Beginning at Grosmont this walk takes advantage of some 1830's technology.

You only have to walk half the distance, you can enjoy the rest on a North Yorkshire Moors steam train.

This 3-mile walk is one devised by the North York Moors National Park and I was in the company of one of its senior rangers Bernard McLinden.

The village of Grosmont is your starting point, a place that was little more than a collection of farms until the arrival of the train in the 1830s.

Bernard McLinden

Then ironstone was discovered and mining became a big industry in the area.

Listen to Bernard McLinden and Mike Kemp on the walk

When you walk this route you’ll see that nature has healed the scars but the houses and the railway are the legacy of that time.

It’s at Grosmont where you catch the train the short distance to Goathland, a 15 minute journey. From your carriage are delightful views of the countryside you’re about to walk.

Mind the tourists in Goathland because the village is a mecca for fans of both the small screen and the silver screen.

Goathland is the location for the long-running TV series Heartbeat and is where some of the filming for the Harry Potter movies took place. But leave the tourists behind because the countryside outside Goathland has much to offer.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

The walk back to Grosmont is known as the Rail Trail not only because your route takes you close to the track but also you’re walking on a former railway line.

Just outside of Goathland the path drops steeply, known locally as the Beck Hole Incline.

Horses used to pull the train coaches the twelve hundred metres up the hill but it’s days were soon numbered after a line snapped and a carriage careered down the slope in 1864. Two passengers died and many others were injured.

The walk takes you past Beck Hole. You go into Buber Wood and over a wooden bridge. You can still see the stone supports and wooden stakes which supported the crossing for the railway line.

This is a delightful spot to linger and enjoy the beck of Murk Esk. The easy-going path eventually takes you into Esk Valley, the name for a hamlet which was built to accommodate the workers for the mining industry and the railway.

It was only in the 50s that the community raised enough cash to build a road for themselves. Until then they had to rely on the railway for supplies.

The hamlet has a terrace of 24 cottages, a sight that seems so out of place in the countryside where you’d perhaps expect farms and chickens until you remember the industrial past of this area.

Before long you’re on the outskirts of Grosmont the sheds of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway a sign of your return. But there is still one last surprise.

After a short climb you come out to a view across the rooftops of Grosmont and its surrounding upland. As you enjoy the spectacle it’s not long before you hear the shrill whistle of a steam train which is a reminder of how Grosmont, and its solidly-built houses, came to be.

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