Why a Booktrail?
1900s: A stranger on the train helps three children he waves to each day
The Railway Children (Wordsworth)
What you need to know before your trail
When Father goes away with two strangers one evening, the lives of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis are shattered. They and their mother have to move from their comfortable London home to go and live in a simple country cottage, where Mother writes books to make ends meet.
However, they soon come to love the railway that runs near their cottage, and they make a habit of waving to the Old Gentleman who rides on it. Little do they know that they will come to rely on the train and that gentleman when tragedy strikes.
Travel Guide
Visit Yorkshire with The Railway Children
For fans of the story, this lovely book is easy to experience and visit in real life
It’s set in Yorkshire and despite it taking place around the time of the war, there is still many traces of the past.
Haworth
Normally associated with Jane Eyre and the Bronte Sisters, this town was also used in the filming of the story.
The Bronte Parsonage in Haworth was used as the location for Doctor Forrest’s surgery
Wycoller near Colne
The scenes of the children sitting on a bridge were filmed here
Mytholmes Tunnel near Haworth
Take a train ride here or just stand on a bridge and wave to the people on it just like in the story. This train line is the main setting for much of the story ant it’s also where the paper chase scene in the book takes place. Remember when they take off their petticoats to warn the train driver against a landslide? This was filmed around here too.The landslide sequence itself was filmed in a cutting on the Oakworth side of Mytholmes Tunnel and the fields of long grass where the children waved to the trains are situated on the Haworth side of the tunnel
Keighley and Worth Valley Railway
Do not miss this! Go to the station at Oakworth, as this was the backdrop for the film. The tunnel used in the film is a lot shorter in reality as they built an extension just for the important scenes.
Three Chimneys
The house called “Three Chimneys” is in Oxenhope, just north of the Oxenhope railway station.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Railway Children
Destination: Yorkshire Author/guide: Edith Nesbit Departure Time: 19o0s, 1970s
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