FRIDAY. Bus passes again today. Scanning the weather forecasts last evening, Pickering seemed to be a good bet; being forecast slightly less rain than the alternatives. We went by train to Leeds to enable an earlier start from the bus station. Arriving at Malton, We had 30 minutes to spare before the Pickering bus arrived, so we had a look around. A nice homely feeling about the market place and plenty of interesting ‘ginnels’ (alleys) leading off between the town centre buildings. We bought an irresistible pork pie from a family butcher in the square. We returned to the bus station for our bus. It was 20 minutes late owing to York races.
We arrived in Pickering with less than five minutes to spare before the 1300 train on the North York Moors Railway. We didn’t make it. The end result was that only one return trip would be possible with a long wait at the other end; we thought that the price was a bit high for one trip. I settled for taking lots of photographs of BR No.63395, an LNER Q6 0-8-0 introduced 1913 to a design by Sir Vincent Raven.
A mooch around Pickering then followed with a purchase of a reduced sale price Paramo jacket for Iain, and a packet of four chocolate caramel slices for us both.
The church spire was visible above the buildings of the main street and required us to climb some stone steps leading to the churchyard. The wide porch led to a wide door and on entering the nave, we were stopped abruptly by the incredible medieval wall paintings. They extended the full length of the nave on both sides and were the most beautiful, complete paintings that we had ever seen. The guide book informed us that they were probably commissioned in 1450 and completed in the following decade; that they also form one of the most complete set of their kind in Britain. The church also had a Saxon font, a triple cedilla, a well proportioned Hepplewhite pulpit and a modest but well crafted screen.
Back on the bus, our arrival in Leeds was 25 minutes late owing to the races and the collection by our bus of some passengers from one which broken down.
Weather overcast and showers, a few bright intervals
The 2008 journey thus far: 201 Locks & 320.5 Miles & 19 Swing\Lift Bridges
Journeys using bus pass: 13
