As a small child Gill had a real passion for horses and and due to this she took a career in stable management. Gill's role involved preparing for race days and travelling all over the country with the racing teams. After a number of years working in the horse racing industry, she moved into the pub and catering trade, working for breweries and hotel groups in and around Yorkshire.

Following an opportunity to move back to the Scarborough area, she set up a business called Gill's Jams and Pickles, but when the foot and mouth outbreak took place in 2001, Gill had to supplement her income, which lead her to take on the role of serving drinks and snacks on the service trains. 

Whilst working at the railway Gill met Tricia Penrose and Jason Durr whilst they were filming Heartbeat at Goathland. After a short time she was asked to be an extra in the programme and ended up as a regular from the first series to the last.

After a few years of being head trolley steward, an opportunity came to manage the prestigious Pullman Dining train which she has been carrying out for the past seven years, loving her job and the team she works with.

Gill is married to Paul, who also works at the railway as Head of Commercial. They got married at Gretna Green in Scotland in 2006. Samantha, who also works as the Head Chef, is their loving daughter and she and her partner Ash have now made Gill and Paul proud grandparents to a little boy called Rupert who was born on January 26^th 2018 (Image above: Gill far right and Samantha second right). 

Outside of her working life Gill enjoys travelling, covering most of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. She also has two rescue cats called, Phoebe and Megan, a Cocker Spaniel called Bob and is about to take on two Labrador pups called Sam and Ash.

Earlier this year, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded NYMR £4.6M as part of the £9.2M Sustainability Project, NYMR's Yorkshire's Magnificent Journey Appeal. To help preserve the heritage line for future generations, the NYMR urgently needs to raise approx. £2.5M from members, passengers and the public over the next five years. We need your help! Please donate nymr.co.uk/YMJ