Northern Belle: luxury train journey from Leeds station

Mid-morning at Leeds station and it’s not too hard to spot travellers destined for a journey on the Northern Belle.

Not dissimilar to one of the big race days in Yorkshire, there are smart suits, shiny shoes, some towering heels, designer dresses and posh handbags.

The Northern Belle at the platform on Leeds station. (Image: Kathryn Armstrong) Once you clock the platform number and gather by the track, the excitement is palpable as the shiny Northern Belle comes into view and then to a halt.

Suddenly it’s glamour at Platform 8 as liveried staff step off – and the red carpet is rolled out. It is ridiculously exciting, especially, every bit as ‘Orient Express’ as you’d hope. Everyone stops for a photo as they embark and once inside it’s like a railway version of emerging through the garments in The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe. You are transported to another rather magical world.

Editor Kathryn Armstrong with writer Milly Johnson who was using the journey to research a new book. (Image: Kathryn Armstrong) You’re immediately enveloped in the warmth of the wood-panelled carriage as you take your seat at the pristinely-set table with crisp napkins, silver cutlery crystal and fresh flowers. Champagne corks pop and your glass filled as the train leaves the station.

Fellow passengers number among them couples celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, groups of girlfriends and a few carriages along on our journey, the writer Milly Johnson who is mulling over the plot of a new book which will be set on a train.

We’re sitting in a carriage called Harlech; all the carriages have their own unique interior decorated with artwork, mosaics and marquetry wooden panels created by A Dunn and Son, a family firm in Essex, dating back to 1895.

Harlech coach. All the coaches are individually designed. 

Harlech’s marquetry motif is of Harlech Castle in north Wales and daffodils, inlaid with maple, boxwood, sycamore and European walnut.

This is an example of painstaking craftsmanship – many of the traditional techniques and machinery used by Dunn and Son remain unchanged from the days when they fitted out great ocean-going liners like the Titanic, Lusitania and Queen Mary. They also worked on the original Belle and Wagons-Lit luxury railway carriages of the 1930s.

The seats are comfy and the views fly by as you leave behind the urban landscape for your journey – in our case, heading to the Lincolnshire Wolds.

The Northern Belle travels through the countryside (Image: Northern Belle) It’s an understatement to say it’s a nice way to travel. The Northern Belle was originally launched by the Venice-Simplon Orient Express company in 2000 as the British equivalent of the iconic Orient Express.

Actor Bill Nighy described the train as ‘the Grand Dame of luxury travel’ when it featured on Channel 5’s ‘The World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys’ programme. He’d be a brilliant travelling companion!

The Northern Belle’s story is a nice Yorkshire one. Wakefield-based businessman David Pitts bought the Northern Belle from the Orient Express group for an undisclosed sum in 2017. It is now totally British-owned and run.

The jazz band entertains en route. (Image: Northern Belle) Says David: ‘Travelling on our train takes people back to the golden days of rail travel – the time of the famous Belle expresses, when the journey was just as important as the destination. Nothing is too good for our pampered passengers.’

You have to agree, The service is fabulous from the friendly team – not to mention jazz musicians and magicians popping by from time to time to entertain.

Liveried staff on the train are attentive and friendly. (Image: Northern Belle) A view of one of the sumptuous carriages. (Image: Northern Belle) The seven-course menu is a journey in itself. (Image: Kathryn Armstrong) A smart table setting. (Image: Northern Belle)

The impressive Cheeseboard features a number of favourites from Yorkshire artisan suppliers. (Image: Kathryn Armstrong) A tasty starter of mackerel pate with beetroot, ponzu dressing and horseradish. (Image: Kathryn Armstrong)