North York Moors

The Story Behind the Images - North York Moors

The North York Moors (NOT, as it is often erroneously called, the North Yorkshire Moors!) stretches from the outskirts of the Victorian seaside resort of Scarborough in the south-east to the historic market town of Helmsley in the south-west and from the iconic peak of Roseberry Topping in the north-west almost to the pretty coastal village of Staithes in the north-east.

Within that large area is a wonderfully scenic landscape known for its heather moorland. The heather is at its colourful best in late summer, particularly in August, when the blooming heather paints the moors a rich purple swathe of colour.

There are so many opportunities for photography within the National Park that it is hard to know where to start. One popular feature with photographers is the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (note the confusing difference in the name!) a heritage steam railway that runs between Grosmont and Pickering, travelling through a glorious landscape of forest and moor.

Visitors flock to the stations at Grosmont and Pickering to see the steam locomotives pulling in and out of the stations, but my favourite place to photograph the trains is at Goathland, where you can climb the heather-clad hillside above the station and look down on the trains below.

Goathland is known as the setting for the popular TV series Heartbeat and several of the buildings are maintained as they appeared in the series.

In the heart of the National Park is the hamlet of Beck Hole, where a trail leads beside a tumbling beck to Thomason Foss waterfall.

Outside Helmsley is Rievaulx Abbey, a medieval Cistercian monastery overlooked by a Georgian terrace with neoclassical follies. In Helmsley itself stands Helmsley Castle, and just beside the castle is Helmsley Walled Garden.

Favourite Places to Photograph in the North York Moors

  • Danby Beacon
  • Goathland - the heart of Heartbeat Country
  • Rievaulx Abbey
  • Grosmont village and railway
  • Pickering town and castle

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