On The Railway, Settle and Skipton

On one of our days in the Yorkshire Dales, the weather was not promising, so we decided to spend a day on the Settle to Carlisle railway.

 

The nearest station to Hawes is at Garsdale - there were others waiting for the train also, including walkers from the Pennine Way going home. This line was nearly closed some years ago, but was repaired, saved and is now very popular. Our train was a normal train, but there also are monthly steam trains run by another private company.

Our little train! We got off at Settle.....

 

We had plenty of time, so walked to Giggleswick, a village with a public school of the same name.

 

 

This cafe in Settle always causes amusement - it is not known whether it was an inn, or whether it was once an undertakers...

 

 

Due to a misunderstanding with the return times for the trains, it was easier to catch a train south to Skipton. After a wander about, we then caught a train to our original stop, Garsdale. Skipton has a lovely church with an excellent ring of bells. There is also a castle.

The main attraction on this train route is of course the famous Ribblehead viaduct. Being on the train, though, we could not see it! We will have to do one of the nearby walks  next time, to get a good view of the viaduct.

I have booked a visit for July, and expect that the area will be much busier in summer than at Easter.