Return to Esk Valley Line Guide
Return to Countrygoer North York Moors
Looking at Grosmont today, it is hard to believe it was once the site of a thriving ironstone industry, although one or two remains of the huge smelting works, closed in 1915, can still be seen in the heavily wooded National Park car park, the other side of the railway. Today, it is the bustling northern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
The Whitby to Pickering horse-drawn railway was amongst the first
to be built in the country, the engineers who built the Whitby
to Grosmont section between 1833 and 1835 christening the town
“Tunnel”. By the 1850’s however, it was again being
called “Grosmont” after its connections with the Order
of Grandimont, begun in King John’s reign.
The restoration of the 18 mile steam railway from Grosmont to
Pickering has rescued the village from more than a century’s
decline, bringing work and visitors.
The present steam railway was re-opened in 1973 and it has the
highest number of visitors to a single attraction in the National Park.
Buildings of interest include the 1836 station with stabling underneath
(behind the NYMR signal box) and St. Matthew’s Church, originally
built in 1840 by public subscription, and a fund-raising excursion
train; possibly the world’s first!
Next to the church, near the site of the old alum works, is the
former village school and beyond that, the famous tunnels. On
the left is the turreted entrance to Stephenson’s original
horse-drawn railway, the walk through the tunnel leading to the
engine sheds. Hudson’s double track tunnel alongside is still
in use.
The Esk Valley Walk passes through the outskirts of Grosmont,
leading westward to Egton Bridge and eastwards to Sleights.
The popular Rail Trail, using the disused trackbed of Stephenson’s
original route to Goathland, starts alongside the level crossing,
opposite the pub.