Full Steam Ahead

There is something delightful about people’s excitement when an old-fashioned British steam train pulls into a station. One toot of the whistle can generate squeals from children and adults alike. Nostalgia plays a part for some, reminding them of childhood trips to the seaside. Others seem attracted by the romance of the golden era of rail travel. Younger visitors are enthralled to see a real-life Thomas the Tank Engine – the children’s story adapted for TV with a voiceover by The Beatles’ Ringo Starr.

Whatever the reason, a trip on a heritage railway offers a perfect antidote to the stresses of modern-day travel. You buy a ticket and climb aboard, before slowly chugging away into the distance. And where better to do this than in Yorkshire, the setting for another children’s classic, The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit.

Yorkshire is particularly blessed with heritage railways and they provide a relaxing alternative way of seeing what locals call “God’s Own County”. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) offers