Thornton-le-Dale

Thornton-le-Dale - a pretty village nestling on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and easily accessible by bus from Pickering (the nearest town), Malton, Whitby and Scarborough (makes a change for somewhere to be easily accessible by bus from Scarborough, the buses here are crap!)

We visited this little village on Bank Holiday Monday (last week) and enjoyed warm, sunny weather (unlike the grey and murk we've had here today).

It was full of visitors, but we enjoyed a stroll round the little park lake, and I had a black cherry ice cream with a Flake in, which was the first time I've had that flavour ice cream. We will visit again when the kids are at school.

The beck which runs through the village.

The church on the hill.

The thatched cottage, the most-photographed thing in the village.

If you want to see the photos at their full size, click on each one to open it in a new window.

The Mighty Deltic

The Mighty Deltic in Pickering

Readers may wonder why I titled this latest post "The Mighty Deltic". Well, the answer is simple.

Today we went to Pickering, and it was Diesel Gala weekend on the North York Moors Railway (visit them here) Usually the trains on here are steam hauled, with a few exceptions, but this weekend is given over to the diesels.

If I had known about the special event, I would have had my camera to post some video, but I didn't so I'll have to post some photos taken on my Mum's mobile phone instead :-)

The one engine I had chance to photograph was a huge green Deltic just before it was attached to the carriages in order to leave Pickering. Seeing these superb locos made me think of the vile, horrible, cold things we have to put with on our railways now - namely the Class 185 built in Germany by Siemens, it is a foul train, putting it mildly, but the main services from our local station are operated by these monstrosities. I wish it were the Deltics operating from here instead!

Close up of the Deltic's front

The Deltic was built for use on the East Coast Main Line - however it was replaced on this route by the Inter City 125 in the 1970s.

The Deltic leaving Pickering station

There is a Deltic Preservation Society for those who like the Mighty Deltic, they can be visited here.