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Descending the incline from the Beck Hole Road. Built by George Stephenson as a horse drawn tramway in 1836, the Whitby and Pickering Railway was one of the first in Yorkshire. Stephenson solved the problem of ascending from the valley of the Murk Esk at Beck Hole to the high moors at Goathland by means of a 1,500-yard long, rope-worked incline at an average gradient of 1 in 15. Hemp rope was wound around a wooden drum and water tanks used as a counterbalance, thus enabling the carriages to be hauled up the inclined plane.
In 1845 the tramway was bought by George Hudson and improved to carry steam locomotives. Hudson’s line bypassed the Beck Hole incline. The railway was in regular use for a further 20 years.
The trackbed is now a Rail Trail between Goathland and Grosmont – a walk of around 3 and a half miles.