Pickering (England)

Pickering is a market and agricultural town in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, with the North York Moors rising behind. The town slumped from 1965 when it lost its railway, but this helped preserve its historic centre. It revived from 1973 when the line was restored as a heritage steam railway and tourism developed, and in 2011 it had a population of 6830.

The town is probably named for an Anglo-Saxon called Picer, so his family and dependents would be called Pickerings. The Domesday Book of 1086 counted 30 villagers organised into 9 plough-teams, and the whole lot was worth £1 and tuppence.

By train
The nearest mainline railway station is Malton. This has hourly trains from Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester Victoria, Leeds and York to Malton and Scarborough. From London and the south, change at York. At Malton change for Coastliner Bus 840; the bus and railway stations are adjacent.

Pickering is the south terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. It's a heritage standard-gauge line running from Whitby, often steam-hauled, and seasonal, see below. In summer there are four trains a day so it's a realistic transport option.

is on Park Street north side of town centre.

By bus
Coastliner 840 bus operates between Leeds (2 hr 22 min), Tadcaster (1 hr 54 min), York (1 hr 9 min), Malton (25 min) and Pickering, then continues on to Thornton le Dale (6 min). This service runs approximately every hour until early evening on Mondays to Saturdays. There are five Sunday buses most of these only run to/from Malton where a connection to York and Leeds is provided. Four buses per day (2 Sunday) continue past Thornton le Dale across the North York Moors to Goathland (38 min) and Whitby (1 hr 6 min). It is a modern fleet of buses with comfortable seats. The top deck offers great views, particularly on the trip over the moors, and has been nationally-recognised as Britain's most scenic bus route.

The main stop is Eastgate.

East Yorkshire Bus 128 runs from Scarborough via Seamer, Brompton and Thornton-le-Dale to Pickering (one hour), Kirkbymoorside and Helmsley (40 minutes). There are eight services a day, running every two hours Monday to Saturday. A Sunday service runs between Pickering and Scarborough with four buses in each direction. During Summer this improves to six buses which run through from Scarborough to Helmsley.

In Apr-Sep on Friday and Saturday, the Moors Bus runs twice from Malton to Pickering, Kirkbymoorside and Danby. The morning and evening buses are from and to York. On Sunday Apr-Sep they also run once from Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough and twice from Guisborough via Danby and Kirbymoorside to Pickering.

By road
From the south take A64 east past York to Malton then A169 north; this road winds on across the moors from Pickering to Whitby.

A170 crosses the moors from Thirsk: caravans and heavy vehicles must not attempt Sutton Bank, where the road climbs the western scarp of the moors. A170 continues east via Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside to Pickering, and on through Brompton to Scarborough.

There are car parks on Eastgate (near the roundabout), The Ropery and Vivis Lane. Whilst The Ropery is short stay, Vivis Lane and Eastgate are long stay. All three car parks are operated by Ryedale District Council.

All approach roads and car parks get very congested on summer weekends.

Get around
Walk - everything in town is close by. But you'll need wheels to get out into the moors.

See

 * The attractive old town is centred on Market Place.
 * St Peter and St Paul's Church on Hall Garth is an Anglican church with remarkable wall paintings from circa 1450. They were plastered over in the Reformation and forgotten until 1852 when the plaster crumbled: the affronted vicar had them whitewashed over. His successor 25 years later had them restored.
 * St Joseph's RC Church on Potter Hill dates from 1911.
 * The town park is just north of the castle.
 * See North York Moors for Dalby Forest.
 * See Helmsley for Nunnington Hall and Rievaulx Abbey.
 * See Malton for Castle Howard.
 * See North York Moors for Dalby Forest.
 * See Helmsley for Nunnington Hall and Rievaulx Abbey.
 * See Malton for Castle Howard.
 * See Malton for Castle Howard.

Do

 * Trips on the steam railway across the moors to Whitby - see above. Day trips are feasible.
 * Kirk Theatre is unlikely to reopen before 2021.
 * — see Malton for this theme park and zoo.
 * See Helmsley for Ryedale Show, held in Kirkbymoorside in July.
 * Ryedale Festival is a music festival held in late July. The next event is 12th-28th July 2024 with some events being held in Pickering.
 * See Helmsley for Ryedale Show, held in Kirkbymoorside in July.
 * Ryedale Festival is a music festival held in late July. The next event is 12th-28th July 2024 with some events being held in Pickering.

Buy

 * Market day is Monday, with Market Place closed to traffic. The Country Market is held Th 9:30-11:30AM in WRVS Hall on Hungate.
 * The Hidden Market indoors off Market Place is mostly homeware and clothing. Coop Food is next door.
 * Lidl in town centre is the main superstore. It's open M-Sa 8AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM.

Eat

 * White Swan gets the best ratings in town for food, see Sleep.
 * White Swan gets the best ratings in town for food, see Sleep.
 * White Swan gets the best ratings in town for food, see Sleep.
 * White Swan gets the best ratings in town for food, see Sleep.

Drink
Black Swan on Birdgate has its own micro-brewery and serves a fine range of its own beers and larger. See Sleep.

Connect
Pickering has a good mobile and 4G signal from all UK carriers. As of Jan 2021, 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * Whitby has an attractive harbour and ruined abbey. It's where Dracula reached England, perhaps planning to attend the town's Gothic Festival.
 * Scarborough is a Victorian seaside resort. Cliffs stretch north through picturesque Robin Hood's Bay to Whitby; south is Filey, Bridlington and Flamborough Head.
 * York retains its medieval walls and has a great collection of sights and attractions.