The Esk Valley Line

Middlesbrough
If you like shopping you'll love what Middlesbrough has in store, with famous name fashion and leading retailers in the Mall, Captain Cook Square and the Hillstreet and Dundas Centres. Middlesbrough also boasts a fine collection of art and cultural venues, including Middlesbrough Art Gallery and the new Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA). The Dorman Museum has local finds and artefacts from around the globe and for a masterpiece of a different kind see Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge - the world's largest working bridge of its kind.

Marton
Captain Cook was born here and his Birthplace Museum is located in Stewart Park. The voyages and explorations are vividly charted by special effects and displays, including a reconstructed deck of the Endeavour. Nearby is a large conservatory where plants like those brought back by Cook's botanist are still grown. Stewart Park also has a lake and children's zoo. Ormesby Hall, next to Marton station, is an exquisite 18th century National Trust-owned mansion. It has a permanent model railway exhibition and its Georgian stables are home to the horses of the Cleveland Mounted Police.

Great Ayton
Cook's old schoolhouse now contains a museum while in the churchyard you can see the tombstone marking the grave of his mother and five siblings. Overlooking the village is the 1,000ft (320m) Roseberry Topping, a climb that the more athletic might enjoy. Or you may prefer the less energetic attraction of a gentle stroll along the riverside or to the village pubs.

Castleton Moor
You can walk from here to Danby and enjoy the panoramic views from nearby Castleton Rigg.

Danby
This 'Village of the Danes' is the heart of the North York Moors National Park. Half a mile from the station you will find the Moors Centre which will help you plan a day of circular walks or strolls, or you can simply enjoy the exhibitions, displays, shop, tea room, adventure playground, wildflower garden and bird feeding station. Be sure to see the nearby medieval bridge, church, ruined castle and 350-year-old Danby Mill with its water wheel.

Lealholm
Some of the loveliest scenery along the line can be found here. You can cross the River Esk by stepping-stones or a 200-year-old stone bridge, and see a Wesleyan Chapel with stonework carved by John Castillo, one of Wesley’ss earliest followers.

Glaisdale
The village is known for its picturesque, high-arched Beggar’ss Bridge, a packhorse bridge dating back to 1619.

Egton
Home of the Gooseberry Show - an annual event since 1800 and one of the oldest agricultural shows - and birthplace of Father Nicholas Postgate, a Catholic martyr executed at York.

Grosmont
For dyed-in-the-wool train lovers or simply for anyone who loves the grandeur and romance of steam, this is an unmissable stop - one end of the 18-mile trip through Newton Dale on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. At Grosmont itself, you can wander amongst finished and partly restored locomotives before taking a seat to be transported by steam along a wonderfully scenic line. You can stop off at Goathland, better known as "Aidensfield" from TV’s "Heartbeat", the centre for many pleasant walks. Be sure to see the stunning 70ft Mallyan Spout waterfall. Back on the train you can go all the way to the end of the line - Pickering, a fine old market town with its wellpreserved Norman castle, trout farms and the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life.

Sleights
Flint Jack, the 19th century maker of "antique" stone tools and flint arrowheads that fooled the experts, was born here. Sleights straddles the Esk where salmon leap in season.

Ruswarp
Ruswarp means"silted land with brushwood" and the weir near the converted mill marks the point where the river Esk becomes tidal. You can enjoy boating on the river, miniature golf on a steep, undulating course and rides on a steam-hauled miniature railway.

Whitby
Tall ships regularly moor in Whitby and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum occupies the harbourside house where James Cook came to serve his apprenticeship in 1746. There's more Cook history in the Whitby Museum, which also features Arctic explorer William Scoresby Junior and the town’s whaling past. You’ll get a miniature slice of past life in the 1/12 scale rooms found with other fascinating exhibits in the Museum of Victorian Whitby. For a bird’s eye view, climb the 199 steps to the ruined Abbey and St. Mary’s Church from where you can gaze over the fishing harbour and across the quays and wide beaches. The Abbey's visitor centre has artefacts excavated at Whitby, as well the technology to let you meet some former residents, including Dracula’s author, Bram Stoker. If you’d like to follow in the Count’s footsteps there’s a Dracula Trail and the Dracula Experience. Whitby has shops with a difference at every turn along with pubs, cafés, restaurants and, of course, fantastic seafood and fish and chips.