The North Yorkshire Moors Railway has been preserving the past and protecting the future for more than 50 years.

And it has also become a star of the small screen thanks to the hit Channel 5 show, The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard. But TV fans may not be aware of its humble beginnings more than half a century ago.

In June 1967, a small group of locals formed the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Preservation Society – its members convinced that operating the line between Grosmont and Pickering could be viable if there was sufficient voluntary help.

From just one person in 1972, the numbers have grown to more than 550 volunteers, and today it is the one of the busiest heritage steam railways in the country, carrying 300,000 passengers every year.

Travelling through the beautiful and varied scenery of the North York Moors National Park, the route includes the stunning geological formation of Newtondale and the nature reserve of Fen Bog.

Stations along the route are restored to reflect different periods of the railway’s history.

Pickering station is presented as it would have looked in 1937 during LNER days, Levisham as a 1912 NER country station, Goathland as a 1922 station in the final year of NER and Grosmont in the style of British Railways, North Eastern Region, in 1952.

The North York Moors Historical Railway Trust is a not-for-profit charitable organisation run as part of the local community.

Day-to-day operation is carried out by volunteers with railway operations and business experience.

With a core team of paid staff, together with around 100 full time and 50 seasonal staff, the charity operates the train services and works steadily to improve the quality of the infrastructure and railway vehicles. And they ensure the 18 miles remain one of the world’s greatest railway experiences.

www.nymr.co.uk

baby. Hirsty’s Family Fun Park in Hemsby was a muddy paradise for our own young ones, with a Great Yarmouth-scale mega maize maze to get lost in when we could tear them away from the popular pedal go-karts (hirstysfamilyfunpark.co.uk, from £5 adult/£10 child).

But it was the beach at Horsey Gap that really captured our hearts. An expanse of beautiful unspoilt shore home to dozens of seals who frolic playfully in the water and come ashore en masse every year to have their pups.

Something I missed on my childhood visit to Norfolk, but a spectacle I would urge every visitor to check out.

My return to Great Yarmouth may have been as grey as the clouds in old black-and-white photos I had, but it was far from dreary.

Amazing wildlife, beautiful beaches and unadulterated fun make it the ideal family holiday that will continue to delight for generations to come.

In fact, I’m already planning to gatecrash when my five-year-old makes his own return trip.