2025 marks the start of Railway 200 which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. With this in mind it inspired me to write this blog about Goathland Train Station.
A regular stop on my North York Moors Explorer Tour is the scenic village of Goathland. The village is a popular location for tourists, situated towards the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
The village gets its name from Goda’s or Gottha’s Land, believed to have been named after a Viking Lord who had previously ruled the area. The modern day village is well known for the stone cottages and sheep wildly grazing on the verges and village green.
Goathland still gets many visitors who were fans of the ITV drama Heartbeat and played the fictional village of Aidensfield in the TV series. The show was set in the 1950’s and 60’s and followed the life of a village policeman with many of the shops and café’s still opting for a 1950’s theme. Scenes were shot in the village pub which played the Aidensfield Arms, the petrol station which played Scripps Garage and Funeral Parlour as well as the village train station.
Heartbeat ran for 17 years and over this time 373 episodes were filmed.
The North York Moors Railway
Goathland Railway Station is now part of the heritage North York Moors Railway, the station being opened in 1865 by the Great North Eastern Railway. This station was an addition to the Whitby to Pickering line built in the 1930’s by George Stephenson and was built to avoid a cable incline at Beck Hole.
In 1965 the line was closed down as part of the Dr Beeching cuts, it was deemed uneconomically viable to keep open, something which now is seen as being very short sighted.
The line remained closed until 1973, when it re-opened as part of the North York Moors Railway. It’s now recognised as the 5th oldest passenger line in England.
The reason it was originally built was that Whitby was one of England’s premier ports but the only decent way of getting in and out of Whitby was by the sea. The railway was built to take goods such as ironstone, coal and timber from Whitby inland to the flat Vale of York.
Goathland station was actually built very close to a nearby quarry and a stone crushing machine existed at the station to allow the transport of aggregates for road building.
A Heritage Line
North York Moors Railway runs over the summer months only and is a living museum having been brought to life exactly as it was in the 1800’s.
It is run by 300 volunteers, who maintain the engines and tracks, provide refreshments, man the ticket office and drive the trains.
I often have guests who would board the steam trains during the summer and travel to Whitby where I could meet them from the train. It’s quite an experience and all the volunteers are really helpful and friendly
Harry Potter Links
The location scouts for the Harry Potter films wanted to find a traditional English train station to take the place of Hogsmeade Station, where budding wizards ended up after catching the train north from platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross.
The children catch the Hogwarts Express, a steam engine – so with Goathland still running steam locomotives during the summer it made this station on the North York Moors a perfect location to play Hogsmeade Station.
Copywright Warner Bros - thanks for permission to use the image in the blog.
The station first featured in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Hagrid played by Robbie Coltrane meets the children on the platform before they take boats across the Black Lake to the castle.
In the film Hogwarts Castle sits in view above the station on top of the hill, expertly created by CGI. When you visit, sadly you just have to use your imagination!
I have made many visits to the station over the years including taking the founder of China’s version of Trip Advisor who was a huge Harry Potter fan and didn't want to leave.
The Rail Trail
If you are looking for more than a quick visit – Goathland is the start of the Rail Trail, where you can walk between Goathland Station and Grosmont – approx. 5 miles and then catch the train back from Grosmont to Goathland rather than walk back.
You can find more about the walk here:
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