Leicester Feels a Bit Closer Than It Did

A train trip we now do rather more often

The train operating companies, and indeed the Government, talk about "changed travel patterns" since the pandemic as a reason an excuse to adjust cut train services, but for me there are two reasons why my travel patterns have changed since the pandemic: one is that train services have been cut and I cannot travel on trains that don't run (!) so I have to travel at other times or even, if I cannot change my timing, drive my car (which makes them think I am not travelling and reinforces the cut). The other is that some shops did not reopen after the lockdowns, among them our nearest department store, John Lewis in Peterborough. There are now very few shops in Peterborough that are any use to me at all and for major comparison shopping I now have to look to Leicester, so my "changed travel pattern" now includes getting a train to Leicester and back for shopping rather than to Peterborough and back - a much longer journey at a higher fare, so the Cross Country train operating company does rather better from me than it did ... Fortunately the withdrawn train services do not affect a day trip to Leicester.

The starter!

Most recently my wife and I took the train to Leicester to visit John Lewis in order to research induction hobs in preparation for a kitchen refurbishment at home. We caught the 11:07 Cross Country train from Stamford to Leicester and walked straight through the city centre to the department store where we had some excellent advice from a young salesman and made some notes (basically photographing the information labels on the devices that interested us!). On previous shopping trips by train to Leicester we have had coffee and/or lunch at the Merchant of Venice restaurant opposite the station, but this time we discovered that they had opened another branch at the other side of the city centre, near to where we were shopping, so we tried that instead for our lunch. It had the same quirky atmosphere, an Italian restaurant and coffee shop with a Shakespeare theme, even down to having a table with swinging seats in the front window - which we just had to try after using them at the original branch.

Main courses

The walk back to the railway station was essential to walk off the lunch, the starter for which was as big as some main course: it was as well that we were sharing the starter.

And so to the train home. The train rides each way were unremarkable, which for a trip such as this is all we require, really. Cross Country have acquired more centre cars for the Turbostar trains they use on this route, so there is now usually plenty of space, and although the trains are beginning to show signs of wear after a busy life the seats are still comfortable, the heating and air conditioning still works well and the refreshment trolley service is still operating. Timekeeping could be a bit better but the trains are often on time and seldom more than a couple of minutes late, so it could not be a lot better.

And now today the kitchen refurbishment begins. We have not actually chosen the induction hob yet because we need to take advice from the kitchen fitter once he has the worktop removed and can see how much clearance he has above the built-in oven below where the hob is to be installed. But at least we know what the range is and where to order it once the decision is made. The gas fitter arrives this afternoon (pity: it should be on a Monday morning that the gas man comes to call ...) to disconnect the gas hob. Then as soon as we approach the end of our energy contract we can have the gas supply removed and stop paying the standing charge. This will be the first time in my life that I have been without a gas connection.

Starting the Christmas Shopping

 By train to Leicester

Stamford, the town where I live, has some excellent shops and we seldom have to leave it for shopping, Christmas shopping included, but one thing we do lack is a department store and when it comes to seeking inspiration for gifts there is nothing quite like looking at a wide variety of possibilities under one roof. In addition there were a couple of things we needed for ourselves which we had failed to find in town, so the time had come to try elsewhere. In the past we had generally visited Peterborough, just thirteen train minutes away, or a free bus ride in my case! But Peterborough no longer has a department store either and the rest of its shops are no better, indeed perhaps not quite as good, as Stamford's. We thought we'd try Leicester which we've never used for shopping although we have been there for days out occasionally.

I booked tickets on Cross Country's Train Tickets app including seat reservations on the outward journey and on one of the busiest trains back just in case we needed to use a busy train, but with every intention of catching an earlier one if we were finished before the peak travel time. As we crossed the bridge to the westbound side of the station to catch our train it occurred to me that we had not been this way togethe since last summer's trip to Dorset with our granddaughter. Such has been the pandemic that the things we had been used to doing, like a visit to Leicester or Birmingham or beyond had just not been happening. So here was our "reset" day for travelling west!

The train was on time and the journey smooth. We had decided that the first thing we would do on arrival was find a coffee shop and have coffee, and behold, opposite the station was the Merchant of Venice Italian coffee shop, so that was where we went, acknowledging the statue of Thomas Cook, founder of the escorted railtour, as we passed. We greeted the staff in Italian as we walked in, having been in Venice not long before, and held a short conversation with one of them. We later found out that he was not Italian but had thought that we were because we greeted him in that language! I am not sure where he was from but we did find out that his colleague was Greek; such is multicultural Leicester! An Italian coffee shop with a William Shakespeare theme run by a Greek ...

And so off to the shops, including Blunts shoe shop near the station and coffee shop, an enormous footwear emporium (this one run by Asian people) with more shoes, boots, slippers and sandals - plus some bags, socks and stockings - than you can imagine. Then to John Lewis, now sadly absent from both Peterborough and Birmingham. There is one in Cambridge, but I think Leicester is nearer and unless you especially need books or academic dress then the rest of Leicester's shopping is probably more useful than Cambridge, too ... and the station is in the city centre, no bus required. The weather forecast had been for rain all day; we never let that put us off and had set out in mackintoshes and hats but in the event there was the faintest drizzle from time to time and I never really needed the hat which ended up in one of the shopping bags for the whole day. Our experience has generally been that we should never let the weather interfere with our plans unless the Met Office issues a warning - it is seldom as bad as forecast.

We achieved all that we needed to do in plenty of time and decided to return to the Merchant of Venice for lunch and then take the next train home, the 15:12. Lunch was great, with suitable Italian dishes and drinks, and then, laden with rather more baggage than we brought with us in the morning, we made our way to the station. Arriving at the station we were disappointed to see that our train was rather late - it did not really matter much except that we were stuck there on the platform just waiting for it. Still, at least Leicester is a fairly busy station with trains coming and going, so it was not too boring. The delay to our train slipped a bit more and a bit more, but then it started making up a little bit which was heartening. We never did find out what the problem had been: it was not mentioned in the announcements (which are automated on East Midlands Railway stations) nor by the train manager on board, and all the other trains had been on time. I cannot remember when I last travelled on a late train with no apology or explanation, probably the 1970s when most trains were not equipped with public address systems! It was not ever so late, about 12 minutes by the time we got to Stamford, and we were an hour or two earlier than we might have been anyway.

It had been a good day, and we decided that in future, on the odd occasions we needed a city for shopping, Leicester will be the place for us. And I noticed that in the event that we need to stay, there is a Premier Inn very near the station.

And now to start writing the Christmas Cards!

Rising to the challenge!

A couple of years ago I had to attend a residential meeting in Yorkshire, which I managed to do by train and bus in spite of a clear expectation that everyone would drive there, a house miles from the nearest town. My Bishop does seem to like setting me a challenge, and this autumn the meeting was held at a country house hotel in Market Bosworth, famous only for the battle in which King Richard III was killed, although a very pleasant little town. Last time I had been in that part of the country I was 21 years old and driving a minibus full of other members of the Aston Steam and Rail Society to visit the (since deceased) Revd Teddy Boston at Cadeby Rectory, over forty years ago.

But how would I get there without the car? Quite simply, as it turned out, and this is where the internet has really made travelling to new places so much easier by public transport: by searching for "buses to Market Bosworth" I was easily able to download the timetable for the bus service from and back to Leicester, Arriva route 153, and Leicester is a quick through train ride from my home in Stamford. I worked and enjoyed coffee on the train to Leicester and took in the scenery on the bus ride.

Driving is probably quicker, to be fair, but I do try not to clog up the roads and present hazards and pollution to everyone I pass unless I have no choice. I have written into my rule of life that I shall walk, cycle or use public transport whenever possible, and although it is not always possible, it is not as difficult to avoid driving as many people think. And I met people, and spoke to some, and I enjoyed a walk across Leicester city centre between the rail station and St Margaret's bus station, and the views across the Leicester countryside from the top deck of the bus, turning a necessary journey into a joyful adventure.

Steam, beer and King Richard - a day in Leicester

Beer and bunny on way to Quorn & Woodhouse

A very good friend of mine had begun building a model of an imaginary section of the Great Central Railway and so when he and his wife came to stay, an obvious day out was to visit the preserved section of the Great Central Railway between Leicester and Loughborough. My last trip to that railway was reported here at If you go down in the woods ... but this time it was not a day for teddy bears but, being in Easter Week, the Easter Bunny. Ah well, there would still be steam trains and my friend could see the buildings and the way the stations were laid out. And neither of our wives had ever been there,  either, so it was all new to them. The weather was great and a grand day out was in the offing.

We started as always with a stroll down to Stamford station to get the first off-peak Cross Country train to Leicester and then made our way across the city centre to the bus stop we needed for Leicester North, the terminus of the current Great Central Railway. I knew which bus I needed from my previous visit but a glance at the internet before leaving revealed that the bus station was being rebuilt and buses were terminating at street stops nearby,  so we were able to go straight to the right place without being at all discomfited. A very friendly driver sold us a group day ticket which we did not even know existed, and off we went. First stop on arriving at the railway site was the café, it being coffee time by then, and our train to Loughborough was not for a few minutes.

And so to the railway and our first steam train. This came into the little terminus hauled by LMS 8F class locomotive, built for freight but quite capable of hauling passenger trains at the sort of speeds expected on preserved lines.

Leicester North station is new and is not of interest for those studying the Great Central, and the first section of the line is only single track, but the other stations are double-track and each is preserved to reflect a different era of the railway's life.

We got off at Quorn & Woodhouse station which is decorated in LNER colours and portrayed as it might have been during the Second World War. This is a typical Great Central station with island platform and access via a staircase from a road over bridge, all the buildings being in the middle of the platform.

We left the station and looked back down to see how these buildings were laid out - my friend's task in building such a station (his period is the 1970s - when in reality this line was closed down) is made easier by these buildings being ready-made in his scale by a commercial manufacturer.

Walking down the bridge ramp we made our way back in through the former goods yard entrance to the recently opened café nestled against the road embankment where we had our lunch, and then back to the platform via the walkway through the former goods yard where a number of vintage road vehicles were on display but we had not had time to give them more than a cursory glance (although we did see a steam road roller trundling past while we ate lunch).

And so to the the main station at Loughborough Central. From here we took a stroll alongside the line to the sheds where locomotives are restored, and beyond them followed the trackbed to where a new bridge was to be built over the current Midland Main Line which would allow the northern section of the GCR to be joined to this section, one day giving through steam trains towards Nottingham - if the funds can be found to relocate the steam sheds here, which currently stand where the main line should be.

After a good look around the locomotives being renovated at the sheds we made our way back to the platform at Loughborough Central and after a look around the little museum we caught a train back to Leicester North, this time hauled by a LMS "Black 5" locomotive.

Making our way back to the city centre by bus, we then visited the Cathedral which is now almost dominated by the tomb of King Richard III recently reburied there. The visitor centre opposite, on the site at which his remains were found, was just closing for the day and we determined to return to Leicester and explore the city properly another time. It was a very friendly city and, with a little time to spare while we waited for our off-peak tickets to be valid for a train home, we enjoyed a pint of ale in a pub near the Cathedral and then walked back to the station and so home.

We could not have wished for a better day, with perfect weather and plenty of interest. And good company always helps!

If you go down in the woods today

Rather hot-looking teddy bear taking a rest at Leicester
North station

Between Leicester and Loughborough runs the only stretch of preserved double-track main line in the country, the former Great Central line which once ran all the way to London Marylebone, duplicating the older Midland main line for much of the way. It has been reopened by enthusiasts to show main line steam and heritage diesel trains in their proper setting. I have wanted to visit it properly ever since I paid a brief visit when it was in an embryonic state in the mid-1970s, and now that it has reached Leicester and I am living in Stamford a visit was not hard to arrange: I just needed a free day in the summer and in many ways I could not have chosen a better day if I had tried. It was one of those warm, sunny, dry days that are perfect for a day out, and I planned my trip as well as I could: train to Leicester, bus to somewhere near where I thought the new "Leicester North" terminus  of the preserved Great Central Railway was (actually the site of a station originally known as Belgrave and Birstall), and then such rides on the Great Central as I had time to make, with opportunities to photograph working main line heritage trains. A grand day out, I hoped.

I bought my ticket to Leicester and waited for the train, indicated on time at Stamford station, but the time came and went and the next train was shown without mine turning up. I want and enquired at the ticket office and was told that it was delayed by a broken-down freight train and that the indicating equipment was faulty. There was no way of knowing how long it would be. In fact it was about fifty minutes late; I had taken a Delay Repay form "just in case" and expected to apply for a partial refund because of a delay exceeding thirty minutes. However, the train lost more time on the way owing to losing its "path" between other trains and it was getting close to the sixty minute threshold for further compensation and just exceeded it when it arrived in Leicester!

The Teddy Bear Special approaches Leicester North through the Down arch
of the bridge which used to give access to Belgrave & Birstall station: the
bricked-up entrance doorway is clearly visible. Steps would have led down
to a platform between the Up and Down lines in Great Central, LNER and
BR days

The timing did not matter on this trip, though. I had no particular return time in mind and the weather was fantastic. I made my way to the bus station (Leicester has two: researching the buses was an adventure in itself) and caught a bus that took me to where Belgrave and Birstall station used to be. I walked along the lane to where it crossed the railway and there was the distinctive doorway in the middle of the bridge, but no stairway down to the platform - the new station was of a totally different design and clearly intended to be approached from the other end. No matter, there was a (downhill!) walk alongside the line to the new station entrance and I strolled along there in the sunshine and explored.

It took me a while to realise that this red locomotive was a
LMS Class 8F for these were always black. I asked the driver
why it was red and he simply explained that it was the
property of a lady ...

There was visitor centre with refreshments separate from the station, and for the first time in my long experience of visiting preserved railways there were more women there than men - it was a weekday and the railway was promoting a Teddy Bears' Picnic day so the stations were full of mothers with young children, often two families together. All the usual activity of a preserved railway were going on alongside the teddy bear stuff, though, and a pint of real ale was still available to be quaffed in the restored British Railways Mk1 Griddle Car in the train that soon arrived at the single platform of this makeshift terminus, hauled by a red-painted LMS 8F. The locomotive ran round its train and we were off along the initial single-track stretch, pint in hand.

The train called at Rothley, the first of the restored stations on the line, with the distinctive GCR design: an island platform with a staircase down from an entrance on a road over bridge at one end, and it was here that we entered the double-track preserved main line. This station is the smallest and simplest and is restored in Great Central Railway condition.





After Rothley the train eventually crosses Swithland Reservoir on two low viaducts punctuated by a small island. This is probably the most scenic stretch of the line and if you travel on one of the dining trains you will find yourself stationary on this crossing for part of the duration of your meal so that you can enjoy the view. Ordinary trains like this one, though, simply cross the water and eventually arrive at Quorn and Woodhouse station, restored in London & North Eastern Railway condition. Again the GCR standard design of station but this one is slightly more complex.


Finally the train arrives at its current terminus at Loughborough Central, a much larger and more complex station but still with the distinctive island platform design. Here the station main building is at street level, built across the tracks and still with access off the road over bridge, with stairs leading down from the booking hall to the platform. No thought of step-free access for prams and wheelchairs in the days these stations were built! Must have been interesting for all those parents (mostly young women) with buggies etc for the teddy bear day - I hope most of them started at Leicester, a 21st century station, and then stayed on the railway. Loughborough station was decorated in British Railways Eastern Region style, the last it will have worn before its closure as a main line station.

I spent some time at Loughborough Central photographing the locomotives and coaches and exploring the station and locomotive shed which visitors were allowed and encouraged to tour. Two trains were in use: the one on which I had come, with BR maroon coaches and matching 8F steam locomotive, and one with BR Southern Region green coaches with a Brush type 2 (class 31) diesel locomotive painted light brown ("desert sand," I think they called it). The buffet on the platform at Loughborough was selling a specially-brewed ale and I bought a pint of that while I awaited the departure time for my train back - I had decided to travel back on the green one - but I was not fond of that particular beer, I'm sorry to say.

On the way back my train passed the other one at Quorn and Woodhouse station, the two trains pulling away simultaneously, an experience unique to this preserved railway.

At Leicester North I walked off to find a bus back to the city centre: so easy in this mobile internet age, with an app that finds my nearest bus stop and tells me when and where the buses are going. I spent some time photographing some of the city centre buildings (I am interested in inter-war moderne and art deco style) and caught my Cross Country train home. A satisfying day in decent warm weather and exploring places I'd seldom been. I'd recommend a day on the Great Central to anyone with an interest in English history, geography or railways.