Please join me on this Blue Sky Coaches day trip* and enjoy Afternoon Tea on this replica French SNCF Class 241 steam engine - the very train which appears in the Kenneth Branagh 2017 film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ starring Dame Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. Built a little bit wider than a ‘real life’ train in order to accommodate camera crews, this fascinating train has been transformed into a static tea room.
Situated on what was once the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith railway line, Bassenthwaite Lake Station hosted holidaymakers between 1865 and 1966, when the Beeching cuts put an end to its operation. The station and its outbuildings became dilapidated until the Parum Family, supported by the Lake District National Park Authority, painstakingly restored it, over the course of two years, in keeping with the 1930s era.
Special care has been taken to preserve the natural beauty of the station’s surroundings, which also serve as a habitat for the many species of native flora and fauna which can be quietly observed from the peace of the wildlife walkway and bird hide. The newly-planted woodland, orchard, and wildflower meadow provide increased habitat diversification.
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE LARGE AMOUNT OF PASSENGERS BEING CATERED FOR, THE FOOD WILL BE SERVED BY THE STAFF FROM LARGE PLATTERS AT EACH TABLE AND NOT FROM INDIVIDUAL TEA STANDS - BOXES WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED ON THE TABLES FOR ANY FOOD NOT EATEN TO BE TAKEN HOME.
*The trip costs £55 per person and pickup details are as follows:
0800 – MORLEY outside the Leisure Centre on Queensway
0815 – PUDSEY outside Wetherspoon’s on Manor House Street
0830 – BRAMLEY outside Gregg’s Factory at Bramley Town End
0845 – LEEDS National Express Coach Station
0900 – HALTON bus lay-by outside Lidl on Selby Road
0905 – WHITKIRK outside the Brown Cow pub on Selby Road
0910 – CROSSGATES lay-by outside St Theresa's Church on Station Road
0915 – SEACROFT bus stop outside Tesco's top of North Parkway
Please book direct with Blue Sky Coaches, either over the telephone 0113 277 1474 or follow the link to their website
https://www.blueskycoaches.co.uk/Tour/Orient/DepartureDates
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We have already booked seats 25,26,27,28 on the coach if you want to sit near us. If you book by phone, please tell them you’re with Jane Thompson’s group so that they can try and arrange for us to sit together for Tea. (Don't forget to notify them of any dietary requirements.)