Goathland

North Yorkshire

Goathland stationGoathland memorialThe garage featured as Scripps in the Aidensfield of TV's HeartbeatGoathland is a village in North Yorkshire and was in its former Scarborough district.

The picturesque village is in the North York Moors National Park, 7 miles south-west of Whitby, 11 miles north-north-east of Pickering and 15 miles north-west of Scarborough.

Television and film stardom and a station on Yorkshire's longest steam railway journey has generated much tourism for the otherwise tranquil village on the edge of the moors.

Goathland featured very prominently as the North Riding village of Aidensfield in the ITV police series "Heartbeat", a police drama set in the 1960s which in its heyday attracted TV audiences of more than 14 million in a run of 18 years between 1992 and 2010.

The village gained further fame when its station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway was used as Hogsmeade station in the first Harry Potter film, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

The village's long-standing TV and film locations fame is still reflected today in the village's gift shops and 1960s relics to be found around Goathland, such as the old police vehicles used in Heartbeat.

Village features

Goathland is in the North York Moors National Park.

Goathland has a pub - The Goathland Hotel.

Inn dining can be found in Goathland.

A choice of cafes can be found in Goathland.

Places to stay in Goathland include hotel, guest house, inn, caravan, camping accommodation.

Goathland has a village store and local traders. Goathland offers gifts and other goods.

The village has a Post Office.

Goathland has a village hall.

Goathland has a school.

There are public toilets in the village.
Locations of toilets and opening times can be found at this North Yorkshire Council - Public toilets web page.

Place of worship: Anglican - St Mary.

Travel

Bus travel

The village has bus services to neighbouring towns and villages, the Yorkshire coast, York and Leeds.

Road travel

Goathland is reached on minor roads from the A169 .

Goathland

Goathland has a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, the longest of Yorkshire's heritage railways. See 'Places to visit' below.

Places to visit

Heritage coast

A stretch of 36 miles of coastline makes up the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast. This is Yorkshire's Jurassic Coast, where ammonites can easily be found and occasionally bones from marine reptiles and dinosaurs have been discovered. For more see our Heritage Coast page.

North York Moors National Park

The Moors National Park Centre, DanbyStretching inland from the coast between Whitby and Scarborough is the beautiful scenery of the North York Moors National Park, which covers 554 square miles (1,435 square kilometres). Within its area are moorland and coast, historic stateley homes, remains of castles and abbeys and attractive villages including Goathland, famous as the location for TV's Heartbeat, and Grosmont, location of the locomotive sheds of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. The Moors National Park Centre can be found near the village of Danby in the Esk Valley.

More information and links on our North York Moors page.

Goathland

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

GrosmontPickering to Goathland, Grosmont and Whitby
A heritage railway running for 18 miles through the beautiful scenery of the North York Moors National Park. The line runs from Pickering, through Goathland, one of Yorkshire's famous TV and film locations to Grosmont with some journeys extended over the Network Rail Esk Valley line to the picturesque seaside harbour town of Whitby. The 10,000-member charitable Trust behind the railway celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017 and the line is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the restoration of passenger services in 2023. With more than 350,000 passengers a year the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is possibly the most popular heritage railway in the world.

For details see the

North Yorkshire Moors Railway website.

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey illuminated at nightThe hilltop of the East Cliff at Whitby was first settled with a monastery in 657. It is of religious significance as the location of the Synod of Whitby of 664 where Christians in the then Kingdom of Northumbria adopted Roman rather than Ionian traditions as the norm when both had prevously been practised. The abbey church ruins exisiting today date from the 13th century. They are a significant landmark high above Whitby, which can be reached from the town via the flight of 199 steps. For the less energetic there is a bus service and a car park nearby. Though a substantial part of the abbey remains, it has over the years suffered the damage of storms and an attack on Whitby by the German navy in 1914. Fascinating finds are exhibited in the Abbey House, an extension of what was probably the abbot's house after the supression of the monastery. The abbey hosts events for wildlife spotters and for fans of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Whitby Abbey is managed by English Heritage.

More information at the

English Heritage - Whitby abbey website.

Find Whitby Abbey on map

Emergency services

North Yorkshire Police

North Yorkshire Police website.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service website.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust website.

HM Coastguard

Coastguard - Coastal safety webpage.

Local government

Civil parish council

Goathland Parish Council
Provides some local services in the area.
Link to council website:

Goathland Parish Council

Unitary authority

North Yorkshire Council

The North Yorkshire Council is a new unitary authority formed from the previous County Council from April 1, 2023. It covers the existing county duties including highways, schools, libraries and transport planning over an area of 3,109 square miles while also taking over the responsibilities of the seven huge district authorities also created in 1974 — Craven, Hambleton, Harrogate, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough and Selby — these including local planning, waste collection, street cleaning, parks and car parks, housing and markets serving a population of around 615,500*.

Councillors were elected to the County Council in 2022 and continue as councillors of the new North Yorkshire Council unitary authority. There have been a few by-elections to fill councillor vacancies since then.

Places in North Yorkshire

Link to council website: North Yorkshire Council

^ Area figure from ONS Standard Area Measurements 2022 (converted from hectares).
* Population figure from Census 2021 (combined total of former districts).
Contains public sector information licensed under the

Open Government Licence v3.0.

Political composition:

453CI 1311 NY Ind92 LC421

90 members

CI = Conservative & Independent NY Ind = North Yorkshire Independents group LC = Labour & Cooperative
Composition and groupings - source North Yorkshire Council (February 2024)

Strategic authority

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created in December 2023 combining the unitary authority of York and the unitary authority of North Yorkshire — that created in April 2023 after the abolition of the county authority and its seven district authorities. The combined authority will run some functions under the new mayor elected in May 2024 as part of the government's so-called "Devolution deal" which ties the availablity of funding to the new governance arrangements. As well as having powers over housing development, transport and boosting skills and education across the 3,214 square miles of York and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor also takes on the role and functions of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner across the area.

Elected mayor: ❚ David Skaith Labour & Cooperative

York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire
Covers the county of North Yorkshire and City of York. This role is being transferred to the new elected mayor of York and North Yorkshire in 2024.

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner North Yorkshire website.

Parliamentary constituency

Scarborough and Whitby
Elected MP: ❚ Alison Hume Labour

National government region

Yorkshire and the Humber

Ceremonial county

North Yorkshire

Historic

Scarborough district was one of seven large authorities abolished in 2023 as they were merged into a new North Yorkshire unitary authorityBefore 1974: Within the North Riding of Yorkshire.
1974 - 2023: In Scarborough district of new County of North Yorkshire.
2023: Scarborough district and the County of North Yorkshire were abolished as a new unitary authority of North Yorkshire was formed covering the county area and the seven large district authorities within it, including Scarborough district.

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