Passengers dining aboard one of the world’s poshest trains next month will tuck into a special slap-up Tykes Banquet that showcases all that is great about Yorkshire food.

Champagne-sipping passengers on the train, which departs from York, Leeds and Wakefield on August 15, will be served a special Yorkshire Lunch during a five-hour journey through some of the county’s most beautiful countryside.

The menu starts with caviar canapes, followed by a choice of Whitby crab, Ilkley ham or Yorkshire bean lasagna as starters.

Then there is a course of beef tea with mini-Yorkshire puddings, before the main course featuring Thixendale lamp rump, Scottish salmon en croute or ratatouille.

Gourmet Wakefield railway fans can tuck into a slap-up lunch with a difference– aboard Britain’s poshest train.

placeholder image — Gourmet Wakefield railway fans can tuck into a slap-up lunch with a difference– aboard Britain’s poshest train.

After that comes ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ panna cotta or Eton Mess, described as a ‘proper Yorkshire tea meringue’, before the Great British Cheeseboard.

Mr Clark, who once cooked for Madonna and Sir Rod Stewart, said: “We think this special menu encapsulates all that is good about Yorkshire food, which can rival anything in the world.”

And best-selling Barnsley author, Milly Johnson, will be aboard when it pulls out of Wakefield this month as she celebrates her forthcoming launch of her new novel.

The book, titled ‘Let the Bells Ring Out’, is about seven passengers stranded when a luxury train called The Yorkshire Belle becomes stuck in a unexpected snowstorm.

And Milly admits she got the inspiration for her story after taking a trip last year on the 1930s Pullman-style Northern Belle train, which is owned by Wakefield businessman David Pitts.

So she will be making another journey on August 15 to discuss sales and publicity tactics on board with a high-powered delegation from her London-based publisher before the book comes out in October.

Mr Pitts, who runs DP Publicity in Wakefield, said: “We are delighted to welcome Milly on board again and we look forward to seeing her new novel come out in the autumn.

“If she has based her fictional train on the Northern Belle, then she must be on the right lines! We’re sure it will be a big success.”

The Northern Belle departs from stations all over Yorkshire to various destinations with fares starting at £365.

For more information, see www.northernbelle.co.uk