A bit of revisiting, and some new stuff today, but first a bit of background reasoning...
This weekend has not been a huge success. First of all, there was an 18th birthday party at work on Saturday night, which meant I had to stay an extra two hours, and then yesterday I had the utter joy of cleaning up shit off the carpet. Human shit. I kid you not.
So, feeling somewhat apathetic towards the world of bowls, I requested a day off, using built up lieu time.
JP, Mum and I went for a drive...
First stop was the tea rooms at Sledmere House. Yes, I know it's got nothing to do with railways, but frankly my dear, when they sell sausage sandwiches as good as that, I don't give a damn. I also had a pork and stilton pie from the farm shop. Also very tasty, and helped soak up some of the alcohol from last night. Wine, lager, Guinness and absinthe is perhaps not the best combination.
With my hunger problems solved, we headed off to the old station picnic site, at Fimber roundabout (or as le Tour de Yorkshire people would have it, Cote de Fimber). The Yorkshire Wolds Railway people were out in force, as at 11am today, their visitor centre was officially opened to the public by none other than Sir Tatton Sykes himself. The little diesel was trundling up and down the track and we got a cab ride! Hurrah!
Mum got somewhat overexcited when the driver let her sound the horn, and I was torn between amusement at the fact they were collecting donations in an empty camembert cheese box, and admiring the rather attractive young man operating the brake levers. Very nice eyes...
But anyway, bought a fridge magnet, and headed back to the car. Was unsure where to go next. JP didn't care, Mum didn't care as long as there was wine, so I consulted my handy 1920s road map (always travel prepared), and directed us to Pocklington.
I've only ever been to Pocklington once before, about 12 years ago to buy a sausage roll, so had no idea what to expect. Luckily, the first car park we located was right next to the old station - and what a splendid station it was! It looks a bit like the one in Filey, crossed with Whitby Town. It closed in 1965, when the line from York to Beverley was hacked away by Dr B. but from the front it's very hard to tell. It's now used as a sports hall for Pocklington School - I peered through a window (half term, so no risk of being suspected as a pervert) and it was all set up with neat rows of desks for forthcoming exams.
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| Pocklington |
We found a pub - the Black Bull - it was very quiet, but had a decent smoking area at the back. Mum approved of the wine! I had a pint of Carling, which was fine - the same as most pints of Carling the world over...
Managed to persuade JP that what he really, really wanted to do next was take me to further old stations. Nunburnholme was next - it's now a house. It isn't very interesting (better than Scalby, obviously). There's not much I can really think to say about it. It was more an exercise in box ticking, but here you are:
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| Nunburnholme |
Mum was by now, once again wishing for wine. Nunburnholme doesn't appear to have a pub nearby, so we drove vaguely northeastward, in an attempt to head towards home (or at least a branch of Wetherspoons). We passed through Middleton-on-the-Wolds - no idea if we passed the station site there. I believe it's been demolished, and sadly, however attractive my 1920s map is, it isn't very useful for locating things. Managed to find Bainton though - now greatly extended and surrounded by a high hedge. It's barely possible to recognise it's railway origins. Oh well.
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| Bainton |
