Given the long dominance of the local area by the Gascoigne family it is of little surprise to find references to the family all around the local villages, most common amongst these are the name incorporated in the title of a pub, examples being the Gascoigne Arms, Barwick in Elmet and the Lord Gascoigne, in Garforth, the latter an incorrect title as they were not lords in the true sense. I suppose they are thinking of the term Lord of the Manor, which of course they certainly were. A new addition to the range of local hostelries with a reference to the Gascoigne dynasty is the “Flyline”, in Garforth, referring of course to the railway.
Not having visited the place, perhaps I should reserve judgement of it, but I can’t help commenting that the marketing team could have tried a little harder when selecting a motif for the pub sign. It shows a steam engine more befitting the North Eastern Railway network than the small shunters which plied the line between Garforth and Aberford and was affectionately known as the “Flyline”. Also on the sign is a viaduct of similar appearance to the one over the River Wharfe in Tadcaster, again not a feature of the local line to Aberford.
However before dismissing all this as marketing blurb it is worth noting that in the days of railway madness, before the middle of the nineteenth century when George Hudson was loosely called the railway king. Schemes were contemplated for routes from Leeds to York, by the Leeds & North Midland (L&NM) railway and later the Leeds & York railway, which would have seen a new line laid through the Parlington Estate and on through Aberford towards York. Neither of these proposals were completed although the line through Tadcaster and across the River Wharfe were built, along with a further bridge east of the Wharfe crossing. The viaduct in Tadcaster remains a local landmark, but many people do not realise it never fulfilled its true function and was used only for local rail transport between the breweries and the mill on the east bank of the river.
Had the deal been concluded, the Gascoigne family with shares in the concern would have seen the railway pass through the Deer Park to the south of Parlington Hall. It would have been constructed in a deep cutting which would have been filled over to form a tunnel. Then in Aberford a large viaduct would have been necessary roughly in the location of Bunkers Hill, to maintain a suitable grade as the line followed the Cock Beck valley to Tadcaster.