What a great day this turned out to be! 50 members and friends set off for Grosmont to see the Flying Scotsman. Barbara felt so lucky to get the assistance of the landlord of the local public house – the Station Tavern. He controlled the traffic in the village so that we could all be dropped off outside, and arranged for the coach to be parked alongside.
We were greeted with tea, coffee and a lovely array of cakes.
We had to literally walk outside the front door – there were plenty of viewing places, and the engine passed us 6 times.
The lone piper played on the platform, and the atmosphere was amazing, although the lovely sunshine helped as well. One of the highlights of the day, was when the same landlord, Mark, found out that one of our members, Gerry Ashton, used to drive the Flying Scotsman, he assisted in arranging to get Gerry onto the plate. Although Gerry’s mobility is restricted – he managed to get up there – with tears in his eyes.
Our very special thanks go to Mark and his wife Shelley at the Station Tavern for all their help, and of course to Terry, our driver. The roads approaching the village of Grosmont were never made for coaches.
Afterwards we headed to Whitby, were we had a late fish and chip lunch at Trenchers. This again was lovely, and the staff treated us very well. There was time for a walk along the harbour before our journey home.
