North York Moors National Park unveils new visitor experience at Danby

Designed to appeal to people of all ages, the new experience opening at Danby, North Yorkshire, is fully interactive, taking visitors through the various natural habitats that exist within the National Park.

A specially commissioned film highlights the glories of the North York Moors, while children can search for hidden characters in a vibrant, graphic ‘timeline’.

Families can investigate life in a rock pool, discover what lives in a dry stone wall and operate a live-action feed from the Centre’s nest-cam.

Other highlights for visitors

• Explore the prominence of the Victorian ironstone mining period and the importance of the industry at the heart of the Industrial Revolution which left indelible marks on the landscape at spots like Rosedale and Grosmont.

• As visitors walk through a recreated mine entrance, a dramatic animation of ironstone miners and kiln-workers brings the period to life – complete with scurrying mine rats, underground explosions and red-hot blast furnaces.

• Archive photographs show the real people behind the stories, while interactive 3D holograms of iconic structures - such as the Bank Top kilns at Rosedale and Warren Moor Mine – invite visitors to explore the National Park’s ‘Land of Iron’.

• There’s a new hands-on play area called ‘Mighty Movers’, centred on marble runs and digital displays that investigate the mechanics of moving ironstone around the moors. Young explorers can lift ironstone carts up from deep mines, send wagons careering around the moorland railway and negotiate the tricky descent of Ingleby Incline without crashing.

The visitor experience complements new features that are being installed across the National Park to tell the story of the ’Land of Iron’.

These include cast-iron models of mine and ironworks sites, metal silhouettes to enhance certain historic locations and information boards in Rosedale and the Esk Valley, including along The Rail Trail between Goathland and Grosmont.

“The new visitor experience has been designed to act as a stepping stone for visitors before they explore the National Park by helping them piece together how past events, the natural world and land management have led to the views they will be seeing.”

Tom Mutton, Land of Iron programme manager

More about the project

The four-year Land of Iron project is supported by the North York Moors National Park Authority, David Ross Foundation and other partners along with a £2.8 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

It began in spring 2017 to record, protect and conserve the remaining landmarks and features relating to the ironstone mining period across a 77-mile area of the National Park. 

David Renwick, National Lottery Heritage Fund area director, added said: “Over the past two years, the Land of Iron project has brought together a host of partners across the National Park to reconnect people with the beautiful landscape and fascinating stories that make the North York Moors a vibrant place.

“We are delighted that thanks to National Lottery players The Moors National Park Centre will provide a focus for visitors and local communities to discover the important landscape that surrounds them.”