Steam Across The Pennines

The Pennine Hills in the North of England stretch from the Peak District in the North Midlands through to the Scottish border. They are an area of outstanding beauty and span a number of National Parks. They are home not just to glorious countryside but to some of the greatest and most picturesque examples of Britain's industrial heritage. These hills have long formed a natural barrier to travel and trade. The earliest traders soon established packhorse routes around and over the hills and during the eighteenth century the first road builders established turnpike roads. By the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, the c engineers overcame the physical challenges with a series of locks and tunnels to construct the first trans-Pennine cs. Not long after, the Victorian engineers faced the same challenges when constructing the first railways to connect the towns and cities of Northern England. They left an admirable legacy of highly scenic lines supported by some fantastic engineering achievements which still survive today. The railway lines that survive and cross and thread their way through, over and around the Pennine Hills still see regular steam-hauled excursion trains.The locomotives continue to work hard against the challenging gradients inevitable in this landscape.