A Trip to the Dorset Seaside

Monday 20th July

I had a brief trip to the seaside in Dorset before all the schools broke up for summer and for a visit to the Swanage Railway. I stayed in Bournemouth which meant I could travel by train - Swanage is no longer connected to the national rail network - rather than sit in traffic heading for the coast. Most of the journey would be on a CrossCountry Voyager so I treated myself to a 1st Class ticket, Standard Class on those trains is hellish, livestock would get better conditions. At Reading I settled into a single seat at a table and just before departure was joined in the seat opposite by a guy who appeared to have been on “a very good weekend in London”. When the ticket inspector arrived he took ages to locate his ticket, emptying his entire wallet including a big wad of cash onto the table before having it pointed out that he was sitting in 1st Class with only a standard class ticket. “Oh, I hadn’t noticed” No, because the seats and doors with ‘First Class’ clearly written on them aren’t a clue, are they? The chancer was dispatched into the next coach and I got the full legroom back. After a nice complementary on-train lunch we arrived on time in sunny Bournemouth.

I had 45 minutes before I could check into my hotel room so walked the long way around via the East Overcliff before turning inland to Bournemouth’s “hotel land” to find the Langtry Manor Hotel.

Built as The Red House in 1877 Edward Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) provided the house for his mistress, socialite and actress Lillie Langtry. Prince Edward was, as the plaque on the wall outside states, “A Frequent Visitor”. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

I had a nice room, furnished in period style with a four poster bed and a large free-standing bath of the kind with sides so high as to provide a challenge to getting in and out. It also had a balcony with a chair and table on it overlooking the garden. This was accessed via three steps out of a window with a sign reading “Mind your head and the steps” above it. I looked at the mis-aligned unsupported ends of the balcony deck boards and decided I didn’t need to sit on a balcony :-)

Once the heat of the day had started to abate I headed into Bournemouth town centre for something to eat. It’s very “student orientated”, at least the end through which I walked. Also it has either gained a large South Asian population since I was last here (a long time ago and I was here for work) or it has become a favoured destination for such holidaymakers.

Having eaten I headed to Bournemouth Pier and then walked along the prom all the way to Boscombe Pier. It’s an even longer time since I’ve been to Boscombe. I finished my walk along the prom with a pint of cider in the Harvester overlooking the pier because there appears to be a dearth of proper pubs in Bournemouth, especially the Boscombe end. the sun was setting as I walked up through Boscombe Chine and back to Langtry Manor.

Tuesday 21st July

Next morning I was up, washed and ready by eight o’clock for breakfast, served (by the lovely Anna) in the Derby Manor Hotel a short walk across the road. I’ve walked further to the hotel restaurant when it’s been in the same building. Of course it was a nice sunny morning, if it was pissing down with rain it would be less ideal.

Off to the Swanage Railway.

This would involve a bus. I walked to the bus station to catch the Route 50 Purbeck Breezer, operated by an open-topped double-decker. I could have caught it a little closer at its first stop but going to the bus station proved to be the right choice - it was a very full bus that left the bus station, definitely no room for any more up top. It takes the bus about an hour and ten minutes to get to Swanage Station via Sandbanks and Studland, which means you have the novelty of being on an open-topped bus on the chain ferry. The £3 bus fare seems like a particular bargain since the ferry alone would be £1.18 as a foot passenger.

Swanage Beach was very busy as we passed, arriving at Swanage Station in good time to buy a ticket (Adult day ticket £27.50) and await the 1200 departure to Norden at the other end of the line, beyond Corfe Castle. This was operated by an Ex-South West Trains BR class 121 ‘Bubble Car’ No W55028 with two units from a Class 117 Diesel Multiple Unit to make up a three coach train. Unusually for a heritage railway the services appear on Real Time Trains so you can see it left 2 minutes late but made up 1 minute by the time it reached Norden. To my great surprise though by no means empty it was not a very busy train, nor were any of the other trains that day which made for a very pleasant day out.

The Swanage Railway at five and a half miles in length is long enough to feel like a proper train journey and runs a frequent enough timetable that you really can hop on and off at the intermediate stations and feel like you’ve got your money’s worth. From Norden I caught the 1320 to Corfe Castle, hauled by resident steam locomotive SR 2-6-0 - U Class No. 31806. Built in Brighton and a long way from its original working patches of Nine Elms, Basingstoke, and Guildford. It would be fair to say that it isn’t working as hard on the Swanage line. At 1405 having made good use of the Corfe Castle station cafe I took the diesel train to Harmans Cross, a peaceful rural station which happens to be where trains pass each other on the mostly single track line. So every so often there’s a burst of activity although few people seemed to alight. A German couple appeared from who-knows-where and since the ticket office wasn’t open had to buy tickets online. They must have been on a different mobile network to me, Three UK doesn’t acknowledge the existence of that part of rural Dorset.

At 1453 No.31806 took me back to Swanage where it was bloody hot. The Co-op next to the station provided ice cream and a cold drink before I went for a last round trip, catching the 1600 diesel to Norden, sitting in the “Bubble Car” along with a family, all three generations of which were equally excitable and noisy. The busy train emptied out at Norden, most of the passengers making a one-way trip back to the station car park. The handful of us going back to Swanage at 1640 were all in the “Bubble Car”, the other two units having been locked while it was standing in the platform at Norden. Even so it was a quiet run back.

I enjoyed the Swanage Railway. There’s a video too (on PeerTube). 

And a shorter video (on YouTube) as the full one might take a while to load. 

I went for a stroll along the seafront and then to the White Swan for beer (Purbeck Brewery Operation S.M.A.S.H. 4.2%, very nice) and dinner (liver & bacon with gravy and mashed spuds, food of the gods). The next bus back to Bournemouth wasn’t until five past seven so obviously I had another pint before walking back to the station. No trouble obtaining a seat on the open top deck, shame about the group of teenage tossers who also boarded, who carried on the argument with the woman they’d upset before getting on board, throwing insults and misogynist comments over the rail at the back of the bus. By the time we reached Studland the temperature had dropped a bit and once across the ferry it was breezy enough that I was glad I’d put a long sleeved top in my bag that morning.

It had been a long day. By the time I’d walked back to my hotel I was ready for bed but first copied the photos and video clips to my laptop. I backed up my photos to my Synology NAS at home too - by tethering my phone to the laptop because the hotel Wi-Fi was woeful. Then I slept like the proverbial log.

Wednesday 22nd July

I had no particular plan for today but over breakfast decided to visit Weymouth. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Weymouth though we might have driven through back in the 90s and failed to find anywhere to park the campervan. I could have gone by bus or train. Train would be quicker. Walked to the station, bought a ticket, discovered that the train before the one I’d intended to catch was running so late that I caught that and was still later arriving than if I’d been on the one I’d gone for. SWR have already paid out the Delay Repay. Weymouth was hot and busy. I stopped at a cafe in town because there were seats in the shade outside. Walked across the bridge over the Wey into the old town and all the way to the point below Nothe Fort.

I returned to the old town, near the former brewery. Mmm, brewery. Warm isn’t it? Important to stay hydrated and there are some tables outside The Red Lion which are shaded by trees. It would’ve been rude not to. (Otter Brewery Lifeboat Ale, 3.6%, very good)

Weymouth centre was filling up with the sort of people who think a narrow street is the ideal place to all stop and gather round to have a long discussion. I returned to the station and caught a train to Poole. I’ve only ever been to Poole for a brief work visit so decided to stop and take a look around while I was “passing”. I walked down the high street to the quayside, losing count of the number of vape shops, barbers, charity shops, and nail bars. So far just like any other high street then. The Quay was much nicer. Busy with boats going to and from Poole Harbour past the very expensive toys in the Sunseeker boatyard opposite.

I walked along the Quay to the old Lifeboat Station by the boat haven and back to the Baden-Powell memorial, surrounded by Scouts just back from Brownsea Island for a commemorative photo. I considered a boat trip to Brownsea Island myself but there was only one more round trip which meant no time on the island itself. That will have to wait until another time.

I found a seat in a shelter out of the sun. The Scouts were still milling about in a disorganised fashion. “Could you all quieten down and gather around?”, said the Scoutmaster, to no obvious effect. What happened to “Shut up you ’orrible lot and fall in by Patrols!”? It worked on us. Do they even still have Patrols? It’s been forty-odd years since I was involved in The Scouts.

There are some nice pubs on Poole Quay, it had been a long time since breakfast so I went to The Portsmouth Hoy where I had Haddock & Chips washed down by a pint of Fursty Ferret (3.4%, very good). Always impressive when you get two pieces of haddock. Crispiest batter ever too.

Back to the station and to Bournemouth. It had been another long day, which called for a soak in that bathtub. After which I couldn’t be bothered to go anywhere else.

Thursday 23rd July

One last full English breakfast then packed and at the station in good time to catch the 1045 to Reading. Which trundled so slowly along that it arrived 17 minutes late, at exactly the time my connecting train departed. Oh good, another hour sitting at Reading Station. Delay Repay claim submitted to CrossCountry, four days later it’s still “In Progress”. What’s the betting they try to wriggle?

The Night Riviera

The Night Riviera is a sleeper train which runs from London Paddington to Penzance in Cornwall (and from Penzance to Paddington) 6 nights a week. I’d long fancied trying it to see what it was like so booked a brief trip to Cornwall to find out.

This is what I found out:

I booked just over a week in advance with a Railcard and paid £57.70 for a Super Off-Peak Single London Terminals to Penzance plus £89.00 for a sleeper cabin. You can forego the cabin and get an airline-style seat for no charge if you want to try and sleep in a chair in a room full of strangers instead. A cabin also gets you use of the lounges and showers at Paddington, Penzance, and Truro and a complimentary breakfast served to your cabin. Although the Night Riviera picks up passengers at Reading I opted to start at Paddington because who wants to hang around on Reading station at twenty to one in the morning, especially given that nearly everything on the station is shut by eight-thirty in the evening? That was another £21.20 for an off Peak Single with a Railcard but worth it. The 1st Class lounge at Paddington provided free hot drinks and snacks too.

As usual the train I intended to catch to Reading for a connection to Paddington was cancelled and the following one would just get me there in time - assuming it ran at all. Not wanting to risk it I left home early and got the previous departure, itself running twenty minutes late, and arrived in London with quite a bit of time to kill. So I went for a stroll around Tyburnia and had a pint before heading back to the station.

The lounge is located on platform 1 which is from where the Night Riviera usually departs but tonight we were directed to platform 8 instead.

I walked up to the front of the train to get the obligatory photo of the locomotive and then back to find my cabin in Coach F. Once aboard a nice lady came and checked my ticket, gave me the low-down on the train’s facilities, and took my breakfast order and what time I’d like it delivered to my cabin. Once settled in I went to explore the train along the very narrow corridors to the Lounge/Bar coach. This was very busy so I didn’t stop longer than necessary to drink a Coke.I went back to my cabin just as we departed Paddington at 23.46

The cabins have two bunks but for single occupancy the upper one is stowed away. The bunk is fairly narrow but because it runs across the coach it is plenty long enough for someone 6’5” tall - hence the narrow corridor in the coach. There’s a bedside table that lifts up to reveal a sink with hot and cold running water (and it is hot too) and a rubbish bin beneath. Light switches, 240v AC, and USB power outlets are located by both bunks along with a room service call button. Yes, room service is available all night if you don’t fancy going down the corridor to the lounge car in the night. There’s a connecting door to the adjacent cabin that is locked unless a party of more than two books adjacent cabins. What you will need to go down the corridor in the night for is the loo. Two are located at the ends of the coach. The sign outside your cabin will point to the ones in your coach but if your berth number is above 15 it’s almost certainly closer to the toilets in the adjacent coach and the coaches are all walk-through connected.

I sat on my bunk with the window blind open and watched the night slide by. Quite slowly especially since there were some track works going on. Not that the Night Riviera is a fast train. It takes about eight hours including stops to reach Penzance, a daytime express will do it in around five. After the stop at Reading I closed the window blind got under the duvet put my head on the comfortable pillows and prepared to nod off.

I might even have done so for a few minutes at some points in the next six hours. I have discovered something and that something is that I can’t get to sleep on a moving train. I wasn’t uncomfortable or anything like that but sleep refused to come. I think a lot of the problem was the novelty of the situation which wouldn’t let my brain switch off. The train trundled on through the dark stopping occasionally at a signal raising the question “I wonder where we are now?” and of course the temptation is to check on the map on the phone or take a peek out of the window. The tracks to the West Country are mostly smooth but not always straight and lying horizontal across a train in the dark subjects you to some odd G forces, with no visual references you feel like you are first being gently pointed head down then a moment later feet down. Onward to Devon, occasional sections of jointed rather than welded track for traditional ta-tum-te-tum train noises. At Exeter the train paused and reversed, I heard the locomotive run around the train, passing my window before re-coupling to the other end with a jolt. Clumsy bugger, doesn’t he know people are trying to sleep? 😀 A consequence of this manoeuvre that didn’t occur to me until later was that my cabin window which on leaving London had been on the left side of the train was now on the right so wouldn’t get any spectacular sea views along the coast at Dawlish 😢

By 6 a.m. it was getting light outside (although the window blinds are very effective) and I concluded that I’d had any sleep that I was going to get so cancelled the alarm I’d set on my phone, got up, washed (blimey that water is hot!) and dressed. I opened the blind and watched a very grey Cornwall passing by. Because of course the bright sunny weather we’d had all month had vanished as soon as I set off travelling - payback for having such unseasonably good weather when I was in Scotland I suppose.

We stopped at Liskeard, we stopped at Bodmin Parkway, and as we approached Par the nice young lady knocked on the door bearing a tray with a very welcome pot of tea and a sausage bap on it. Also brown sauce, tomato ketchup, and for some reason some sweet biscuits which I kept for “Ron”. 😋

I watched stops at St. Austell, Truro, and Redruth pass by and resisted the temptation to pull faces out of the window at the few early morning commuters on the opposite platforms. At Hayle I tried to get a photo of the river but mostly got the back of Asda. The penultimate stop was St. Erth where I noted the way to the platform for the St. Ives Bay Line that I’d be on later. I also noted how wet the platforms looked.

Finally at ten past eight we arrived at Penzance - that was actually 15 minutes late so I might try my luck for Delay Repay 😄 I gathered up my luggage, which consisted of one 30l backpack, and alighted onto the platform with a lot of people who had obviously come equipped for a six month expedition to the outback. I headed directly to the coffee machine in the customer lounge and a seat on which to plan my next move.

I was in Penzance at 8.30 in the morning with five and a half hours to kill before I could check into my hotel in St. Ives. What the bloody hell am I supposed to do now?

Find out in the next “exciting” episode!

 

 Spoilers: Flickr Album of my photos from my Night Riviera  trip to Cornwall

EDIT 4th July. Got £14 back in Delay Repay for being 15 minutes late at Penzance and £21.20 (the full ticket price) back for the delay caused by the cancellation on the Sandhurst to Reading journey. Result!

Doing the Locomotion, a trip to Darlington and Shildon.

I’ve been to the National Railway Museum in York twice, first on a school trip around 1977 and again in 2017. I’d never been to the other National Railway Museum site, Locomotion,in Shildon, County Durham though although I’d often thought about it. It’s not quite as easy to get to from here in the south as York but now seemed like as good a time as any so I booked a couple of nights midweek  in a hotel in Darlington, which was the closest I could find a railway-convenient vacancy. Then bought a couple of train tickets, packed my bag, and crossed my fingers for a good trip. 

 

Despite a delay between Reading and Paddington (when isn’t there? This time it was due to a vehicle striking a bridge) I easily made my connection to the LNER Azuma at Kings Cross and was whisked north. Such a long way north too although the limited number of stops helped make it feel less. Despite it being a busy train the seat next to mine remained empty and since I had showered that morning it must have been because strangely the reservation indicator showed “may be reserved later” although it never was.

 

Walking from the station to my hotel I thought “this is a bit bloody warm for t’North” and realised I’d managed to book my trip for a mini heatwave and in a hotel room without air conditioning 🙄 It was a bit of a sticky night even with the window open and a fan going. (The following day hit 25 C, I checked the weather at home, 31.5 C! Dodged that then.)

 

Of course the only sensible thing to do was go for a beer and marvel that a pint of Guinness only cost £3.55 in the centre of Darlington. In a real pub too, The Old English Gentleman, not sodding Wetherspoon’s. There was some football match going on so I don’t know if that affected the price but seriously compared to my area that’s a cheap pint 🙂

 

Not being any kind of football fan I went off in search of something I am a fan of, a curry. Cafe Spice, tucked away down a narrow passage called Clark’s Yard was midweek quiet and definitely provided the goods. Tasty chicken dansak, saag paneer, and mushroom pilau rice washed down with a couple of Cobras and quite wallet-friendly. Replete I returned to my hotel room and chilled out in front of the telly. Chilled isn’t the right word obviously given the overnight temperature remained stubbornly high.

 

The following morning after breakfast (and it would have been rude not to have had the full English included in the room rate) I walked to the railway station and got a return ticket to Shildon. I could equally have got a bus which would have taken about the same time overall but the train was actually cheaper with my railcard. Taking the train also led to a further adventure later which I probably wouldn’t have done had I been on the bus. 

 

Northern Trains two coach Class 156 grumbled along the former Stockton and Darlington Railway and I alighted at Shildon Station, a short walk from the Locomotion museum site. A much shorter walk in fact than the route that google maps took me on but I didn’t discover that until later. It doesn’t seem to know about the path which links the station to the museum. 

 

 

 

The museum now has two large buildings, or halls as they call them. The Main Hall contains the reception desk, cafe, shop, and the oldest exhibits and is passenger train focussed. Here is Locomotion No.1 the locomotive, Rocket, the Deltic, the prototype HST, and the APT amongst others. Here also is the children’s play area and the primary school parties to be navigated around and avoid when taking photos.

 

 

 

On the other side of the site is the New Hall. This is basically a big train shed and focuses on goods trains. It was somewhat quiete on my visit since the school groups weren’t in it. Large steam locomotive, very shiny Class 31 Diesel locomotive, cranes, shunters, and a variety of goods/freight rolling stock which are often overlooked for the more glamorous passenger services. There are clear information boards for the exhibits (as there are in the main hall) and I learned a good many things about railway goods services that I didn’t know before.

 

 

 

Outside between the two halls there are some sidings with more shunters and the replica Stephenson’s Rocket and here also is his iron Gaunless Bridge from 1823, the very first railway bridge to use an iron truss.

 

 

 

Away from the halls back towards Shildon Station (along the path google maps doesn’t admit to) and in the village are a number of historic buildings and structures which are also part of the wider Locomotion site. Shildon was the location of the Stockton & Darlington’s main engineering works making it the world’s first railway town and earning it the title of “The Cradle of the Railways”. The preserved buildings include a warehouse, a Sunday school, the goods shed, and a row of cottages including Soho House, built for Timothy Hackworth, steam locomotive engineer and the S&D’s first locomotive superintendent.

 

 

 

In the 20th century Shildon developed into the largest railway wagon works in the world employing around 2500 people and capable of building 1200-1500 new wagons a year and overhauling 20000. Despite a campaign to keep it open and find new orders it was closed down in 1984 by British Rail Engineering Ltd. and the Tory government resulting in most of the male workforce of Shildon losing their jobs and Shildon ceasing to be a “railway town”.

 

Is Locomotion worth travelling a long way to visit? Absolutely yes. Also entry is free, although they encourage donations (or just buy yourself something from the shop or cafe) and you don’t get better value than that. I took a lot of photos too.

 

 

 

I spent about 3 hours in Shildon and on the train back to Darlington wondered what else to do for the rest of the day, which was very hot and sunny. Then I realised that the train carried on all the way to Saltburn-by-the-Sea and I’d never been there either...

My 2023 in Review

 

2023 was my first whole year as an idle sod (officially) so I've taken a look back through my calendar to see what I actually did and pick out some highlights.

January Started with a week of Rail Strikes so travel opportunities were a bit limited but after that managed to get out and walk from Catford to the Thames along the River Ravensbourne. I also paid a Sunday afternoon visit to Hanwell, and managed a trip to see the Winter Lights at Canary Wharf and made my only visit to the Tower of London thanks to a Christmas present of a year's Historic Royal Palaces membership.

February Saw a boat trip around Portsmouth Harbour, a visit to the shopping mall that is Battersea Power Station, a day down at the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and a trip to Hackney for the great Urban Good relocation map giveaway from which scrummage I bagged a decent number of maps of London and a couple of other cities. The big highlight of the month was my Hidden London tour of Shepherd's Bush Underground station, which turned out to be a personal tour since by coincidence I was the only customer to book that particular time slot on that day.

 

To finish the month I had a belated Xmas Drinks with some of my former workmates where vast quantities of drink were taken, resulting in a rather uncomfortable ride home by rail Replacement Bus!

March saw my first trip away of the year and despite a weather warning for snow had a good stay in a working water mill in Wookey, Somerset. From which I visited Wells Cathedral, Burnham On Sea, and a spectacularly wet Glastonbury. The HRP membership got me inside the spectacular Banqueting House on Whitehall and LT Museum Friends membership into the Depot Open day at Acton.

April 5th saw me take a midweek afternoon ride route 465 - Transport for London's most un-London Bus Route. On the 21st I hit the big six-oh and took my HRP membership card for a ride to Kensington Palace

May was the month for my big rail trip to the far north of Scotland which had been delayed since March 2020 when something screwed up my careful plans. It was worth the wait, nine days away stopping in Edinburgh, Inverness, and Thurso and finally setting foot in my original target of Wick on a very quiet Saturday 13th. Second highlight of May was going to Worcester to see Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp in concert. 

June brought another bus trip, the Route 65 and 71 Heritage Event between Ealing and Kingston and Leatherhead. I also went away to Happisburgh in Norfolk to explore childhood holiday territory and visit the North Norfolk Railway again and the East Anglian Transport Museum for the first time, the latter fulfilling an ambitions a good fifty years old.

July Featured a trip on the LT Museum's Heritage 1938 Stock Tube train from Acton Town to Oakwood and back. 

 

In between industrial action on the railways I managed to squeeze in a "pick a random city you haven't been to" trip away. Which this time was Nottingham for the trams, the Trent, and the castle.

August began with the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's and then majored on buses, with a visit to the Oxford Bus Museum followed by an incredibly busy Imberbus Day

 

 

Right at the end of the month into the beginning of September I got away for a long weekend in Paignton for some seaside walking and of course a seaside steam train.

September brought my second Hidden London tour of 2023, the newly introduced one at Baker Street station. I had to share this one but it was still good.
September saw Open House London run over two weekends and this year I managed visits to The City Churches: St Mary-le-Bow, Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene Church, Paddington, and Fitzrovia Chapel on the first and National Audit Office (former Imperial Airways Terminal) and Lewisham Arthouse on the second. I went to the second LT Museum Depot open weekend of the year and finished off the month with a trip to the Chelsea Physic Garden which was having a free entry day as part of Chelsea Festival.

October was a bit quieter. Not entirely quiet as I went to Basingstoke and saw Toyah and Robert in concert again. Also a visit to Gunnersbury House to see the rather good Exhibition "Set to Stun: Designing & Filming Sci-Fi in West London". The end of the month marked the 1 year anniversary of my exit from wage-slavery.

November was mostly car related things. I spent the 5th standing at a Sussex roadside taking pictures of the VCC London to Brighton Run and at least this year it didn't piss down with rain.
I went to the Classic Car Show at Birmingham NEC for the first time in years, travelling up by train and staying in Coventry as it was easier - and cheaper - than finding a suitable hotel in Brum. Finally I saw Show Of Hands on their last tour, in Basingstoke again.

December is never up to much. The highlight of the month might have been putting four new tyres on the car but was edged out by meeting some former colleagues for beers in Reading. Lots of beers but fortunately no rail Replacement Buses this time. I made the LT Museum Friends AGM at Covent Garden and Barry Le Jeune's entertaining talk afterwards. In fact now work doesn't get in the way I've been able to attend many more of the Friends' meetings this year. Xmas? Meh. I had a good lunch on the day with family but I'm not really a Christmas person.

So ends another trip around the sun. Skimming the calendar to write this blog post I realize I've done more than I first thought. I've only included the more notable events here, there have been many other minor excursions. 2024 will likely be similar.

Exe-ploring in Devon. Part 1.

Saturday 26th March 2022

The end of the annual leave year and a goodish wether forecast means time for a little railway trip holiday. I might have visited Exeter once long ago but I’d never stayed there so booked 3 nights at Jurys inn, being not too far from the railway stations, and an off peak return to St. James Park (Exeter). At Reading GWR was providing its usual Saturday menu of late-running trains and I could have caught the delayed service prior to that on which i had a seat booked. I thought it might be a bit crowded so let it go which turned out to be a mistake really since the 1230 departure hadn’t even left Paddington by the time it was supposed to have reached Reading and we all spent a windy hour on platform 7 wondering if it would turn up or be cancelled. It turned up about 27 minutes late and everyone piled on board and off to Exeter St. Davids I went, arriving 30 minutes later than expected. This would have meant a longish wait for a connection however a late-running train to St. James Park turned up after a few minutes thus getting me to my final destination 29 minutes late and alas only eligible for the lowest Delay Repay compensation band.

 

I hadn’t made the mental connection between St. James Park and Exeter City’s football stadium and as it turned out they were at home to Stevenage that afternoon but by the time I got there the crowds were all inside and cheering loudly - Exeter won 2-1 - so that was an advantage. On the other hand there were two dozy women who suddenly decided that they were on the wrong train, having been told they’d need to get off at SJP and catch the following one instead decided to stand in the doorway and have a prolonged discussion about it so that everyone else had to struggle to get past them and onto the platform. As the train pulled out I realised that somewhere in the scrum I’d dropped my hat :-( I’ve just jumped through the hoops to register it with GWR lost property which surprise, surprise involves creating an account with some hitherto unknown third party that they’ve contracted out to. 

 

Anyway, I found the hotel and in spite of the 1600hrs check in time specified on the booking, which seemed unusual to me, they let me in just after 3 o’clock and I was able to get my feet up and a brew on.

 

Suitably refreshed and no longer dragging a large holdall about I went off to explore Exeter.

 

 

 

Having been heavily bombed during the war in the 1940s Exeter has some fine examples of post-war buildings in the city centre and unlike some other places they haven’t yet been demolished and replaced with a shiny, USAnian style, privatised shopping mall. Also they appear to have been kept in a good state of repair - or perhaps refurbished?

 

 

 

It’s a fair walk down to the Quay but that’s where much of the action is early on a Saturday evening when it’s sunny. I went for a walk up and down the banks of the Exe and then headed back up towards the city centre to find a pub where I could get near the bar to buy a beer (The Ship) and not being able to make up my mind where to go for dinner did the obvious and got fish and chips and sat on the green outside the cathedral.

 

 

 

Then back to the hotel for a couple of beers and some interesting conversations in the bar :-)

 

Part 2 will follow, Exmouth, sunshine, a beach, and a rusty pole.

Spa Valley Railway

 Tuesday 3rd August 2021

As things are opening up again - permanently or temporarily, who knows? - I decided that a visit to a heritage railway would be nice, especially as this one at least was happy to sell me one ticket rather than insisting on me paying for two, four, or more as was the case with some others.

The Spa Valley Railway runs from Tunbridge Wells in Kent to Eridge in East Sussex. At Eridge it shares a station with the Southern Railway main line with trains from London Bridge, East Croydon, Oxted and Uckfield. However that would be about three hours and five changes from here or about 90 minutes in the car. There's a large and reasonably priced car park at Eridge station.

 

Eridge looks and feels like a heritage line station and apart from the dot matrix indicators on platform 1 it’s only the modern diesel trains arriving at and departing from this platform that give the game away. 

Today was a heritage diesel running day on the Spa Valley Railway with services being provided by a two car BR Class 207 “Thumper” DEMU running to the “Purple Timetable” which provided five journeys in each direction throughout the day.

An adult ticket cost £12 on the day (even if purchased online) or £10 if you’re not travelling on the spur of the moment and buy it online in advance. Buy it at the station and it’s £12. That’s not too bad for what’s actually an all day rover, cheaper than many other preserved lines and the timings allowed me to catch the 1115 at Eridge, have a bit of lunch in Tunbridge Wells and look around the town and the SVR depot before getting the 1325 at Tunbridge Wells to Groombridge which is good for filming, photography, and more importantly tea and biccies from the kiosk on the station. After a quick wander around the village which isn’t that exciting I returned to Eridge on the 1501. I should mention that not one of those trains actually departed at the scheduled time, usually it was about 5 minutes later :-)

 

Having grown up on BR’s Western Region I’m not familiar with the Class 207 trains of Southern Region, nicknamed Thumpers because of the engine noise I read, which are diesel electric multiple units built in 1962 and remaining in service until 2004 when slam doors were no longer acceptable on a modern railway. Unlike the trains I grew up with which had the engines slung under the floor these have an engine in a compartment behind the driving cab and guard’s compartment, which obviously takes up a lot of space which otherwise could contain passengers. They sound good though if you’re in the motorised unit that is and if you’re in the trailer you can barely hear the engine at all.

 

In true 1960s style and unlike modern commuter trains the interiors have seats with actual springs in because back then the government didn’t insist that everyone travel in as much discomfort as possible. Quite a bit of standing space though for rush hour loadings and I expect the luggage racks above the seats were handy for reading the morning papers. No overcrowding today though, in fact I thought I was going to have this section of the train to myself until shortly before departure a young man & his companion/carer boarded. There had obviously been some sort of incident at the station which had upset him and he proceeded to have a minor melt-down for the duration of the trip, fortunately at the far end of the carriage mostly out of microphone range of my camera. I hope he calmed down enough to enjoy the rest of his day.

 

Tunbridge Wells West station is where most of the SVR locomotives and rolling stock lives and you can wander around the engine shed and yard where there are a number of steam and diesel locomotives in either running condition or serious stages of rebuild. The SVR is based in the engine shed, the lines into the original station being truncated by the access road for Sainsbury’s and the station buildings now a hotel and restaurant named “Smith & Western” with a huge set of cow horns over the entrance. I expect they play both kinds of music but I didn’t venture inside to find out, instead walking up to the Pantiles shopping area and the Chalybeate Spring which gives the town its name but is still shut due to the Great Plague of 2020/21.

 

I took a picnic up onto Tunbridge Wells Common which is conveniently located a short walk from the town and the SVR station. After which I caught the train to Groombridge.

 

Groombridge is probably the best station on the line to see and photograph the trains. It also has the passing loop so on days when multiple trains run this is where they pass. It’s also the place today where the sun passed out of sight behind the clouds although at least the rain held off until I was back on a train. The station has a refreshments kiosk which serves a decent cup of tea. I took a walk into the village which lies on the Kent/East Sussex border, here delineated by the river Grom (one 'o') over which there is a very small bridge carrying the B2110, and from which the village takes its name although it has acquired a spare ‘o' from somewhere along the way.

Last ride of the day was back to Eridge. I had planned to visit the fourth station High Rocks which is in the grounds of the pub and national monument but when passing through there was a sign saying the attraction was currently closed and the gate from the platform very much locked shut. Some other time then, a return visit being on the cards maybe on a steam running day.

More photos Flickr Album

 

And glorious(?) HD video

 

 

 

Norwich, Norfolk 'n good.

7th February 2020

Hmm, seems to have taken me a couple of weeks to get around to writing about my quick trip to the unofficial capital of East Anglia.Probably because it was something of a curate’s egg.

I had hoped to get a ride on one of Greater Anglia’s shiny new Stadler trains but this was not to be and my 1st Class (only because I had some compensatory vouchers to use up) off-peak return only got me a seat behind a Class 90 on a train with no working toilets, a lot of rattles, and an internal carriage end door that wouldn’t shut, resulting in a fresh breeze at each station stop. On the way back it was two mis-matched 4 car Class 321s with no catering. For my first experience of GA this wasn’t impressive.

At least the sun was shining when I arrived.

The Premier Inn is handily just across the River Wensum from the station although getting to the entrance entails finding your way around the back and through a car park and drop-off area. If there’s a segregated pedestrian route I saw no sign of it. Comfortable room with a river view across to the station, shame the free Wi-Fi was buggered. I went out to find something to eat.

I have as a solo traveller been into pubs in a lot of cities in the UK and never had a bad experience or been made to feel unwelcome. Norwich, or at least the Woolpack Inn on Golden Ball St. proved to be an exception. It started off ok, I had fish and chips and a pint both of which were more than acceptable and having eaten I was considering getting another pint but it wasn’t to be. Mrs Chatham-face-lift and family entered, removed the reserved after 6pm sign from a nearby table planted themselves down and ordered food. Shortly the musicians arrived to set up, which is why the tables were “reserved”, they were to be moved to provide a stage area. Good, I like live music in pubs. This gave Mrs CFL a problem though, she couldn’t find another table so she marched up to me and rudely asked “how long do you expect to be sitting there?”. She regarded my reply as “fucking uncooperative” apparently and wandered away only to return, plant her two Midwich Cuckoo look-a-like kids and inbred husband at my table and informed me that "we’re going to sit here now and have our meal”. I pointed out that this was rather rude so she shouted in my face “yes it is, so what?”. As the Woolpack staff didn’t seem interested I fucked off to find a decent pub. That she didn’t get the remains of my pint in her nail-hard face is only because I hate to waste beer but it was a close run thing. I was reminded of the expression “Normal for Norfolk” but that might be unkind, she looked more like she was from a couple of counties further south. This incident slightly overshadowed my mood for the rest of the trip.

The Ribs Of Beef on Wensum Street however was much more welcoming and had a terrific range of beers and ciders. If you’re in Norwich go there instead.

Returning to the hotel it was obvious that it was in the nightclub and late night kebab-house centre of Norwich but in spite of that I had an undisturbed night’s sleep.

The next morning I eschewed Premier’s overpriced breakfast, checked out, and headed to the market. There are few better markets than the one in the middle of Norwich and few better sausage and bacon baps than the one I got from Debs, which I ate sitting in front of city hall watching the activity in the market below and fending off the feral pigeons.

Suitably fed and watered I spent the next few hours exploring Norwich city centre’s ancient streets, which I’d previously only done briefly, being then accompanied by family and dogs who weren’t up for such aimless wandering.

After visiting the really impressive Cathedral I took a walk in the unseasonal sunshine - good timing as Storm Ciara arrived the next day - along the riverside and had enough time for a cheeky pint on the riverside terrace of the Compleat Angler before crossing the road to get the train home.

Tram, train, rain, tram.

Friday 6th September 2019

Manchester's Metrolink Tram system extends far beyond the city to the surrounding suburbs and nearby towns.

Such as Bury, 8 miles north-west of Manchester on the River Irwell and famous for black pudding and as the birthplace of Sir Robert Peel, founder of the Metropolitan Police and the Conservative Party. One of which facts probably makes him a hate figure, you can decide for yourself which.

The Metrolink trams are not low-floor vehicles, surprisingly since they run through the streets, and so require stops that are more like railway stations with quite high platforms. unlike the trams in Croydon where the platform is little more than a raised height kerb.

Handily for the visitor the system allows contactless payment with daily caps, almost like London's Oyster except that you need to touch in and touch out again at the end of your journey. Failure to touch out will result in a £4.60 incomplete journey charge. Failure to touch in will get you a stonking £30 "standard contactless fare". Since I can't see any journey that would cost that much why don't they just be honest and call it a penalty charge? Either way, don't forget to touch in and out. So I touched in using G-pay at St. Peter's Square and hopped on a "green line" service to Bury. The trams run for part of the way over what was the East Lancashire Railway line and there are some far reaching views of Lancashire along the way. The line terminates in the town centre at Bury Interchange. 

The original East Lancashire Railway however terminated at Bury Bolton Street station, about 5 minutes walk from Bury Interchange and the current East Lancashire Railway is still there.

The street level building dates from 1952, the previous one having burnt down after the war. The rest of the station and platforms are below in a deep cutting.

There was about an hour to wait before the next departure to Rawtenstall so I walked across Bolton Street and down the slope to the Bury Transport Museum which is connected with the heritage railway and housed in a former Castlecroft Goods Warehouse. Entry is free although as with any free museum they are donation-hungry. Chuck a few quid in if you can.

It's not a huge museum but they have managed to pack quite a lot in there. They have a wide selection of vehicles including buses, lorries, tractors, vans, cars, and even a steam roller.

There's plenty of hands-on stuff for children to play with too, though as it was Friday there weren't any, at least while I was there. I expect it's different at the weekend.

It certainly kept me interested until it was time to wander back to the railway station, purchase a return ticket to Rawtenstall (£12.50) from the traditional ticket office window and go down to the platform and await the 1455 departure.

It was a pleasant trip despite the weather coming over all "northern" and I made this video which covers the trip there and back.

Having returned to Bury it was Friday evening commuter time. It was also time for something to eat. Bury isn't short of fast food outlets which provided amply for that requirement.

I singularly failed to get any black pudding but I had nowhere to keep it until I went home anyway.

So I touched in at Bury Interchange and rode a somewhat busier tram back to Manchester city centre and walked back to my hotel.

Considering I'd forgotten that the steam railway was there until I actually got to Bury I consider that was a good afternoon all round.

The Heart of Wales Line

23rd July 2019

The rail trip from Swansea to Shrewsbury via what is now known (and promoted) as The Heart Of Wales Line is high on any list of scenic railway journeys in the UK. Technically The Heart of Wales runs between Llanelli and Craven Arms but the trains run from Swansea to Shrewsbury which are more convenient start and finish points.

So I was up early on what was already a warm morning and forecast to be a hot day in time to check out of the hotel and find some breakfast before going to Swansea station ready to catch the 0934 departure for Shrewsbury. I was on an Advance Standard Single so trading cost against flexibility, which meant valid only on this train and no hopping on and off at intermediate stations alas.

If travelling from the Swansea end you'll want to get a seat by the window and facing "the wrong way" as the train reverses at Llanelli so you'll be facing "the right way" for the most scenic part of the trip.

There were quite a few other passengers aboard when we left Swansea and a lot more joined at Llanelli so bagging a decent seat was a must. Given the forecast temperatures I went for what I hoped would be the more shaded side of the train too - starboard to start which became port after the train reversed at Llanelli. Also took plenty of drinking water, this isn't a service run with modern air-conditioned rolling stock - our train was a two car Class 150 Sprinter. It did have free WiFi though, however this resolutely refuse to allocate me an IP address and eventually gave up the ghost altogether. It may have been due to the heat but the train electrical system did appear to be quite unwell resulting in no interior lights (cue ghost train screams in the tunnel sections) and a khazi door with a mind of its own 🙄

Anyway, the scenery, yes it's worth the trip.

Sugar Loaf Station. Sadly no one requested to stop at this most remote of stations and I was distracted so didn't manage to get a picture ☹️

This one is taken from the top of Cynghordy Viaduct though, which is quite a view.

At Builth Road there was quite an exodus of passengers and from there on we gained and lost quite a few as locals as well as tourists make use of this line.

The scenery continued to be worth the trip.

We gained a couple of well laden cyclists for a while who were so keen they almost got off one stop before they were supposed to (too many stations with names beginning Llan ?) and then stood by the door for the next several miles.

Most of the stations, even the smaller ones, appeared to be well looked after especially those under the care of community groups.

Still more scenery.

Between Knucklas and Knighton we crossed the border into England and lost the "Llans" and the terrain became more rolling than hilly.

Around Craven Arms there were more industrial buildings and eventually we crossed the River Severn into Shrewsbury Station.

My word it was hot in Shrewsbury town centre!

I found a cafe in the shopping centre and had a much needed cup of tea ⛾
then checked into the Premier Inn and turned the air-con down ❄


The Heart of Wales is definitely one to tick off the scenic railway must do list and will quite possibly get a revisit at some point, hopefully with some more time available to explore.

More photos from the Heart of Wales (and a bit of England too):