This building and collection of old railway carriages was once a top class restaurant called “The Sidings”. It’s now an Italian restaurant. It’s name has been changed, the old semaphore signal at the entrance is rusting and the carriages look neglected.

You can stand and watch the high speed trains shoot past on a wooden platform at the back of this building. The experience is sensational. Travelling at anything up to 125mph they don’t stop to let customers off – it’s just a viewing point.

I did a series of stretches here. I could feel my muscles tightening and some numbness in my fingers and toes. The result of a few hours in the saddle and leaning on the handlebars. 

I travelled through Alne (pronounced Orne) and Tollerton to get here on the edge of Shipton by Beninborough. The main A19 passes nearby but it’ll be some miles before I join it. I turn off in a few yards to Overton and then to Skelton for the three miles home alongside the main road on a series of variable cycle tracks..

One thing I notice entering any town or city. The road surface deteriorates. So I judder my way into Eboracum or Jorvik, now known as York. Time for a shower and tea. 

One day and 38 miles closer to my sponsored ride in the Yorkshire Dales next month in aid of Palestinian Students attending the Riding Lights Summer School.

To sponsor my Yorkshire Dales ride click here