DAY 14 - Is Goldthorpe Gold?

(ROCK MUSIC)

GLOVESTRAINS: Is Goldthorpe...gold?

(ROCK MUSIC)

Hey, everyone! GLovesTrains 'ere.

And welcome to "Exploring Yorkshire
and the Humber by Train"

day 14.

I feel like I've been
starting my vlogs

lately a lot from Leeds, but...

(WIND NOISE)
I was gonna start from Sheffield.

And then after
I planned out the day,

I just thought out of curiosity

"Let's see if
it would work better

"starting from Leeds."

And it turned out
it did work better, so

here I am again!

I'm off to

Sandal & Agbrigg, Fitzwilliam,

Bolton-upon-Dearne,

Thurnscoe,

Goldthorpe, Moorthorpe and

Pontefract Baghill.

It was nice to get back to

a 4 a.m. wake-up alarm
this morning.

Although I have just been
falling asleep on the train, so...

I'm still tryna
wake up a little bit!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Just got off 331103.

I'm at Sandal & Agbrigg.

(WIND NOISE)
The first time I came to this station,

I went for a walk to Sandal Castle.

And I think I'm gonna go
and do that again.

I probably have time,
although in saying that,

I actually don't remember
how far the castle is away from here.

I don't think it's too long!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Oh, my eyes are watering
a little bit!

Sandal & Agbrigg is
a Northern-only station

and it's got two platforms.

And there may be a reason

I'm wearing this T-shirt today!

(ROCK MUSIC)

There are red benches
along the platforms here.

As well as red shelters

and those signs that depict
the wheelchair

designated waiting spaces.

(ROCK MUSIC)

I'ma see if I can find my way
to Sandal Castle

without using Maps.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Okay, it was a bit uphill walking here

and I'm quite sweaty now!

The castle is just behind there.

(WIND NOISE)
But I don't dare even go up to it.

Because time is going really quickly

and the train is on its way.

So I'm just gonna
get back to the station!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Oh, I didn't think I'd be
running like that today!

And it did just hit me

that I could have had
an hour wait here

at Sandal & Agbrigg,

instead of the hour's wait
at Fitzwilliam.

But...that idea
didn't occur to me last night!

(ROCK MUSIC)

(TRAIN ENGINE NOISE)
I'm on 150004.

I did not know that this is where

the 150/0s ended up.

And...it is the game of

"Guess which carriage
the toilet's in?"

(ANNOUNCEMENT BEGINS)
I guessed incorrectly this time,

but I do need a wee!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Yeah, I'm used to seeing them
on the Clitheroe line them.

I did wonder where they went to!

I'm now at Fitzwilliam.

There's quite a gap between
these two platforms, isn't there?

But there are two platforms

and it is served by Northern Trains.

(ROCK MUSIC)

(ROCK MUSIC)
(TRAIN ENGINE NOISE)

(WIND NOISE)
Fitzwilliam is an unstaffed station.

There is a ticket machine

over on platform 2.

I don't think there's one
on platform 1.

There are a load of posters
stuck up along the fences.

And information screens.

And the platforms are bouncy-ish!

(ROCK MUSIC)

All right, so I am gonna
spend my hour here

at a country park I saw on Maps.

I'm like thinking,
"Which way do I go out the station?

"Up the stairs? Or up the ramp?"

Obviously, up the ramp. It's me!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Oh look, it's one of them really diddy

(WIND NOISE)
front of station signs!

Okay, so it turns out the park
is a lot closer than I thought.

It's literally just across from the station!
(LAUGHS)

But I just saw this bridge-y thing
that takes you across

to the other platform,
and thought

"I have to have
a walk through this!"

(ROCK MUSIC)

Doesn't that bin look really small?

Small front of station signs

and small bins at Fitzwilliam.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Getting on the next train, it's

150001.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Oh, I was very comfy
on that train then!

I did not want to get off.

I'm at Bolton-upon-Dearne.

It's like Bolton, but...

..it's literally nothing like Bolton.

And on the train,
it actually called it

"Bolton-on-Dearne."

But it's Bolton-upon-Dearne.

And...

(SINGS) ♫ When you're at
Bolton-upon-Dearne

♫ You put your knickers
on your head

♫ You put your
knickers on your head

♫ You put your knickers
on your head

♫ When you're at
Bolton-upon-Dearne

♫ You put your knickers
on your head

♫ And you shout ♫

(SHOUTS) Squishy boobies!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Okay, I've literally only got
just over ten minutes here.

So, I am just, as I usually do,

gonna cross the platform.

I am going the long way round

'cause there's a ramp
and I can't resist!

And I am gonna be
doing a back-forth

with the next few stations now.

Because the last station
I'm hopefully going to today,

(WIND NOISE)
Pontefract Baghill,

is a dodgy station.

And there is a particular train
that I have to make!

So in order to do that, I do need
to take the back-forth approach.

There is a really lovely view
behind me I'm noticing!

(ROCK MUSIC)

Nice little bench there
as you're making your way

out from platform 2.

Bolton-upon-Dearne
has got two platforms

and it's operated
by Northern Trains.

What else have we got 'ere,
we've got...

..a grit box.

And some of those

one-way facing
information displays!

There's also a really good view
of the tracks down there.

You can get a proper good

view of any passing trains.

(ROCK MUSIC)

150004 has brought me
to Thurnscoe.

And Thurnscoe
is a Northern-only station

and it's got two platforms.

And that train was
a little bit delayed, so

I've got a bit less time
here at Thurnscoe.

But...ey well!

(ROCK MUSIC)

We've got them
bouncy-ish platforms again.

I say "bouncy-ish",
they're more like just

older bouncy platforms.

There is a ticket machine here

on platform 2.

And over on platform 1,

there is a poster
about the station itself!

(ROCK MUSIC)

I am wondering
how you cross the platforms.

So I am gonna go
and have a look.

I'm guessing
there's a bridge down here.

And aww, look at this,
another ramp.

I do love ramps me!

(ROCK MUSIC)

There was a sign
right outside of the station

pointing me in the direction of

(WIND NOISE)
Phoenix Park.

I'm gonna try and get there now.

But again, like before,

if time starts going really quickly,

I will just stop and head back
to the station! (LAUGHS)

(ROCK MUSIC)

Well, I have made it to the park.

But I tell you what,

it's not easy to go
any further into it!

And the park does actually
look quite big as well.

(ROCK MUSIC)

I'm on a different 150 this time.

(TRAIN ENGINE NOISE)
150273.

And...we are pulling into
Goldthorpe already!

(ROCK MUSIC)

(TRAIN DOORS BEEP)

I'm at Goldthorpe, but...

..is Goldthorpe...gold?

Well...

..there's a lot of brown

and some blue, some yellow,

some green with the trees.

But there is a little bit
of gold here.

I mean there is this yellow sign.

But, depending on what
the light levels are like,

it could potentially look gold.

(WIND NOISE)
But the goldest thing by far

are these benches.

They do appear to have
a gold tint to them.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Goldthorpe's got Northern Trains,

same kind of shelters
as at Thurnscoe

with the information displays.

It's got two platforms.

It's got a bit of sun.

And some metal thing
on the floor.

I'm not quite sure what that is.

(ROCK MUSIC)

(TRAIN NOISE)
(ROCK MUSIC)

It is very quiet at this station.

I am just simply
gonna cross the platform.

And I'm gonna take my time
in doing so.

Because I have got

just under twenty minutes to kill!

(ROCK MUSIC)

We've got one of these
station posters again.

And it says that the Shaggy-soldier plant
can be found at Goldthorpe!

Not sure whereabouts it is, like.

I will...keep looking for it.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Just seen my next train
is delayed

by over fifteen minutes.

And I was initially thinking,

"Oh my days, this better not
have an impact

"on me catching that
Pontefract Baghill train."

But I've just checked

and that train is behind

the train I'm getting on next, so

there'll be no problems
making that connection.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Hey, I've just noticed
another gold thing!

The top of the shelter.

I'm not sure if that one's gold as well.

Possibly, but I can't quite see
on top of it!

(ROCK MUSIC)

I'm still the only person
here at Goldthorpe.

The train is coming in now.
Let me guess.

Is it 150001, by any chance?

(TRAIN ENGINE NOISE)
Yep, it is!

(ROCK MUSIC)

From Goldthorpe to Moorthorpe.

Yes, it is the other thorpe station.

The train did catch up
a bit of time as well, so

I've got ten minutes here now.

And I did have to
remind myself before

not to accidentally
cross the platforms,

because I'm used to doing that now!

But...just stay on this one
for the next train.

(ROCK MUSIC)

I don't need to go
out of the station here

to see what's around.

Because you get a pretty good view

from platform 2.

I see some houses!
(LAUGHS)

(ROCK MUSIC)

Moorthorpe's served
by Northern Trains

and it's got two platforms.

It's also got

two ticket machines,
one on either platform.

It's got a bike rack.

It's got ramps!

Really long green and yellow ramps.

And there is a station building here.

But, I don't know if it's in use...

Like, it looks in use,
but I don't know what it is.

(ROCK MUSIC)

It was so loud on that train
my ears were almost popping.

I was thinking
maybe it would be

something other than a 150.

(AEROPLANE NOISE)
But no, it wasn't. It was 150204.

And that train is now
off up to York.

Calling at Ulleskelf
and all them stations.

(ROCK MUSIC)

I'm at Pontefract Baghill.

There are a few Pontefracts.

I can't name any of the others
at the moment,

because this is the first one
I've been to.

But I think because
this is a dodgy station,

there's not a lot here.

I have noticed there are
no waiting shelters.

There's just a single blue bench

on either platform.

So, I guess if it was raining,
you could take cover

in the entrance-y bit

which is incorporated
into the station building.

And I think it's pretty clear

that the station building
is no longer in use.

I do like the bigger station signs

at the end of
both platforms though.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Pontefract Baghill is
a Northern-only station

(WIND NOISE)
and it's got two platforms.

And the wind has really
just kicked in!

But, apart from the

broken grit box,

the very few posters,

the lampposts,

the help point,

and the two bin bags,

there's really not a lot else here.

(ROCK MUSIC)

Just going through this kinda hidden,

slightly dark,
creepy-looking underpassage

which takes you to
the other platform.

(ROCK MUSIC)

(WIND NOISE)
There was a rather long worm on the floor

coming up that ramp then.

And what makes Pontefract Baghill

a dodgy station is that
it's only served

by six trains a day.

Three in either direction
between York and Sheffield.

But do you know what?
Completely coincidentally

when I was planning this out,

I managed to time it perfectly

to catch the middle services.

(ROCK MUSIC)

(WIND NOISE)
All reyt, so I just looked on Maps

to see what was around here.

And it showed me that

Pontefract Castle

is sort of in the middle

of Monkhill and Baghill.

So I thought, whilst I've got
over an hour here,

I may as well go and walk to it!

(ROCK MUSIC)

(WIND NOISE)
It's so windy up here

I've had to put my hood up.

But I've got a lot closer
to Pontefract Castle

than I did Sandal Castle!

"He who holds Pontefract

"holds the key to the North."

(ROCK MUSIC)

(WIND NOISE)
Well, it has been a really calm,

quiet, chill sort of day.

Apart from that running
I did at Sandal & Agbrigg.

I really should have had
the hour wait there, but

(LAUGHS)
last night I basically spent

two hours

just trying to settle
on what route

I was gonna come down today.

Because my mind was just
all over the place,

wanting to go
here, there and everywhere!

But yeah, I'm glad I decided
to come down 'ere now.

And it is absolutely beautiful
up in this castle.

I'm definitely gonna spend
the rest of my time here.

I do need to check what time
my train back is at, actually,

with it being a dodgy station!

And I can't do that at the station,

I'll do it on my phone!

Thank you very much
for watching, everyone!

Byesie byes!

(ROCK MUSIC)

(MUSIC ENDS)

I'm still the only person

here at Moor...
At Moorthorpe!