Tees Transporter Bridge

A panoramic view from the top of the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough.

Stone crosses on the moors

Today I had a drive out to Hetton Le Hole, a little village on the south of the North Yorkshire Moors. The road from the A171 at Lockwood Beck reservoir passes a few interesting man made landmarks. On Smeathorns Lane at the Commondale turnoff is a very remote bus stop that would be very bland if it didn't have the Shaun The Sheep emblazoned on the wall. 

Once through Castleton and on the way to Hetton le hole, on the right, close to the road is "Young Ralph" (https://megalithix.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/ralphs-cross/), this is a tall stone cross and is part of the logo for the North York moors national park. 

Quite close by is "Fat Betty" (https://thejournalofantiquities.com/2012/08/15/fat-betty-cross-danby-high-moor-north-yorkshire/), a rather short squat cross. 

Just past the Lion Inn (http://www.lionblakey.co.uk/) at Blakey Ridge is a stone that I don't know the name of but  i suspect it may have been a boundary stone. 

On top of this stone there was a couple of coins, I added one of my own. The tradition is that they could be used by a traveller in distress. 

The Flyng Scotsman #2

The Flying Scotsman has a little bit of family history for me. My granddad, on my dads side, used to be a fireman on the railways back in the days of steam. He kept the Flying Scotsman fired at Stockton depot while it was waiting for a minor repair of some sort. Many years later we chipped together for a Hornby 'OO' gauge Flying Scotsman train set which was a surprise birthday (or was it Christmas?) present which he was over the moon with. Grandad has since passed on but there are many happy memories of his stories from his time on the railways and visiting the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Goathland has been used as filming locations for TV's "Heartbeat" and in the first Harry Potter film Goathland station was Hogsmeade Station where they get off the train.
After a 10 year overhaul, the Flying Scotsman is visiting the NYMR for a week so my dad and I took the Northern Rail service train to Grosmont to see it back in action. We got to Grosmont in time to see the FS pull in. We then decided, seeing as the station was jam packed, to walk a little way along the Rail Trail past the engine sheds to watch as it left for Pickering.

We then walked back to Grosmont to see a DMU that was due in.

Then we went to the engine sheds and had a look around the shop (where I got an N gauge restaurant carriage for £8, a bargain!) and saw some work being carried out on a couple of engines. Then a loco & Steam top n tailed train passed by.

After a spot of lunch we went back to the other end of the tunnel to wait for the Flying Scotsman to return from Pickering to Grosmont.

We then caught the train home back to Teesside.

The Flying Scotsman

Class 20 "Chopper" at NYMR

On the 5th of September I went along the Esk Valley railway line to Grosmont, which is the northern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The reason was there was a couple of Class 20 locomotives nicknamed "Choppers". I have heard two different stories as to why they have this nickname. The first is that they sound like a helicopter when starting up and the second that they sound like a helicopter when pulling a load.
More information can be found at Wikipedia or at the Class 20 Locomotive Society.
 I got a few snaps of 20142.

Coming over the level crossing on the line from Goathland

Coupling up the carriages

Waiting for passengers