This past weekend saw me driving a couple of hundred miles up to Yorkshire!

I had seen an event advertised online and it looked right up my street, so on a whim I booked a ticket and started looking for somewhere cheap to stay overnight.

Now, for many that may be a drive too far but I do love a good day/night out and made my list of what clothing and items I would need to take for a trip.

The event was at Pickering but I couldn’t find anything left there, but Scarborough was only 17 miles or so away and there was quite a bit of availability in the hotels, even though it was half term in some areas.

I spotted a regal old Dame of a residence; The Grand Hotel. It looked spectacular and had amazing interior photographs. Perfect for blog photographs, I thought.

There were rooms available but there was just one little issue…

The reviews were absolutely atrocious.

And there were hundreds of them.

I spent a fair while reading through them and to be honest I thought a fair few were pretty harsh and a little unrealistic; complaining about seagulls and the fact that there was bird poo on the windows when you are staying in a hotel atop a cliff on the sea front seems petty to me.

However the hotel had spent a bit of money on the place and I wanted somewhere cheap and cheerful to lay my head down for the night.

As long as the bed was clean and the room relatively quiet, it really didn’t matter to me.

I managed to get a deal with the hotel on their direct website which was a standard room with breakfast for £40. Well, setting my sights quite low, given the bargain price, I knew that it wasn’t going to be the Ritz.

The drive took over three hours but to be honest went through some of the most beautiful and picturesque countryside that England has to offer.

Getting into Scarborough I was instantly blown away by the edifice of The Grand Hotel. She really was a beautiful building, situated on the clifftop looking out over the harbour.

I parked the car up in one of the nearby spaces and went into the hotel. The interior was glorious!

Huge sweeping staircases, balconies, a massive grand piano and more event rooms that you could dream of; the Empress lounge, Palm Court, Cabaret ballroom and a cocktail lounge.

The fair that I had seen online was taking place inside the ballroom and I had a good mooch about. I got a couple of trinkets, but nothing too pricey or spectacular.

To be honest, it was the evening event that I had really travelled up there for and that was hopefully going to be something special.

So, what exactly was it?

A night-time Steam Train ride on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway line…

And it would be illuminated inside and out.

What a fabulous idea.

I headed over to Pickering which is a railway station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway where the steam train was due to depart. It was already dark and I hoped the lighted train would really illuminate the surroundings.

There was a bit of a panic when I got a little bit lost and it left me rushing to arrive at the designated time. Thankfully someone was smiling down on me and there was a parking space right outside the station entrance.

The train was waiting to leave and I hopped on. walking through the old fashioned carriages which were all lit up inside as well as outside.

Finding my seat in carriage C, I sat down on the banquette type seating and settled in for the hour long journey.

Every passenger was given a wristband which flashed different coloured lights in time to the music that was being played.

These also changed along with the outside lights and it was really effective.

The train rumbled along through the countryside turning all the trees and bushes into different colours as we passed. It looked so beautiful and quite magical, in fact.

At Levisham station the train pulled up to a stop and the engine disengaged before moving back past all the carriages and joining up at what was originally the rear, turning it into the front.

Off it went again chuffing back along the tracks to Pickering.

It felt very ‘Harry Potter’ like, especially when the tea trolley came along offering tea, coffee, fizzy pop and treats. Sadly there were no chocolate frogs or Bertie Botts every-flavour beans.

I had a can of lemonade and a kit-kat and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

It was over with far too quickly, but I can honestly say I loved every minute of it.

By the time I got back to the hotel it was around 945pm and the main area was really buzzing. There was a lot of people sitting around enjoying a beverage or two and I could hear music playing.

The hotel has a cabaret ballroom where there is nightly entertainment including bingo. I had missed the bingo, but caught the last few minutes of the music whilst I had a glass of coke.

I called it a night as it had been quite a long day, headed up to my room and within minutes was asleep.

The following morning I got up relatively early, had a bath as my knee was really niggling me and then got my makeup and hair done whilst watching Saturday nights episode of “Strictly Come Dancing” on BBC Iplayer.

Going down to breakfast which was included in my room rate, I again didn’t expect too much as the reviews had slated it. As long as I could get a cup of tea, I would be quite happy.

I have to report that the reviews were again wrong.

The breakfast area was massive with two separate sections where the hot food was available. It was a help yourself affair and offered hot and cold food.

Of course there was a good old English breakfast available; sausage, bacon, black pudding, beans, tomatoes, hash browns, mushrooms, and fried eggs.

There were several conveyor type toasters and plenty of bread and butter.

Cereals, yoghurt and various fruits were also available, but I went for the hot options.

Every single mouthful was  delicious; hot, freshly cooked and plentiful. There was a choice of juices and tea or coffee and that made me pretty happy too.

I made a new friend whilst having my breakfast in the form of a very friendly seagull who not only came to say hello, but stared at me through the open window until I finally gave in and let him have a couple of the crusts from my toast.

I checked out of the hotel after breakfast and had a slow mooch around Scarborough before getting into the car and heading up towards the ruins that are what is left of Scarborough Castle.

The day was very murky and it didn’t give much opportunity for great photographs however, the view back down across the bay and the hotel I had just checked out of was pretty spectacular.

Going back down towards the bay, I popped into a cafe which was next to the Victorian tramway that goes down the side of the cliff and back up again.

Literally a cliffside funicular.

The cafe was quite vintage in style and was called ‘The Cat’s Pyjamas’. I had a cup of Earl Grey and a home-made chocolate chip shortbread which was absolutely delicious.

Knowing the journey was going to take quite a long time, I had my refreshments before getting back into the car to start the journey back home.

Till the next adventure,

SPSG xxx