures taken at Fountains Abbey
The one bus of the week arrived on time and brought back the same people it had taken out this morning.
The Olde Starre Inne is a new favourite because it has two New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs by the glass. I tried a Theakstons Old Peculiar which is a dark mild, well named. The Black Sheep brewery Riggwelter was quite good. It is a strong dark mild which is full of flavor of chestnut.

  

 

Saturday 13 September - Statfold Barn Railway

Thanks to some help on industrial locomotives I had given Mark Hambly who volunteers at the Statfold Barn Narrow Gauge Railway I was given an invitation to attend an open day.
http://www.statfoldbarnrailway.co.uk/
There are only three open days a year and entry is strictly by invitation only. Statfold Barn is near Tamworth which is a two hour train ride from York. The guard was quite a comedian:

"The trolley has now been renamed a MRV which is short for Mobile Refreshment Vehicle. It will be a little late as the steward blew a fuse on the microwave and has spent the last half hour sitting on the cheeseburgers to heat them up. 

"We don't stop at Burnley any more. Last time we did the train lost four wheels.

"All tickets from Sheffield. Who will admit to having got on at Sheffield. 

"I lay awake at nights wondering what to tell you people."

 I took a taxi the three miles or so into the country. The approach was well sign posted and it was made clear that casual visitors were not tolerated. I found Mark who cleared away the formalities and left me free to look around.
It is difficult to set down my impressions. There were about 1500 guests by invitation. I lost count of the number of engines in steam, I think it was about 15. Most staggering was the amazing state of all the locomotives and rolling stock. Beautifully painted, beautifully cleaned and all in excellent mechanical condition. The facilities for repair and maintenance are excellent and a number of new steam locomotives have been built here in the last few years. Many of the locomotives are small and many of the trains had two locomotives. There is a main line which goes out into the fields for a mile or so and returns via a balloon track.  Free rides were given from the three terminal platforms. By stopping off part way back it was possible to visit the Grain Store which has a turntable and storage tracks which hold the amazing collection under cover. There is also a beautiful garden railway which has two foot tracks running around a lovely lake. Rides were being given around the lake.
If this were not enough there were a large number of steam rollers, traction engines and lorries that were running around, including a number of scale models. There were lots of antique cars and trucks including two from Charles Matthews of Toronto who recently provided a number of locomotives for the collection.

The Garden Railway

The Garden Railway

The Platform area

Complicated dual gauge track work

On the back of a demonstration freight train

On the front of the demonstration freight train

This was one of the locomotives recently repatriated from Canada

Another locomotive (from St. Marys Cement, Ontario) that came to Statfold via Canada

A Brookville that originally worked at Sulphide Ontario

Inside the Grain Store

This Plumouth came to Statfold via Canada (St. Marys Cement, Ontario).  It was at the end of the line to assist in case of problems.

Traffic was controlled through this signal box and with hand held radios.

At the locomotive servicing area

At the locomotive servicing area

At the locomotive servicing area

Statfold Barn is truly a narrow gauge paradise.

Click here to see all my pictures from the Statfold Barn Railway.

When I was ready to go back to Tamworth, Chris, the man on the gate called for a taxi for me. It was good that he did it because he spoke in the local dialect - when talking to the girl at the taxi office just about every other word was "duck".

The journey back to York was uneventful.
This evening we ate at the Olde Starre Inne which was notable for a Westerham Brewery pale ale. Westerham is close to Orpington.

The venison pie had a puff pastry crust

Friday 12 September - Easingwold, Thirsk

Some of the buildings in the Shambles are set at odd angles to each other and horizontal.  They are all joined together so there is no danger of collapse.

York has no bus station but the bus routes and times through the town are carefully coordinated so that a small number of bus stops are conveniently situated to allow convenience and transfers. The Reliance #30 route bus leaves for Easingwold at Petersgate in a time slot for an 0930 departure. Arrival and departure were right on schedule, quite an achievement in this traffic.
I asked the driver if we could have stop off privileges on a day return but he recommended a day pass which allows hop on and hop off. I said "So we could get off at Alne".
He gave a look of horror.
" Yes, but why would you want to do that? I wouldn't recommend it".
Passing through Alne we could see what he meant. It has a church but there didn't even appear to be a pub. The harvest is in and the farmers have been busy and the air is filled with the sweet perfume of manure.
The bus filled up as we approached Easingwold and there must have been ten people getting off to swell the visitors to the small weekly market.

Buses from York and to York meet at the Easingwold Market

Our first port of call was a tea room for lattes. The place was full but there was very little turnover as every group was engaged in animated conversation. This seems to be the main occupation here - renewing acquaintances and chatting. Buying supplies seemed secondary. We sat on a bench later on waiting for the bus when a nurse in uniform cycled past and stopped when she saw another nurse. They chatted in the middle of the road for at least 20 minutes. I hope there were no emergencies to be dealt with.

Easingwold Market

There was a cheese monger who had a good selection of French cheeses as well as local ones, some unpasteurized. The librarian directed us to the Easingwold Station. We stopped in at the church yard and were amused to see a sheep grazing in the churchyard. It didn't like having its picture taken and hid among the gravestones and peered out at us.

All Saints Easingwold

The 1892 station is an enormous building for the railway company which only ever had 2 1/2 miles of track. The contractor was Death & Co. who went bankrupt before it was finished. It is now turned into residences having been a pub after closure of the railway.

Easingwold Railway Station

We took the bus on to Thirsk which is a little like Beverley, a cobbled parking lot with interesting buildings placed around the outside. We had lunch at the Golden Fleece with Black Sheep bitter and then took a walk around. There is a large church and a pleasant walk along by the river which had a lot of ducks.

Thirsk has a lot of pubs, restaurants and cafes in the centre.

We caught a double decker bus back to Easingwold (we were the only passengers) and changed there for the #40 bus which has a different route back via the large Nestle plant.

Waiting for the bus at the Easingwold Market

Click here to see all pictures taken at Easingwold and Thirsk.
At the Blue Bell there was immense activity around one of the two tables in the bar. It had been repaired around 1960 with a Formica like material and the securing tacks had come out. New tacks were secured and hammered in using a half-full pint glass. Discussion then changed to how much money we made in 1960, the price of beer at that time and the differing prices you paid for beer depending on which bar you used. "I wouldn't pay a penny a pint just for a carpet on the floor."

I tried an intriguing Brass Castle bitter which was billed as ginger and marmelade. It was a pretty good bitter beer.

Thursday 11 September - York, the Holy Grail and Evensong

Just outside Marks and Spencer there was an old lady with a walker dressed in a bright scarlet dress. She had a long grey beard and bent down to say hello to a small girl who was passing - scared her half to death.
We had an easier day today in York. There were many school groups in the Museum Gardens.  It was another warm and sunny day and we walked along by the river Ouse. It was very peaceful and we saw mainly people walking their dogs. Just outside of town there is a very large field adjacent to the river but separated from it by a berm. It must be at least a mile in each direction. I assume this has something to do with flood protection.
We returned to the city and had lunch at the Star in the City. I was delighted to find a good bitter called Monty Python's Holy Grail.  Well balanced with a hint of toffee. The only bad thing about it is that this was their last  barrel. 

A product of the Black Sheep brewery of Masham.

The food was excellent. I started with traditional Yorkshire puddings and gravy while Mary had scallops. 

Three Yorkshire puddings with a tasty gravy

My main course was an excellent Beverley Duck while Mary had a mushroom omelet. A very satisfying meal.

This afternoon we went to the Jorvik Centre to use the tickets we had retained from our visit last November. Mary produced our ticket and the cashier asked for some identification with her signature on it. She produced her passport and we went in. Afterwards we realuzed i had signed the ticket.

We went to Evensong again this evening in the Minster. This was a special service for the new Bishop of Whitby to take his seat.  The singing by the all-male choir was excellent and the space is beautiful.