Keeping track of the old Beck Hole railway line (From Gazette & Herald)

Keeping track of the old Beck Hole railway line

WHEN the first railway line was built from Whitby it passed close to Beck Hole.

It was horse drawn and opened in 1836, much to the surprise of locals drinking in the Lord Nelson Inn who thought it a "far fetched idea".

The Inn is still in the village but is now a private house and is situated at the bottom of the hill on the Whitby side. It still has the Inn name above the door.

The railway was unique in the way it tackled the safe ascent and descent of the nearby incline.

The engineers used water power. Water was pumped into a tank at the top of the incline and the coaches, without the horses of course, attached to a rope at the bottom.

When the tank of water exceeded the weight of the coaches, the tank descended and the coaches ascended. They passed half way down on a double track. It was worked the opposite way to brake the descent.

When the steam trains made the railway horses redundant, delays and accidents happened on the incline and a new line was built, the deviation line, on the opposite side of Beck Hole. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway still use this line.

The old line was still used for some time to serve Beck Hole from Whitby with coal, beer and other goods. The line closed when some of the bridges were washed away and the track is now used by walkers, cyclists and horses.

I would like to think that perhaps the horses of today being exercised along the track are descendants of the workhorses of the 19th century!

The facts

Distance - Six-and-a-half miles (10km).

Time - Three hours.

Start/parking - Goathland, park in the village car park, grid ref 832013.

Best map - OS Outdoor Leisure 27.

Refreshments - Pubs and cafes in Goathland village, pub at Beck Hole, coffee and tea at Goathland Railway Station.

Public toilets - Goathland village car park and Goathland Railway Station.

Guide book - Walking in Heartbeat Country by J Brian Beadle published by Trailblazer at £2.50 contains routes in the same area. Available from all NYM railway stations, book shops, Dalby Forest Visitor Centre and tourist information centres.

Your route

Leave the car park towards the village, at the T-junction go left. Opposite Scripps Garage, take the wide bridleway alongside the pub. This is the old railway track.

Continue straight ahead at all times on the track passing through some gates until in one-and-a-half miles you arrive at Moorgates. Exit onto the road through the gate and go left.

Take care as you walk under the railway bridge, then cross a road bridge across Eller Beck and take a short climb to soon leave the road left at the entrance to "Birchwood". Keep on this ascending farm drive which is a public bridleway.

At the entrance to the farm, leave the drive, going right onto the moor at a wooden signpost for Goathland. Not far and the path falls to a small gate and across a stream. Climb up the other side to pass a farm and onto the driveway bearing right at the waymarks. Keep on this driveway without deviation until you meet the road.

Cross the road and walk towards the large house. Go left at the signpost, then bear left downhill to meet a wide, rough track. Go right here, then left onto a path across the moor towards the wall and a seat.

Keep close to the wall and descent to the entrance to Goathland Station. A good place for a cuppa and perhaps the toilets.

If you are not visiting the facilities, do not enter the station gate but keep on straight past to climb uphill on a narrow track adjacent to the railway line at the sign for Darnholme. Descent the steep man-made steps and then head for the wooden footbridge. Cross the bridge keeping straight ahead.

At the rough road, turn right away from the beck towards Darnholme Grange. In a few paces, bear left onto a rough track, then left across a footbridge and a steep climb.

As the path opens out onto the moor look for a gate and stile on the left. Cross the stile following yellow waymarks through another gate, past a house and exit onto the moor through a small gate.

When the path splits go left onto a wide path through the bracken downhill. Keep on this wide path to eventually reach a wall and a seat. Bear right here, following the line of the wall, then aim for the farmhouse in front of you. Left now onto the farm driveway to the road. Left at the road over the railway bridge, then take care down the steep hill into Beckhole.

Pass the Birch Hall Inn, or stop for a pint and a Beck Hole butty, then turn right opposite the Inn at the bottom of the hill through a gate onto a wide bridleway. Pass through another gate bearing left. Walk past Incline Cottage, then through a gate to ascend the incline.

It is a long pull up here, however, you eventually reach the road. Take a look at the information board which relates the history of the incline. Cross the road into a field opposite still climbing. Exit the field through a small gate turning right to return to the car park.

Updated: 11:25 Wednesday, January 04, 2006