‘I’ve dedicated my life to this miniature railway’

Since being taken for his first train ride on the Scarborough North Bay Railway by his dad at just a few weeks old, Steve Johnson said he felt destined for a life on the railway.

He began volunteering at the Yorkshire tourist attraction when he was 11, became an apprentice at 17 and now, at the age of 35, is the railway’s operations manager.

He has now been recognised for dedicating his life to the railway and Scarborough’s tourism industry by being named a finalist for the 2025 Visit England Tourism Super Star Award.

He told BBC Radio York: “It’s just lovely that someone would acknowledge the effort you’re putting into it. It’s humbling really.”