A Day on the Wensleydale Railway

On Wednesday 6th of September it was my Dad's 60th Birthday, so being the dutiful daughter that I am I took they day off work so that we could spend the day together. My Sister is currently on Maternity Leave and my Brother in Law also managed to get away from work for the day and with my Parents newly retired we had a rare opportunity to spend the whole day out celebrating my Dad on his 60th Birthday together.

We had a bit of a tough time deciding on what we would do during the day as we have done quite a few of the local attractions near by to us. We had originally discussed going to Northumberlandia but this was quite far away from where we live and as we had plans for the evening for a meal with some of our family friends we thought it best to stay slightly more local. So instead we decided on the Wensleydale Railway which is much closer to where we live and also something we haven't done before.

The Wensleydale Railway is a volunteer run vintage railway running between Leeming Bar, just outside Northallerton to Redmire in the Yorkshire Dales. As well as running steam trains they also re-purpose old diesel trains and basically any vintage trains that they can get hold of are used.  We weren't lucky to be attending on a day when the Steam Trains are running but if you check the website they will have the dates advertised there subject to change because as im told steam trains arent always reliable but that just adds to their charm.

 As we were queuing up to get on the train there was a carriage being set up for afternoon tea which looked amazing and my Mum got talking to one of the volunteers and they say the afternoon tea train ride is very popular and books up months in advance so if this sounds like something you would like to do bear that in mind.  Also when we arrived there was a coach load of people arrived so we did worry that we may not get a seat for the five of us and my 3 month old nephew, but luckily there were more than enough seats to accommodate everyone and we settled in nicely. We had brought with us a little picnic to eat on our journey which felt very civilised and with the gorgeous scenery racing past it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.



We only had time to go as far as Leyburn a small dales market town on the line as we needed to get back home in enough time to get ready for our evening meal out with friends. When we arrived in Leyburn we took a steady walk into the town and had a cup of tea and a biscuit then a little wander around the shops before heading back to the station for our journey back to Leeming.

We all had a really lovely time and it was so nice too see parts of the local countryside you wouldn't normally get to see as it runs through some remote parts of the dales. All the staff and volunteers were very friendly and clearly passionate about the Wensleydale Railway. The Wensleydale Railway run themed events on the train throughout the year such as Gin Tasting, Hog Roast and Jazz Evenings and at Christmas they do Journeys where Santa joins passengers for some festive fun!