The Settle Carisle Railway

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This morning we had a train to catch at 9.12am from Keighley Station to Carlisle so, with military precision, we were all organised and ready to leave the house by a quarter past eight. It is only a few miles from Haworth to, but we didn't know how heavy peak hour traffic between the two might be and we didn't want to miss out on a car park at the station. So, we were parked and purchasing our tickets from the ticket office before 8.30am!! And then the train didn't arrive until 9.30am due to signalling faults!! Still, way better to be killing time at the station reading trashy English newspapers, than stressing out in traffic worrying about missing the train.

The point of our journey today was to ride the historic Settle Carlisle Railway and explore Carlisle. Having caught the train at Keighley we had to travel through seven stations before commencing the Settle to Carlisle run. This section is significant because of the difficult terrain that had to be conquered by the railway builders. The railway traverses boggy areas that kept swallowing the foundations for the railway before they decided to tackle the problem by building six viaducts over the boggy sections - the most impressive is the 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct. Being on the train we only caught a glimpse of the viaduct, but had a really good view over all of the cars and coaches stopped in the gully to ooh and ah over the impressive feat of engineering!!

In addition to dealing with the boggy areas, the railway then climbs from 510 feet above sea level to 1,169 feet as it ascends into the three peaks district. Then there are the tunnels, where they decided to go through the mountains to complete the line! The Blea Moor Tunnel is the longest at 2,629 yards.

All in all a very interesting and wonderfully picturesque journey. It is definitely something to consider repeating as a 'hop-on, hop-off' experience. With careful planning it would be possible to decide which stations to stop at along the way to explore the small villages and countryside adjacent to the railway line. At the very least it would be worth stopping at Horton-in-Ribblesdale to hike down into the gully to admire the majestic Ribblehead Viaduct.

We pulled into Carlisle just before midday and strolled up to the cathedral which was founded in 1122. The cathedral boasts stained glass dating back as far as the 14th century and prayers have been said daily at the cathedral for nearly 900 years! The blue ceiling adorned with gold stars is beautiful.

We ate lunch at the cafe in the grounds of the cathedral before continuing on to Carlisle Castle. The castle was founded in 1092 by William the Conqueror's son and stands testament to the years of feuding over the English-Scottish border. Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Carlisle Castle before her execution and many other prisoners were incarcerated in its extensive dungeons and labyrinths. They are gloomy enough to visit on a fine summer's day without being chained up down there awaiting a trial, or worse, a beheading!!

From the castle we went back through the underpass to Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery. Old Tullie House is a Grade I listed building that dates back to the 17th century. We were especially interested in the new 'Roman Frontier Gallery: Stories beyond Hadrian's Wall' which only opened last month. Bernie was happily photographing the Roman helmet that is the showpiece of the exhibition ... until he was told that photography is not allowed. We are usually quite careful about observing the signs that indicate whether or not photography is allowed, but completely missed it. Oops!

Having seen the sites that we had come to see in Carlisle we started heading back to the station aiming to catch the 4.18pm train. On our way back to the station we saw Vicki Liquorice's love child while Bernie was at the auto teller - hot pink track suit, lime green and black striped neck tie and socks and lime green lace gloves encasing a not-so-svelte body??!!

Closer to the station we passed the Citadel, an impressive pair of oval towers that used to guard the southern entrance to the city. These bastions were built by Henry VIII to reinforce national defences as a precaution against reprisals from Europe over the dissolution of the monasteries.


Our return train departed on time and had us back in Keighley close to 6.00pm. Brendan was keen to sample Yorkshire pudding while in Yorkshire, so we headed for the pub that does the giant Yorkshire puddings as soon as we were back in Haworth. Janet and Jill have found that the pubs don't serve food very late here so we were anxious to get our orders in before the kitchen closed. We made it ... four of us ordered the giant Yorkshire pudding with roast beef and Bernie opted for the baked ham. The meals when they arrived consisted of plate-sized Yorkshire puddings filled with roast meat, vegetables and gravy. What a pig out!!

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