Goathland, Hogsmeade, or Aidensfield?? The Village with Legendary Identities!

Goathland is a sleepy little village high up in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park in the north of England which most people have probably never heard of before… but many of you will have seen!

Where is Hogsmeade Station?

And that is because Goathland railway station was used as Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter movies!

Most of the time the 9 3/4th platform on Kings Cross Station in London is noted as the Harry Potter Station.

But, do you remember the tiny station where the Hogwarts express ends? The station on which all the Wizards set foot as they head to Hogwarts?

Its featured in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone when Hagrid waits on the station to welcome the students and take them to Hogwarts and as students are leaving Hogwarts for the summer holidays, Hagrid says goodbye to Harry and gives him a book with a photo of Harry´s parents. If you are Muggle and if we are making no sense at all… check out – The Muggle’s guide to Hogwarts Express

After a long break we were setting off on our TrovenTrippers trip… and being in lockdown and in UK, Sneha being a huge Harry Potter fan wanted to visit Harry Potter shooting locations. And she was like “I want to go to Hogwarts and want to meet Hagrid on the station just like every first-year student did”. Paul was not sure about Hagrid meeting Sneha at the station but made a note to make Hogsmeade station our first stop!

Sneha’s face was lit up like a child when she set foot on the station, and she wanted to click pics while standing at all possible locations. As it was lockdown, the trains were not running, so unfortunately we couldn’t see a train passing but it also meant that we were the only people at the station… which was a cool experience in itself!

It should be in the top 10 locations to visit for every Harry Potter fan! The surrounding area of the station was digitally altered to make you feel as if it is in nature, only surrounded by hills and the Hogwarts castle.

When you visit the Goathland station you will see that it looks very much the same as it looked in the movie scenes. There are still the same benches and lamps however the colour of the wooden buildings has changed a little. In real life it is a working train station where you can catch steam trains around the local area!

As it was lockdown when we went, the station was under renovation and hence we couldn't enjoy the train Journey. We are definitely sure it will be quite an experience to enjoy the picturesque journey from Goathland to Whitby and if you are planning your trip, make sure you book them well in advance!

Goathland Station | North Yorkshire Moors Railway - NYMR

Is Aidensfield a real place?

For those maybe of an older generation who aren’t quite so into Harry Potter, the chances are you still may have seen the village on TV… If you’re from the UK anyway!

Goathland was also the setting of Aidensfield for the ITV Sunday evening classic show Heartbeat.

The show was a favourite for easy heart-warming Sunday evening watching… attracting over 10 million viewers at its peak. I (Paul) remember it well… it was definitely a favourite for my mam when I was growing up and being before the days we had Sky TV there wasn’t a lot of other choices for me to tune in to!

The village store and “garage” are still made up in set and can be visited, although if you’re looking for a mechanic I wouldn’t rely on the garage as it’s actually a souvenir shop in real life!

How far is Mallyan Spout and Beck Hole from Goathland?

Leaving behind all off the TV and movie fame, Goathland still has a lot to offer visitors.

The North Yorkshire Moors National Park is stunning and there are countless walks and activities to do, and the popular coastal towns of Whitby and Scarborough are only a short distance away.

But staying focused on Goathland itself… and well before the TV fame, one of the first things which attracted tourists to Goathland in the 19th century was the tumbling waterfall of Mallyan Spout – The Goathland Waterfall!

We parked at the Mallyan Spout Hotel and had a late lunch from the takeaway coffee shop attached to it (this was during lockdown restrictions when travelling around was allowed but hospitality was still closed other than for takeaways).

Setting off from the hotel car park we headed downhill for 10 minutes or so until reaching the bottom of the valley… the track was good and it was an easy descent, but we were thinking that we need to get back up this again!

But after climbing over some rocks and seeing the waterfall for the first time, any thoughts of the return journey/struggle soon vanished… it’s spectacular!

Sneha was definitely in her adventurous mood today and she was like let’s just proceed and see where it takes us! I (Paul) bet she was relying on my watch as we had no network at all that would have actually helped us find our way back… so I figured out that there could probably be a loop track that will take us back to the top.

And I must say it was a good decision… we could walk through the woods… cross some rocky bridges and enjoy the views as we climbed up a manageable hill and few steep stairs! Hadn’t expected a trek, but we dint mind burning a few calories…

Troven Moments

You don’t need a ticket to get into the train station or onto the platform so you can get some great photos and feel like Harry Potter even if you aren’t catching a train!

Don’t miss out on Mallyan Spout waterfall… it’ll take about an hour to walk the full loop, but it’s well worth it!