Our first destination was Pickering, a local market town that was our departure point for a ride on the restored North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Upon arrival we were directed to our reserved seating in the historic carriages, pulled today by a diesel rather than a steam engine.
Soon we were rolling along, with stunning scenery on either side & stopping at picturesque village stations along our route.
Our destination was the station at Goathland, known around the world as Hogsmeade due to its appearance in the Harry Potter movies.
After taking photos of our train, the station, & even the train guard, we heard that the next arriving train would be a steam engine so waited to see that before we hiked up from the station to the village of Goathland itself.
Goathland village is famous in England as the setting for a long-running historical TV police drama, so we saw plenty of souvenirs & memorabilia from the show whilst we strolled around the village & enjoyed views of the high Moors above the village.
From Goathland from drove south to our next stop, the magnificent stately home of Castle Howard, one of the most spectacular private homes in England. We had plenty of time at Castle Howard to enjoy lunch, tour through the house, & discover some of the spectacular gardens, including the Atlas fountain, the rose garden, & the extensive lawns & woods.We also had time to stop for an hour in the village of Helmsley, a popular stop for thousands of years at a river/road junction, & a brief drive-by view of Ampleforth College, a leading English boarding school nearby.
At the end of another spectacularly sunny day we stopped for dinner.
Tonight's venue was the Durham Ox, a recent winner of the Yorkshire Pub of the Year award! We were not disappointed, being treated to a superb meal once more, modern interpretations of traditional British dishes, all created from locally-sourced & organic produce.
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