A luxury train that’s been dubbed the poshest in Britain is steaming into Manchester this year, offering passengers a chance to sit in the same seats as royalty.
The Northern Belle will set off for its first trip of 2025 from Manchester Victoria, whisking people on a breathtaking journey through the Yorkshire Dales.
Whilst on board the Settle-Carlisle railway line, guests will tuck into a a show-stopping seven course banquet with bottles of champagne and wine.
The steam locomotive is a 1930’s Pullman-style train and used to form part of the iconic Orient Express experience, and takes on its journeys with an on-board live band.
Self-proclaimed as ‘Britain’s poshest train’, this vintage travel vehicle has been known to host a famous face or two, including acting legend Billy Nighy, who described the locomotive as ‘the Grand Dame of luxury travel’.
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It’s not just Hollywood A Listers travelling in style – the royals have been known to frequent these four carriage walls.
On board The Northern Belle, which will visit Manchester in March. Credit: Supplied
One of the seven carriages which will be making the journey used to be party of Queen Elizabeth’s Royal Train, and is home to the Queen Mum’s favourite seat, where she would sit and wave through the window while sipping a gin and tonic.
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A red carpet will be rolled out at Manchester Victoria to welcome everyone hopping on board this high-class rail service, with tickets from £365.
The Northern Belle departs Manchester city centre around 10am, collecting more passengers from Bolton before cruising some of the UK’s finest countryside.
Dust off your glad rags and get ready to be the ‘Belle’ of the ball as you travel on vintage locomotive The Northern Belle.
This isn’t the only Northern Belle trip running this year as you can make your big and bold entrance to both Royal Ascot and Chelsea Flower Show via this comfortable and certainly not modest rail liner.
Just like its epic decorum, the prices follow the same bold style with tickets varying from £365 upwards depending on which event you’d like to attend.
Arriving on 1 March 2025, this luxury train is making a special stop in Greater Manchester with tickets available to purchase HERE.
The beautiful Lake District bluebells display that’s being ‘loved to death’
Daisy Jackson
People are beginning to flock back to the Lake District for one of the season’s most beautiful spectacles – the arrival of the bluebells.
These pretty flowers are beginning to blanket parts of the national park in blue and purple blooms.
They’re incredibly rare flowers with around than half of the world’s bluebells found here in the UK, and can take around five to seven years to develop from seed to flower.
Which is why it’s actually against the law to intentionally pick, uproot or destroy bluebells.
The National Trust has also again stressed that people should resist the urge to step into the fields of bluebells – once they’re trampled, they can take years to recover.
One particular hotspot to see these incredible flowers is Rannerdale Knotts in the Lake District, where thousands of these wildflowers pop up between late April and mid-May.
While most bluebells flower in woodland areas, this particular patch covers open fellside – they bloom a bit later than other areas in the UK and mid-May is the perfect time to see them in full bloom.
Rannerdale Knotts is a short distance from the village of Buttermere, and the bluebell field can be accessed by a gentle walk from Buttermere National Trust car park.
However, these flowers are at risk of being ‘loved to death’, the National Trust has warned.
They say: “Rannerdale’s bluebells are renowned as a natural wonder, beloved of visitors and photographers; however, they are being ‘loved to death’.
“Once the plants are damaged by trampling they can’t photosynthesise enough energy and it can take them years to recover. Over the last 5 years, nearly 25% of the bluebells have been lost.
“To save the bluebells, and access to them, the National Trust are asking visitors to fight the urge to get in amongst the flowers and just simply stick to the path. Only by protecting them today can we ensure everyone has a chance to enjoy this special spring display in the future.”
Several locals have echoed this on social media, with one person saying: “As a local we love to share our landscape with visitors but please remember to maintain its natural beauty. So many people trample on them to get the perfect insta shot.”
Green light given for new train station in Greater Manchester town without one for 60 years
Emily Sergeant
The green light has been given to build a new train station in a Greater Manchester town that’s been without one for 60 years.
It’s been a whopping six decades, but the residents of Golborne will soon be able to hop on a train out of there, and that’s because a planning application to connect the Greater Manchester town, in the Wigan borough, that was submitted back in November of last year has been approved by Wigan Council.
This means connectivity is finally one step closer to becoming reality.
Plans to deliver a new £32m train station in Golborne have reached a milestone moment. 🚅@WiganCouncil has given the green light to the planning application for the station and #TfGM have appointed a local company to design it.
In case you didn’t know, Golborne currently has no direct bus, train, or tram services to Manchester, while the wider area is the largest and most-populous area in Greater Manchester not connected to the rail network.
The application includes plans for a new accessible two-platform rail station, including step-free access throughout with a footbridge across the tracks and lifts to both platforms, a new hourly service between Wigan and Manchester Victoria, and onwards to Stalybridge, an improved town centre car park, and also new walking and cycling links to the town centre.
According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the Golborne station scheme forms part of a wider ambition to bring eight commuter lines into the Bee Network by 2028 – of which ‘significant investment’ has been put into.
A CGI image showing an aerial view of the proposed Golborne train station / Credit: TfGM
The planning approval milestone will also help to boost access to jobs and opportunities for people both in the town and in the wider Wigan borough.
Now that plans have been approved, this means TfGM, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Wigan Council, working with Government, will now develop a full business case and detailed design throughout this year.
To deliver this work, TfGM has appointed Golborne-based engineering firm Murphy to develop the final station designs.
Subject to approval from the Government, work to make the Golborne station vision finally become a reality will begin in 2026, and it’s hoped that the first trains will stop there in 2027.
Thomas Melia -
10th January 2025 
