Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey

YORKSHIRE'S MAGNIFICENT JOURNEY
We've delivered our £10 million future vision

Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey was our £10 million project to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy our 180 year old railway for decades to come. Over the past 5 years we’ve delivered 7 big initiative. - all focused on keeping us moving for the next 50 years The project concludes in July 2024 and you can find out more below about each of the unique projects and what we’ve achieved. First we'd like to say a huge thank you to the many organisations and individuals who helped bring the vision to reality, including all of you who gave donations and our key funder, the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Bridge Renewals

We’ve replaced three crucial bridges along our railway to ensure that we can keep the trains running well into the future. The new bridges have replaced ones that were over 150 years old and starting to show their age. Find Out More

Fuss Free Access

We’ve launched Fuss Free Access improvements to make our railway as accessible as possible for all to enjoy and feel included. This includes new specially adapted accessible carriages, enhanced signage and accessible maps. Find Out More

Carriage Stable

We have built a new £4 million carriage stable at Pickering to provide better care for our historic carriages. The new facility provides covered storage for up to 40 carriages and is making our work to care for and maintain the collection much easier. Find Out More

Goathland Learning & Interpretation

We have launched a fresh new programme of activities to engage young people with the railway. We have transformed the former pigeon van at Goathland into a new learning coach and have launched a new app. Find Out More

Volunteer Development

We have invested in volunteering including creating new volunteer opportunities across our departments and providing training and support to help volunteer development. We have also created the Outstation at Stape - a residential centre providing high quality volunteer accommodation. Find Out More

Apprentices

We launched a new apprenticeship scheme to help young people gain the skills they need for a future in heritage railways. Apprentices work alongside our staff in engineering and lineside conservation. Find Out More

Lineside Conservation

Our lineside conservation project is helping to care for the land either side of our railway tracks. Our conservation work includes habitat surveys, practical conservation tasks and the creation of educational resources to help our visitors understand more about wildlife and conservation. Find Out More

North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) has issued a plea for more volunteers to help with its ongoing lineside conservation projects, part of its £10 million Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey (YMJ) Appeal to transform the railway and secure its future.

Following a full habitat survey along the 18 miles of track, NYMR Lineside Conservation Officer Kerry Fieldhouse and her team are now busy developing a full habitat management plan, which will not only focus on preserving and encouraging the flora and fauna, but look at the restoration and preservation of the many lineside huts which can be seen along the railway.

Kerry Fieldhouse said: “We have a fantastic group but we’re looking for more volunteers who are practical and can help with the hands-on repairs of the boundaries and buildings where, in days gone by, workers would have camped out for days on end. It’d be really nice to restore them in situ and make some of them part of the habitat, creating nesting opportunities.

“We also need more people to help with the habitat management; it’s a privilege for someone who loves nature - a lot of our volunteers feel very connected with the landscape around them, and it’s great to really feel part of what you’re doing. At a time when many of us have felt a little disconnected, it’s nice to get back out there.”

The YMJ Appeal is funded by grants from the European Union, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Department of Environment Farming and Rural Affairs, the Local Enterprise Partnership and by donations from the charity’s members and supporters.

The Yorkshire’s Magnificent Journey funding has also enabled the NYMR to completely redevelop the old school at Stape with a new role as ‘The Outstation’, the railway’s new Volunteer Development Hub and outreach centre. It provides a 20-berth, fully-equipped facility enabling the NYMR to offer unparalleled levels of engagement and experiences to new and non-traditional audiences. It’s intended to give a more diverse range of people and wider communities the opportunity to experience the pleasure and benefits of volunteering on a heritage railway.

To start your volunteering journey at the NYMR, visit www.nymr.co.uk/volunteer

Find out more about the project visit www.nymr.co.uk/YMJ