Goathland
Goathland is a village in the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire , England . It has 407 residents and a station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway . He is known nationally for the successful television series Heartbeat being produced in the village . In addition, the Goathland station represents Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films . National park, "Heartbeat" and "Harry Potter" together attract around 1.2 million visitors a year.
Location and shape
Unlike most of the villages in the North York Moors, Goathland is not located in a narrow valley basin, but rather spreads out over a relatively wide plain. In the center of the village there is a post office, a souvenir shop, several tea rooms, a shop that specializes in outdoor vacations, and a memorial for the fallen of World War II. A little outside the village center on the road to Pickering is the church and right next to it is a pub and a small inn. The train station is at the other end of the village on the Whitby road .
Despite its location in the national park, most of the land is privately owned. The largest landowner is the Duke of Lancaster and thus the British royal family.
tourism
Goathland has traditionally established itself as a neighborhood for hikers and nature lovers in the North York Moors.
The Heartbeat series boosted the flow of tourists to Goathland from 200,000 in 1991 to 1.2 million in 2000. Souvenirs with a heartbeat reference can be found in every shop, usually a reference to the fictional location on the facade. Nevertheless, the owner of The Heartbeat Experience, which was founded in 1995, moved to the nearby coastal town of Whitby after a few years, as it is more conveniently located in the tourist flow.
The additional tourism through Heartbeat consists mainly of day-trippers who spend the night in the nearby coastal towns and represent more of a burden than a benefit for Goathland. In addition, they tend to come from lower income groups and have less money available. After hoteliers reported a declining number of overnight stays in 1996, as traditional nature tourists were repelled by the fan culture of day visitors, a coexistence seemed to take hold in the early 2000s. In addition, villagers also complain that parts of the local infrastructure are overloaded at certain times. Many have already moved the living room from the visible street side of their house to the more sheltered garden side.
The role of the train station in the Harry Potter films, on the other hand, has had little impact on tourism: Almost all Harry Potter fans travel by train and only get off to take photos of the train station.
Simon Howe is a find site with a round cairn, a row of stones , a menhir and two round hills east of Howl Moors, south of Goathland.
Regular events
An important festival in Goathland is Plow Monday . On this day, the Goathland Plow Stots dance troupe walks through the streets performing their traditional long sword dance . This probably goes back to the Scandinavian immigrants, had its verifiable climax in the 19th century and has been performed regularly since 1923 after a break. The dancers move through the place, whereby it is particularly important that they touch the point of the sword of the neighbor despite their complicated circles and turns. When they arrive at the houses, they ask for alms or otherwise threaten to work the garden with their plow.
Remarks
literature
- Sue Beeton: Film-induced tourism Channel View Publications, 2005, ISBN 1-84541-014-9
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 24 ′ N , 0 ° 43 ′ W