We have enjoyed several trips in the UK and Europe by train and they seemed too good to keep to ourselves. These are all real reports of our own experiences and none is sponsored by any of the businesses mentioned in them; all views are my own. Do feel free to comment and ask questions! #flygskam #trainbragging
We did not need much breakfast after the previous evening’s wonderful dinner, but what we did enjoy of the hotel’s buffet breakfast was very good. Our full day in Copenhagen consisted of a city tour partly on foot and partly by coach with a good local guide, lunch at a traditional restaurant and then a boat tour of the city. The rest of the afternoon and evening was free.
The guided tour took us to Amalienborg Palace, four matching palaces arranged in a square, each with its own purpose. Like the UK, Denmark is a constitutional monarchy but less formal: the Queen walks her dogs along the riverside when in residence in the city, just as anyone else might. The soldiers keeping guard are less rigid than ours and actually look as if they are keeping watch rather than concentrating on marching in exactly the right way. The coach took us to the waterfront where we had a chance to see that statue of the Little Mermaid, a reminder of the famous Hans Christian Andersen story with has become a symbol of the city. It is a small statue on the water’s edge beneath the harbour wall and is really only easy to find because of the crowds gathering round to see it. I do not remember in being so crowded when we came about 35 years ago, but memory can play tricks. Last time I was here there were huge catamarans taking traffic to and from Malmo, across the water in Sweden, but these have now ben superseded by the Oresund Bridge which we would be taking the following day.
We learnt about recent redevelopment in the city, including the new waste incinerator plant which provides district heating by burning the city’s waste and whose roof provides a ski slope as well as an urban garden. The city is also served by a new theatre and new national opera house on the waterside. It remains a beautiful city: wonderful Copenhagen. Our local guide showed us briefly a wonderful pre-reformation Lutheran church in the city centre which retained much more of its original style than English churches of that period which suffered during the commonwealth era. He then left us at the restaurant Pilekaelderen where the whole party enjoyed the traditional Smørrebrød lunch of local dishes served like a tapas.
From there we walked to the trip boat pier at Nyhaven where we boarded our booked public tour boat for a tour around the harbour and the city’s canals. For me the most interesting part was through Christianshavn wher King Christian built a new part of the city based very much upon the layout and style of Amsterdam. It is quite amazing what can be done by someone with enough authority and a a strong vision of what he wants to achieve.
After the canal tour we walked slowly back to the hotel through the hot sunshine, stopping at a Lindt chocolate shop which was advertising ice-cream .... it was too hot to buy chocolate unless it is ice-cream! We ate it in the shop because the sunshine was far too hot to take it outside.
Back at the hotel we had a brief rest and then set out for an evening walk. We did not need an evening meal after all we'd enjoyed during the day, and back at our room we packed most of our things ready for the following day when our luggage would be taken separately to Stockholm while we caught our train. We made sure that we had enough in our hand luggage to see us through one night in case there were a hold-up to the main luggage.
On Thursday morning we left our luggage ready for the porter and had a big breakfast to see us through the day and set off for the station to take a train to Malmö where we were to change for a fast train onwards to Stockholm. The first train continued the tradition of late running, but this time only by four minutes, nothing like the hour-or-more delays of Germany. We had coffee at Malmö and then went to catch our train, a high-speed tilting train to Stockholm which actually departed on time. We arrived just a touch late in Stockholm and followed our Tour Manager through the complexities of Stockholm main station to emerge from a metro exit right under our hotel, the Scandic Continental.
The hotel was an amazing building of modernist Scandinavian design right opposite the railway station. There were entrances on two levels because streets cross each other by bridge right where the hotel stands, although the entrance on the upper ground floor is currently out of use (unfortunately, as the tram stop is near that door). In our room was a coffee-table book about the design and construction of the building - unfortunately in Swedish language only, but the pictures were interesting! One of the features of the building was a diagonal split through the centre to provide an unusually shaped atrium, and with one side of the building higher than the other the lower flat roof housed an outdoor bar with stunning views over the city. We were to say in Stockholm for three nights, the longest stay of the tour, so it was worth unpacking properly at this hotel, then we had dinner as a group in the hotel restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk to explore the old town, a short walk from the hotel. This was a part of the city we would get to know reasonably well over the next couple of days.
Friday's guided tour began following the theme of transport delays with our coach stuck in queues arising from a road traffic accident, but a quick change to the schedule saw us walk to the City Hall to begin there, with the coach to collect us after that. The City Hall has to be seen to be believed and was well worth our time. A fabulous example of Swedish romantic architecture with art deco touches. Having a local guide to explain the background and the uses of the hall was brilliant.
Moving on by coach we happened to be at the Royal Palace when the changing of the guard was due. We also saw the administrative buildings of the government and parliament.
The coach dropped as all at Djurgården where the was a huge choice of museums and different people visited different ones. We investigated the Skansen outdoor museum and decided it needed a whole day, so we bought tickets for the following day which had no included activities and would therefore allow us to see all we wished. We had a drink and a snack and by then it was time to look for the boat trip back to the Old Town. That happened to be the time when our Tour Manager was taking most of the group back with him so we travelled with them. We paid for the boat using our local travel app which we had been advised to install on our smartphones. Absolutely brilliant: saved having to queue for tickets and so easy to use.
This day was the day, the round birthday that the whole adventure was celebrating, so on our way through the Old Town we booked a table at a local restaurant that our local guide in the morning had suggested as one that served local dishes. After a shower and change of clothes we waked back to the restaurant, Kaffegillet, opposite the Cathedral, and enjoyed traditional Swedish dishes. We liked it so much that the following day, on our way back from our day at Skansen, we would return and try other Swedish dishes at the same place.
On Saturday, then, we began with a tram to Djurgården, where we spent all day at Skansen. This was a fantastic display of traditional buildings moved there from all over Sweden, as well as a zoological section full of Nordic animals. We returned by boat again and called at Kaffegillet for dinner on the way to the hotel. Time to pack ready to move on in the morning. No more trains now for some time: air, sea and road were to provide our travel for the next few moves.
Sunday was expected to be an exciting day for us, as it involved a flight, our first for many years. Given how much had changed since we last flew, it was helpful that we were with a group and our Tour Manager had all the arrangements in hand. it was unfortunate that the tour continued in the manner in which it had been progressing since Brussels, though, with the aircraft in the wrong place and take-off expected to be delayed by 100 minutes. We arrived at the airport, Stockholm Arlanda, in time for check-in at the normal time and so had almost four hours before take-off. When baggage check-in opened the queue moved at a glacial pace and by the time I got to hand in my suitcase I was already feeling the strain of standing for so long, but worse was yet to come. When we went to the security scan for ourselves and our hand-luggage we had to walk for a very considerable distance to get to the back of the queue. It was worse than the queue at St Pancras had been when we were leaving London and again the queue moved unbelievably slowly. Indeed by the time we actually reached the security scanners I realised that had the flight not been delayed we would have missed it while standing in line at security!
Is this what flying is like? Is this how "the other half" habitually travel? My knees had had more than enough standing (about three hours) and I was not expecting railway standards of legroom on the aircraft, an Airbus's 220 of Air Baltic. In spite of the enormous queues there was still enough time before departure to have a drink and a snack airside before being called to the gate. Eventually we went through and boarded the plane. It was comfortable enough for a short flight but I'd not have wanted to be going any further in a seat like that. The flight itself was smooth and quick and we were soon taxiing to the terminal at Riga. There was a little wait before our luggage appeared on the belt at baggage reclaim, and when it did the suitcases were very wet, having stood beside the plane in heavy rain before being loaded in the hold, and when we arrived at the hotel we had to dry the clothes that had been near the zips, always the weak spot in a suitcase's weatherproofing. The queues at Arlanda airport had taken approximately twice as long as the actual flight! Shall we fly again? Only if we really have to do so!
We were met at the airport by a coach which took us to the start of our next adventure, the former Soviet Republics of Latvia and Estonia and the former Russian Grand Duchy of Finland. It was to be fascinating, and I look forward to describing it in the next post.
You can just scroll down through the most recent posts and keep hitting the "Older Posts" link at the foot of each page, but you might also like to have a look through the items in the column on the right-hand side of the page where you'll find a search box and a list of posts in date order which I've labelled "The Itinerary". Lower down is an automatically generated list of the most popular posts on the site.
Across the top of this pane (or behind the "Move to ..." link at the top of the mobile version) are tabs to static pages which may be of interest to some readers.
Meanwhile, if you want to find out what motivates me, I have recorded a little introduction on YouTube which you can see here:
If you'd like to subscribe, either to this blog or to my YouTube channel, that would be lovely, but whether you do or not I hope you enjoy reading about some of my little adventures.
And do, please, leave comments here or on YouTube: it's great to have conversation.
London, Bremen, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Lübeck, Cologne
Part 1, through Belgium and Germany to Denmark
This tour of Scandinavian and Baltic countries was planned as a birthday treat for my wife's next round birthday and we were able to time it so that we would be away on the actual day. This had an advantage when going to northern Europe in that it would be likely to be warm enough, since the big day is close to midsummer day. The Great Rail Journeys rail tour "Highlights of Scandinavia and the Baltics" nicely fitted what she wanted to do and was available at just the right timing, so we booked it up as soon as we discovered it, well in advance, and worked all out other plans round it.
Many other trips small and large were taken between booking this one and starting the adventure!
Trains and Boats and Planes
There are no trains out of Stamford on a Sunday morning but this suited us well on this occasion: as I am to be missing from church for two Sundays while touring, it was as well to be able to take the Sunday service at St Martin's before I left. We had a light lunch, washed up and walked down to the station for our booked train and connected at Peterborough for a train to London, travelling in First Class, booked well in advance.
As usual, soon after leaving Peterborough the cold drinks trolley came through and we chose rosé wine, excellent for such a hot day and we thought it would go well with our chosen food but alas the food had run out, but for crisps and biscuits. Not a disaster but an annoyance: we were meeting our son in London for a drink and would just add some food to the plan. Having checked in at the Premier Inn at Kings Cross we met at Mare Street Food, in the beautifully-redeveloped Kings Cross area.
On Monday morning our Great Rail Journeys tour began as we met our Tour Manager Martyn outside the GRJ office at St Pancras station and then made our way to the ticket barriers in the International Departures area. There was an unprecedented queue! usually we just walk in, wth an occasional brief wait, but this time the queue started right back by the lifts to the Southeastern Highspeed platforms. Although it was a long queue it was fast and it was not all that long a time before we were scanning our tickets and going through to await boarding. Security and passport check were swift and efficient. I was expecting to buy coffee at The Station Pantry as usual only to find that it was closed and behind hoardings, being redeveloped into another type of establishment. So we finished up at Prêt-à-Manger which was perfectly fine. Just time to drink our coffee before the train started loading and we went up the travellator to find our coach and our pair of facing single seats, our favourite accommodation on Eurostar and on any other train that offers it. As usual, a light breakfast was served on the train, and as often on Great Rail Journeys we met some of our fellow travellers who were sitting at the four-seat table opposite ours.
The Eurostar train arrived at Brussels on time and then began a long catalogue of delays. We had time to have lunch at Brussels and already knew that our connecting service to Cologne was running late.
We were scheduled to catch the 17:11 train from Cologne to Bremen and there was still plenty of time to make the connection, but it was indicated as expected at 17:58 and with no catering. As time passed it became later and later until it finally left Cologne at 19:00, nearly two hours late. This is, I'm sorry to say, the sort of service we have come to expect from DB. Our Tour Manager telephoned ahead to our hotel who kindly held back our buffet dinner until we arrived. It was a pity that we should not have a chance to see much at all of Bremen: thanks to further delays to our train we had to go straight into dinner and did not get to bed until midnight.
On a bright and sunny Tuesday morning we walked back to Bremen station for the ICE to Hamburg. This one did have its catering offering but was a few minutes late then held before arriving at Hamburg Hbf, but was still in good time to make our connection to Copenhagen. The coffee was good but we had to pay cash, which is unusual these days; to our surprise, the train to Copenhagen was from Prague and was a Czech train with a Czech crew. Having crossed Germany it was, of course, late, although only be ten minutes. This eventually became twenty minutes before it actually departed. We were travelling in Second Class on this train, but this was still comfortable and pleasant. We did think of having a hot meal in the restaurant car, but when we went all the tables were taken and there were few of the cooked items left, so we bought sandwiches and took them back to our seats. The first highlight of this section of the journey was crossing the Kiel Canal on the Rendsburg High Bridge. This is high enough to allow ships to pass beneath, and have crossed the train then descends on a wide spiral to pass under the bridge and continue on its way along the opposite bank of the canal. This is all in a wooded residential area which looks great from the railway, although how great the railway looks from the homes I cannot say!
After crossing the other highlight of this journey, the Great Belt crossing, there was a total change of mood after a Danish crew took over at a subsequent stop. The driver spoke to us and told us he was going to to his best to regain lost time, there was a ticket check and a rubbish collection and everyone was asked to get their luggage out of the aisles, there was an announcement about the bistro (it was not restocked, though and the Czech steward remained). Unfortunately a Signal fault caused further delay and lost a few minutes more than our Danish driver had been able to recover. We arrived in Copenhagen's wonderful main station with its unique timber truss roof just in time to walk to our hotel, the Scandic Palace in the main square, drop our luggage in our room and then walk to our meal out at the restaurant Flammen for a traditional buffet dinner. It was very much a carvery where we were served with our choice if meat (I had wild boar) and helped ourselves to the vegetables.
We had arrived in Scandinavia, the first of a series of capital cities. We had been in Copenhagen before, on a day out from Billund when we brought our children there for Legoland over thirty years ago! We recognised only the royal palace. Back in those days we had to fly to Copenhagen, but now were able to get there by rail via the Great Belt bridge and tunnel. Our activities in Copenhagen and subsequent adventures in Stockholm, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki will follow soon in the next post or two ....
On Friday we all walked to the Manx Electric Railway terminal at Derby Castle on a slightly less-murky day. It was good to have a bit of a walk, a decent bit of exercise after a lot of sitting about over the last couple of days. At Derby Castle terminal we watched our tram (or is it a train?) being prepared. Each one seems to consist of an enclosed tram car with trolley pole, towing a "toast rack" open coach which has an enormous seating capacity. It is a bit of a faff shunting this set at the termini because every time the powered tramcar changes direction the current collection pole has to be reversed, involving it being pulled off the conductor wire, pulled round and re-engaged with the wire. Eventually the crew managed to get the two vehicles in the correct order and then brought them to the tram stop, once they'd got the waiting passengers off the track, and we were able to board, all of our party opting to travel in the open coach.
The tram rattled and ground its way up and down the landscape, sometimes beside a road, sometimes not, until it arrived at Laxey, about half way to its northern terminus at Ramsey. We all left the tram there and carefully crossed the tracks to a waiting tramcar on the Snaefell Mountain Railway: this is an electric rack railway system that climbs the only mountain on the island and is the only such railway in the British Isles. On a clear day, I am told, you can see a long way, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, but this was definitely not a clear day: the clouds came and went a bit as we ascended but by the time we reached the top we were in thick mist and a strong, cold wind. I stood on the summit and could not even see the tramcar two minutes' walk away. I came down to have a warming cup of chocolate in the café and found that my hair was streaming wet and my clothes soaked: the wet wind was like a spray and I had been thoroughly drenched.
We took the tram back to Laxey where we were free for a couple of hours before the booked journey back to Douglas. We had a home-made gelato at a little independent ice-cream parlour near the station, down here it was much warmer and almost sunny. Then it was time to walk along to the world-famous Laxey Wheel, the Lady Isabella. This is the biggest water-wheel in the world and extremely powerful. Its purpose was to provide power to pump water from the metal ore mines near Laxey, and the shaft connecting the wheel to the mine oscillates along a raised channel atop a long series of arches. The water that powers the wheel falls from the river above. You can see Lady Isabella in action on my video on YouTube.
Return to the hotel in Douglas was by the Manx Electric Railway back to Derby Castle, and we all travelled in the "toast rack" coach again, for the view. The party then boarded the horse-drawn tram at Derby Castle as far as Villa Marina, This was a new experience for almost everyone. Riding along smoothly on rails it was hard to believe that we were in a horse-drawn vehicle plodding slowly along the middle of the busy seafront road. The horse tram used to go all the way to the ferry terminal near our hotel but has been truncated at Villa Marina, so we did have to walk the rest of the way. We had done a lot and took the rest of the day easy before changing for dinner in the hotel restaurant once more. All our evening meals were included on this tour.
One thing we learned at The Old House of Keys was that early on in the days of motoring the Island's parliament voted to close the roads from time to time to allow racing, which was not something allowed in Great Britain of Ireland. The island is best know for the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Races, and is visited by a lot of keen motorcyclists who like to ride the TT circuit, at more reasonable speeds. As it happened, the two weeks' practice for the 2026 TT Races was to start the weeks after we were there, and the preparations were well in hand: all the paraphernalia of a race track were being put into place and islanders were going away on holiday and letting their homes out to spectators.
Our tour included a ride on a coach along a substantial part of the circuit with a commentary from someone who has competed in TT races in the past. It is a long circuit taking in several towns of varying sizes as well as Snaefell mountain, and modern racing motorcycles reach speeds up to 200mph on suitable stretches of the road. It was fascinating, even to a non-biker like me, to hear about the way the racers drive around these roads. Not to be attempted when open to ordinary traffic! We had a brief stop at the village of St John's for Tynwald Hill and the parliament church where each member of the House of Keys has a reserved stall.
From there we moved on to Peel where the former Isle of Man Railway station has been repurposed as the House of Manannan, a history of the Isle of Man and its seafaring. Apart from a visit to this, coffee and ice-cream, we also visited the Isle of Man's cathedral which is located in Peel. Finally, the coach took us on to Ramsey, still following the TC circuit, nd we returned to Douglas once more by Manx Electric Railway, choosing this time to travel in the enclosde tramcar rather than in the "toast rack" coach for the long trip along the entire line from terminus to terminus.
Sunday was a complete free day and the question was what to do. There were several things we had not seen, and some, like Snaefell mountain, could be repeated in order to enjoy what by now was lovely weather. Warm, bright and sunny, the view would be quite good. We decided, though, to attend worship at one of the Douglas churches (they are all different and we did some research on line and from noticeboards before plumping for St Matthew's) and then take a bus to Ramsey where we would visit the Grove Museum, a preserved Victorian family home. Buses are a bit thinner on the ground on Sundays but there was no problem finding a suitable departure on route 3A from the street terminus in Douglas to the little bus station in Ramsey from where we set out on a fairly long walk to the Grove Museum, taking coffee at a little café on the way. By now the road closures for the TT practice were being prepared and a real carnival atmosphere was beginning to build up. Motorcycles were parked everywhere as enthusiasts gathered to enjoy at least some of the four weeks of activity. You can read about the Grove Museum on their own website, so it suffices to say that we enjoyed sitting in the beautifully maintained garden with an ice-cream and then exploring the house and outbuildings which had been used by an extended family and had been very little updated and so gave a fair impression of the home of a middle-class industrialist's family.
We had left undecided how we were to return to Douglas and once we had walked back into Ramsey we opted for the bus rather than the Manx Electric Railway simply because we had done a lot of walking already and the bus would drop us much nearer the hotel than the tramway would.
Although this had been a day with no included outings, it was also the last day and for the only time on the trip the whole group was to have dinner together: two large tables were booked at a fixed time and wine was included, a very fine way to end almost a week together before we went our separate ways the following day. We also necessarily had breakfast at the same time, although not aound a shared table, on the Monday morning because we had to be ready to go to the ferry terminal to catch the departure of Manxman at 09:05, which meant being at the terminal at around 08:00 with our luggage - the hotel did provide porterage but we had very compact luggage and taking it ourselves saved having to have it ready even earlier! Once the luggage was scanned and checked in we took our seats at the front of the 8th deck again to enjoy the voyage.
The crossing was, if anything, even smoother than our outward journey, and we did make use of the bar and the café on the way over, but the restaurant was not needed after the hotel breakfast. We made our way to baggage reclaim and then went to await the boat train to Lancaster. About half of the party was still with us at this point, the rest presumably having gone to the car park to drive home. Everyone was, of course, taking different routes home from Lancaster and we had a while to wait for a train across to Leeds, so we had lunch from one of the buffet counters at Lancaster while we waited.
This was a very disappointing stage of our adventure. Departure was chaotic with platform changes, but eventually a Northern train arrived which was far too short to take everyone waiting along with those already aboard. By now the weather was hot and sunny and the train's air-conditioning was not working - not good on an overcrowded train on a hot, sunny day! We could not sit together and the luggage had to stay in the end vestibule. For a short hop, say from Morecambe to Lancaster, we would not have minded, but this was a long and scenic journey which we had hoped to enjoy together. A pity, but the train did eventually, and only a little late, get us to Leeds station, from wheer we had a short walk to our Premier Inn for our final night away from home. This stay was unbelievably inexpensive, so much so that I had booked a Premier Plus room for the first time and added the optional charity contribution. The Plus room at a flexible rate for just £66 was a great deal. We are very happy with Premier Inn's standard rooms, but this was certainly superior with more space, better coffee facilities and all sorts of goodies, and crucially the same comfortable bed. And being new it was also in excellent condition. The your Yorkshire staff were super friendly and helpful.
We wandered into Leeds city centre in weather that contrasted hugely with the cool damp of just a couple of days ago (although I gather it had been like that for some time in England), had supper at an Italian restaurant and went back to the hotel to sleep.
The following day we each had our own agenda and as it continued to be hot and sunny it involved lots of drinking seeking of shade. I largely spent it taking architectural photographs and generally exploring. Having rediscovered Leeds as possibly the best shopping city in the UK, perhaps we need to consider going there again with that purpose in mind.
We reconvened at the hotel, retrieved our luggage and boarded our LNER train south to Peterborough, in First Class with a snack meal and a glass of wine. The train made a neat connection with a train to Stamford and we were very soon home and unpacking, with our minds filled with wonderful memories of all our adventures of the last couple of weeks and a determination to revisit the Isle of Man, possibly by booking the same trip again but visiting things we had not been able to fit in on this trip, notably Peel Castle and the Manx Museum, and the Groudle Glen Railway. Before that, though, there was the little matter of a long-planned but yet-to-take-place spectacular trip to the continent in not many weeks' time. Watch this space!
I have long wanted to visit the Isle of Man, partly to see its vintage railways and partly just to experience life in a Crown Dependency, a British Isle that is not the UK nor Ireland. My parents considered it when I was still with them in my early teens but it did not come off then and the opportunity never seemed to arise again ... I have also wanted to experience the trans-pennine rail routes, to stay in the Midland Hotel, that great deco moderne masterpiece in Morecambe, and to visit Leeds again, the last time being many years ago. It all fell into place when I was thumbing through a newly-delivered Great Rail Journeys British Isles Catalogue: their Vintage Railways of the Isle of Man escorted tour ticks all of the boxes for the Isle of Man itself and begins and ends at Heysham ferry terminal, a short hop from Morecambe. Furthermore, if it suited our friends who live in Warrington we could stay with them for a few days on the way, and my wife could visit a former colleague now living in Leeds on the way back, both trips involving new routes for us. The various friends were contacted and arrangements made around the most suitable Isle of Man dates for our diary and the Midland Hotel booked. There were so many exciting things about this trip where almost everything except our friends was new to us, and we even fitted in a couple of unexpected things while travelling.
Armed with a picnic including a couple of individual bottles of Prosecco and some plastic wine glasses we set out to Peterborough on the 10:57 Cross Country train on a Friday. It was a touch late but we still had time to buy takeaway coffee at Peterborough before boarding our next train, the 11:23 East Midlands Railway train to Liverpool which would take us all the way through to Warrington Central. It was a beautiful day and it was great gazing from the windowat countryside which, to begin with, was very familiar but we had usually seen at twice the speed on East Coast Route expresses. This was an express (limited stop) service, but with a much lower maximum speed. At Grantham the train left the main line and headed off to Nottingham and along here we enjoyed our lunch. Just as we finished the train's refreshment trolley came through and we bought coffee to round off the meal. From Nottingham we headed north through Chesterfield to Sheffield and then across the Pennines to Manchester. Through Manchester was the slowest part of the journey and we lost time on the congested track between Piccadilly and Deansgate, being picked up by our friends about five minutes late. It had been a super ride through lovely countryside (OK, yes and Sheffield and Manchester as well!) in comfortable seats and with a great picnic. It was not the quickest way to Warrington, but that was not the point: it was slow and scenic and we had a lovely lunch on the way.
Our friends met us and drove us to their home where we stayed the next three nights, having a day out on Saturday and a day in after church on Sunday ... with a couple of pub visits thrown in.
On Monday they took us to the other station in Warrington, Bank Quay, where we took an Avanti West Coast train (another first: I've never travelled with them before, except rammed into a vestibule between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International). It was a comfortable, although late, journey, and we had plenty of space, perhaps an advantage of travelling mid-afternoon. We left Avanti at Lancaster and, being late, had a tight connection into our train to Morecambe. Now this was a bit of an adventure. We had just enough time to get over the bridge to the train we could see waiting on the other side of the track (platform 4 for those who know Lancaster station, which I didn't until then), so we went to the lift because I really cannot climb stairs with luggage. The lift was not quick, and when we got to the bridge we soon realised that we could not access the stairs down to where the train was waiting as the seconds ticked by. We had to use the lift down as well, and again it took ages to comes and ages to go down by which train the train should have left, but this being Northern it was still there. Indeed it was still there ten minutes later. I do not think we ever saw a train, of any operator, on time at Lancaster over the course of this holiday, and as you'll see, we were there quite a lot. The timekeeping on the routes that converge there is appalling. Still the train got us to Morecambe: it is only a few minutes, much closer than our home in Stamford is to the main junction station at Peterborough. Although it was the same type of unit (Class 158) as the one we had enjoyed travelling on all the way from Peterborough to Warrington it was somehow less appealing - possibly because of the noisy schoolchildren who got off at the one intermediate stop at Bare Lane, but probably also because these sets were never intended for short distance stopping services but for the long distance express service like the Norwich-Liverpool route that we had use to travel to Warrington.
The walk to the Midland Hotel is longer than it used to be. The railway line has been cut short and, to be fair, is probably better located to serve the actual town and also connects well with local buses and a new retail park (this is a travel blog, not a town planning critique, so I won't go on about how that has killed the town centre), but it is not directly opposite the hotel which was built by the LMS Railway to serve the high-class resort at Morecambe. We saw the Midland shortly after its refurbishment (it had lain derelict for some years and was really at risk) and it is no longer quite the class of establishment that the then owners intended. The external finish could do with renewing and some of the interior could do with a little bit of a spruce-up. The meals, although good in themselves, are served in a pub-like manner, ordered at the bar, and there are no tablecloths. Very good, but not the high standard it used to be. It remains staggeringly good in its context, though, for Morecambe is not a thriving town.
Our room, however, was quite amazing. It was spacious and with a sea view and had some design features I have never seen anywhere else, possibly original. You need to see my YouTube video to get the full effect, but suffice it to say that if you go into the ensuite bathroom you may think there is no door. And then you realise there is no WC either, but when you pull at a hand-hold in the wall boarding a whole section of the wall swings round to close off the bathroom from the bedroom and reveals a WC with toilet paper and all the kit. Tea and coffee facilities and the TV and waste bin are behind another panel, and the wardrobe behind another. There were two deco moderne armchairs and a drinks table. We were very happy there for our two nights, and I would easily and confidently recommend this hotel as a stopover on the way to or from the Isle of Man, handy as it is for the Heysham ferry terminal, as I shall go on, eventually, to describe.
We went for a walk along the seafront which was uplifting and saddening in equal measure. It was a clear evening and the view across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District hills was breathtaking. The local authorities had obviously spent a great deal to improve the public realm of the seafront and local people were out walking, running, skating and cycling along it. All the shops were shut, but then it was evening and many were simply closed for the night, but many also were closed for good. Several small hotels were also clearly closed for good. We were looking for somewhere to eat and were just thinking that we'd have to return to the hotel when we spotted the Bay Café a small fish and chip shop on a street corner. It was open, and it had a few tables inside. There was a couple eating there; we asked how it was and on their advice asked for the small portion of fish and chips. It was delicious, it was filling and it was very inexpensive. Very little else was open in Morecambe that evening but we hit on what was probably the best traditional fish & chips I have ever had. We returned happy to the Midland where we enjoyed cocktails in the bar before bath and bed.
On the Tuesday morning we decided to take the 10:00 bus into Lancaster. After a quick look around the town centre, coffee and gelato we gave further thought to the day and, realising how close we were decided to take a train to Carnforth, for two reasons: one was that a craftsman in Carnforth, as it happens, was assessing a vintage flute that once belonged to a long-deceased relative and we thought it would be good to meet him in person, and the other was that I had long wanted to visit Carnforth station where a lot of location-shooting was done for the film Brief Encounter. A phone call checked that the instrument-maker was available and we made our way to his home where his front room was his workshop. A lovely person, we made arrangements for the flute to be sold and restored so that it would be playable again rather than end up on a rubbish tip. When we were at Lancaster station awaiting our train to Carnforth we saw a steam locomotive there and identified it as Blue Peter, the very locomotive which had taken us to and from the Lake District last autumn. I had to pop over and say "hello" ... well, not literally, I'm not that mad.
After our brief encounter with the antique flute we made our back to the station and enjoyed a good salad lunch at the refreshment room made famous in Brief Encounter, explored the heritage centre and then went across to the opposite platform to await a train to Grange-Over-Sands. This was only a few minutes' scenic ride away and, having stayed there many years ago, we knew it as a pretty town. we were not disappointed: the train ride, the town, and the garden we walked through on our way back to the station were all lovely. We only stayed there about an hour but the rail fares here are so reasonable that it seemed a worthwhile thing to do. We took the next train through to Lancaster and then back to Morecambe (remembering to buy a ticket because we had come by bus in the morning so we did not have a return half!). We enjoyed a cocktail in the hotel bar-restaurant again ...) and then dinner, which was excellent. The next day we were to leave England for Man and we started our packing before a good night's sleep.
Wednesday was to be the start of our Great Rail Journeys escorted tour to the historic railways of the Isle of Man, but our ferry was not due to leave until 15:30, although one has to board well before then, and we also had to meet our tour manager at the ferry terminal. There is a boat train once a day from Lancaster to Heysham Harbour (or Heysham Port; the name varies from sign to sign!) which calls at Morecambe, so we were to take that when the time came. Meanwhile, after checking out we had the hotel store our luggage and went off for a short walk along the seafront and then visited the new shops opposite the rail station. Now I could see why B&M no longer occupied the lovely art deco building on the sea front near the hotel: they had a new shop in the new shopping area. After looking around a bit we went to a supermarket there to pick up a few things for a picnic lunch which we would have while waiting to board the ship, the Manxman. Meanwhile, we took coffee back at the hotel bar and then recovered our luggage and went to get the boat train, actually buying our tickets at the station. The train was just an ordinary two-coach Sprinter of Northern Trains which normally ply between Lancaster (or sometimes Leeds) and Morecambe but for this one service per day reverse at Morecambe and take the single-track branch line to Heysham Port, the driver getting out and changing the point to access the branch. The picture shows it arrived at Heysham with the driver walking to the other end to take passengers off the ferry to Lancaster.
The station at Heysham Port exists solely to connect with the ships to Douglas and it was simple enough to walk across to the departures entrance where we met Alan, our tour manager, who briefed us on the procedure for checking-in our luggage, boarding the ferry and finding he best place to sit (the Njarbil Lounge on Deck 8, which has superb views at the front of the ship). We just had time to eat our lunch, with drinks bought from the cafeteria on site, before we were called to board. The next adventure had begun.
The Manxman took an interesting route, curving well south before making west across the Irish Sea. But when you think about it, the enormous offshore wind farm we saw over to starboard is presumably located in shallow water. There were also a handful of oil platforms, quite a lot of activity out here at sea, as wells a few other ships and even fewer smaller vessels. The shipping lane is not as wide as you might think! Soon enough we saw the outline of the Isle of Man standing above low-level mist and watched it draw nearer and then waited for the ship to berth and disembarkation to be announced.
By the time we had crossed the enormous elevated walkway across the docks to the arrival area and collected our luggage from the carousel it was past our usual bedtime when we arrived at the Claremont Hotel. We had been given our room keys by hotel staff who met the group at the arrivals hall, so we did not have to check in and we made our way straight into the dining room to have dinner, which was excellent. The Great Rail Journeys group had a sort of table d'hôte menu with a choice of about three starters, three mains and three desserts, so we had enough choice to cope with faddy eaters (which we most definitely are not!) and everything we had at each dinner was superb. Unusually for a GRJ tour, dinner was included every evening, as well as breakfast every morning. Meals were not generally at fixed times but between certain times so we had much fllecxibility.
Also included in the pack which contained our room keys and meal times were a pass each for transport through the island and a pass for all the heritage sites. These would be used on all the included activities but were also available in our free time to do anything else we wanted with no further cost.
Our room was at the back of the hotel with no new at all - indeed the lower window was obscure glass to avoid us seeing the insalubrious back yard outside. However, the interior of the room was super, with flexible lighting and enough electrical points for all our electronic kit. On trips like this we do not spend a lot of time in our room, though, always out and about exploring. For now, shower and bed.
The Thursday was the first group activity of the tour and the one which mattered most to me from my reading of an article in Railway Modeller when I was eleven years old, about a model railway layout based on the Isle of Man Railway. This once extensive network is now reduced to one line, between Douglas and Port Erin but is still operated by the original steam locomotives and wooden carriages. It is a charming railway well worth visiting even if you never read that article back in 1965. We all walked to Douglas station and after some photographs joined our carriages on the train. The weather was cool and damp and there was plenty of visible steam as the locomotive was prepared and backed onto the train. When we arrived at Port Erin we had a sort guided tour of the small railway museum there and then we taken by road coach to The Sound where there are seals to be spotted in the sea and The Calf of Man island just off the shore. With better weather apparently you can also see Ireland beyond, but we could barely see the Calf of Man on the day we were there. We did spot a couple of seals on the rocks, and most importantly had a mug of hot chocolate at the café!
The coach then took us on to Castletown where we had time for lunch and then gathered at the appointed time to visit together The Old House of Keys, erstwhile home of the oldest parliament in the world. We learnt a lot in a series of mock debates based on important decisions in the past, mainly that although this may be the world's oldest parliament it is most certainly not the oldest democracy but had quite a lot of catching up to do. We took part in debates to elect Members to the House of Keys, to allow women to vote and to move the capital from Castletown to Douglas (largely because the building had become beyond economic repair to continue in use).
The afternoon had no included activities but most of the group, ourselves included, visited Castle Rushen, just across the street, probably the best-preserved medieval castle in the British Isles. This was included in our attractions passes, too, and cost us nothing. Great views, apparently, were to be had from to top of the keep, but at the time I was not fit enough to climb up there. The castle is, of course, intimately linked to the history of the island, ad there was a lot to learn about how it has been ruled and governed over the centuries.
Many of the party were returned to Douglas and direct to the hotel by the coach, but several of us opted to return on the Isle of Man Steam Railway from Castletown station a cost-free option as it was covered by our travel passes. Back at the hotel we had time to change before dinner and then have a lazy evening after a busy day before a good night's sleep ready to the next action-packed day.
The story will be continued in a future post with more Little Trains and a few more Other Trains!
