All aboard for a Tykes' Banquet ...

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.

The sumptuous seven-course feast with fine champagne and wines is being served aboard a special “Yorkshire Lunch” trip aboard the Northern Belle.

Food director Brian Clark, who lives in Sowerby Bridge, has devised a menu featuring the area’s best food during a meandering trip through some of the county’s most idyllic countryside

It includes beef from Nidderdale, lamb from Thixendale, crab from Whitby, asparagus from the Vale of York and, of course, Yorkshire pudding.

Then to finish off, served with a range of cheeses from across the county, will be glasses of Yort, a sweet wine with brandy described as “a Yorkshire twist to the traditional Portuguese port”.

Wakefield businessman David Pitts, who bought the 1930s Pullman-style train from the iconic Orient Express group, said: “There’s nowhere to compare with Yorkshire. This is God’s own county – in fact there are some who’d say it is God’s own country!”

A Northern Belle spokesman added: “Everybody knows we have some of the world’s most beautiful scenery in Yorkshire as well as some of its loveliest and most interesting towns and cities.

“When it comes to sport, of course, we’re head and shoulders above the rest of the UK – just look at Leeds United and our county cricket team.

“Culture too. Britain’s only had four Cities of Culture – and two of them were Hull and Bradford. Which is perhaps not surprising considering the long list of famous writers, poets and artists Yorkshire has produced.

“Emily Bronte, Keith Waterhouse, J B Priestley, Ted Hughes, Alan Bennett, L. R Sutton, David Hockney – the list is endless. We even had the pleasure of Barnsley novelist Milly Johnson travelling with us on the Northern Belle a few months ago.

“Folk down south seem to think they’ve got a monopoly on fine dining while up North we just stuff ourselves full of pies, chips and gravy.

“Well, we’re on track at the Northern Belle to prove them wrong!”

Hollywood actor Bill Nighy called the train “the Grand Dame of luxury travel” when Channel 5 showed it being hauled by historic steam locomotive Princess Elizabeth over the Settle-Carlisle line.

And, with its own onboard musicians serenading passengers while they dine, the Northern Belle regularly features on lists of the world’s most luxurious trains.

The special Yorkshire Lunch train, hauled by a heritage diesel locomotive, will pick up passengers at Wakefield, Leeds and York on Friday, August 15.

Other excursions, including steam-hauled trips over the spectacular Settle-Carlisle line, depart from stations all across Yorkshire, with fares starting at £365.