Inter-City Between Lincoln and York ...

 A visit by train to the York Christmas Market

This was one of those trips that took shape as circumstances brought things together and presented an opportunity for a bit of an adventure! In the event it turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated - but all the more fun for that.

My wife had meetings in Lincoln on one evening and the morning of the day after the day after that, i.e. with one day in between. We decided to make it into a little break with me accompanying her in a hotel near the meetings and taking a day out together on the day between the meetings. It happened that the York Christmas Market, to which we had never been, was taking place and so I booked train tickets not just to Lincoln and back on the first and last day but from there to York and back on the middle day.

Lincoln

A good Lincolnshire lunch - at Lincoln Cathedral

The adventure began on a Tuesday morning at the beginning of December with a walk down to Stamford railway station from where we took the 09:56 train, on time, to Peterborough. There we changed trains, buying coffee from the Bike Barista on the way, taking the 10:28 East Midlands Railway train from Peterborough to Lincoln. Across to the bus station we just neatly caught a bus up to the cathedral and walked round to the White Hart Hotel, our home for the next two nights. We were too early to check in but were able to leave our luggage with the duty manager and went off to the cathedral café to have lunch which was to be our main meal that day. We can recommend this place: the service is good and the food excellent.

Once checked in to our "cosy" room (i.e. small, but that was fine and was what we booked), it was time for Alison to go off to her first meeting, which would include a light evening meal. I went to the hotel's bar for my own meal. Again, very good.

York

The Wednesday was all ours and was allocated for a day in York. We had Standard Class Off-peak Singles in each direction so we could choose any train after the morning peak and set off down to the station after our hotel breakfast for a local train to Newark Northgate where we would change for York. At Newark we had to cross via the footbridge for the brief wait for our connecting train - the train on which we were booked and had seats reserved for us was running late, though, but as we held open tickets we boarded the one that happened to pull in as we walked onto the platform. There were plenty of seats available in Standard Class and we sat and enjoyed the ride with some coffee from the buffet counter.

In York we walked into the city centre and in spite of the very cold weather enjoyed some time around the shops and the market that we had come to see. There was in particular one Christmas shop that was so popular that there was an organised queue to enter and customers were let in as space allowed. We joined the short queue and spent some time there looking at decorations etc.. We do not need a great deal more in that line - we are mostly selling and giving away things rather than acquiring them - but it is good to have a little update now and again. No, we did not buy this glass nativity - a bit big for us.

In the cold weather there was no shortage of ways to warm up - apart from going into shops, that is - and we called at a stall selling an excellent hot chocolate, alongside their usual mulled wine etc.. One of the excellent things about it was the Bailey's that was used in place of the usual cream ... and the optional cream topping (which we opted for) was at no extra cost. 

We walked back to the station when we were ready and took the next train home and this was where the adventure took an unexpected adventurous turn.  Our next train back to Newark Northgate was expected just a few minutes late, but there had been an incident on the line further south near Stevenage and trains from London were severely disrupted, meaning that there would be no connection to Lincoln until very much later. I consulted the timetables on my iPhone and decided that it would still be best to get the next train south from York but that it would be better to change at Doncaster, the next stop, where an unaffected train would get us back to Lincoln before anything from Newark. It would mean a wait of over an hour at Doncaster, but Doncaster station is in the town centre and we might be able to get dinner there rather than waiting until arriving in Lincoln, meaning that overall we would not be losing any time at all.

Meanwhile we still had a little while to wait until our departure from York, and I noticed that among the listed departures was a charter train on one of the far platforms and I thought it might be interesting to see what it might be. Either the coaches or the locomotive might just be worth seeing ... and it was. We had time to see GWR Castle Class steam locomotive 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe depart with The Christmas White Rose charter train before we returned to the southbound main platform for our LNER Azuma to Doncaster. 

Doncaster

The 16:34 train we were to catch was the one on which we had reserved seats, but because of the disruption passengers expecting to board another train would also be travelling on ours, so we made sure we were ready to board and take our seats - after a day on our feet we did not want to have to stand, and I did have my walking stick with me  which always helps in these circumstances. People recognise a walking stick but not everyone is familiar with the sunflower lanyard. Talking to other passengers on the way to Doncaster revealed that Doncaster would be a good place to change trains with an hour to spare because in the Frenchgate Shopping Centre adjacent to the railway station there was a pub that did meals, ideal for eating (and keeping warm) while awaiting our connecting train to Lincoln. (There is also a pub on the platform, where I have had a pint once before, but it does not offer food, unfortunately.) I'm afraid I cannot recommend the food at the pub in the Frenchgate Centre, although the beer was good, but it did fulfil the need at the time.

Lincoln

We returned to Doncaster station and found our train, the 18:47 to Peterborough via Lincoln. I had hoped to ride this route some time but not in these circumstances, particularly not in the dark which meant that we could have been on almost any route in the country and it would have looked much the same! We crossed the River Trent and called at Gainsborough Lea Road then headed south to Lincoln, stopping just once more at Saxilby. The train was a warm and comfortable East Midlands Railway local unit, the sort we are now seeing all over Lincolnshire and a huge improvement over the aged single-car units we used to have. At Lincoln we took the next bus up the hill and walked back to our hotel. The walk along Bailgate was a great end to the day's adventures with the Christmas decorations and general Advent busyness. This city has a great feel to it these days.

Well, we thought that was an end to the day's adventures, but more was to come in the middle of the night ...

Our room at the White Hart was great. The shower en-suite was good, too, but it let us down when the door jammed with my wife inside at some time in the early hours of the morning. Fortunately I was woken by her attempts to open the door, which was not locked but refused to respond to the turning of the door handle. After a trip to reception in my nightwear and two visits by the night porter the door finally opened as it should have done without any really effective input from either me or him - just as he was at the point of thinking he'd have to resort to breaking the door down. We did not close it fully after that! So there was a bit of a sleep shortage that night and we were duly compensated most satisfactorily when we checked out after breakfast the next day.

After the business meeting on the Thursday morning which was the initial reason for staying in Lincoln, we made our way down the hill with our luggage to the railway station and had our lunch at the Costa Coffee café at the station while we awaited our train, the 13:24 LNER departure for London which took us to Peterborough. We had initially thought we might leave later than this, so we did not have seats reserved on this departure, but there is never any difficulty finding seats at this time on trains from Lincoln. At Peterborough as usual we changed trains for Stamford and home. Another great trip. We could have done without the disruption on the railway but for us on this occasion it was OK: we coped well and still enjoyed the trip; for others with business to do or families to get home to it could have been dreadful. We could certainly have done without the disobedient shower room door ... but it gives us something to talk about! We shall not be put off using the same hotel on future trips.

A Weekend in Lincoln

Lincoln Has a Better Train Service Than Ever, but What About Sundays?

I had been invited to a special service at Lincoln Cathedral to celebrate, or at least to mark, the 150th anniversary of the founding of the erstwhile Theological College there which I had attended from 1980 to 1983 but which had been closed for some years now. There would be a chance to meet some old friends from those days (although I knew not who or how many) as well as some people I knew who had been there before or after me, so I leapt at the chance to go. As it happened, my wife would be at the cathedral on the day before, attending the first meeting of the newly-elected Diocesan Synod. As we had little else on that weekend we decided to make a weekend break out of it, and as, for various reasons, we, and especially she, had used our car rather a lot recently, we would go by train and relax properly. We booked two nights at the newly-refurbished White Hart Hotel in Bailgate, where we had stayed briefly a few months earlier, and I ensured that there were suitable train services. This last was especially important because we would be returning on a Sunday evening, after the early-evening service and the socialising over refreshments which would follow it, not knowing how long we should wish to stay to that.

On Sundays the roughly-hourly East Midlands train service via Sleaford and Spalding does not operate; it is Monday-Saturday only, so there would be a much-reduced choice of trains, all going on the LNER route via Newark and Grantham. However, it all looked fine, with trains back at a couple of suitable times in the evening which would allow enough flexibility, and with Super Off Peak tickets we would not be at all restricted.

So we set off from Stamford on a Friday afternoon and during our change-of-train at Peterborough bought tea (well, it was tea time!) to drink on the East Midlands Railway train to Lincoln. This service now uses decent trains with comfortable seats but still does not have any on-board catering, so we either have to take our own or buy at the station. Arriving at Lincoln we made our way across to the bus station and took the next bus up to the Cathedral, about a five-minute wait for a five-minute ride. It was then a short walk to the White Hart where we checked in and unpacked in our cosy and well-appointed room. We booked dinner in the hotel for the first night and really enjoyed the meal, served by friendly and efficient staff.

Breakfast at the hotel on Saturday morning was another matter: despite being almost the first to arrive when the dining room opened we were almost the last to be served, and my wife had a meeting to get to. I had given up and hurriedly eaten a croissant when my poached egg finally arrived - I managed about half of it when we had to rush off. Not good, but a chat with the duty manager elicited not just an apology but a substantial discount on the total bill which made everything look all right again and, sure enough, the following morning we were very well served indeed and we shall look to stay at the White Hart again when we need a hotel in uphill Lincoln. To be fair, the breakfast service was difficult that morning because a large party all needed to be ready at once, and there was also a wedding party all wanting time to get ready for the big event. And us ... and they didn't start until quite late on Saturdays so we all arrived in a short time - but still, we could have been served in order of arrival.

I went off around the city centre shops during the meeting, and in the afternoon attended a service at the cathedral marking thirty years since the first ordination of women priests in the Church of England (brilliant sermon!) while my wife went round the city centre shops. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant in downhill Lincoln and then found a bus back up the hill at bedtime - not so easy as bus services thin out substantially after the evening peak, but it was OK provided we used the timetable (I use the live departures on Apple Maps on my iPhone) rather than just turn up and wait as we can do during the day. It was essential to get a bus (or taxi otherwise) because my current health condition would not easily cope with climbing the hill - anyone who thinks Lincolnshire is flat needs to see Lincoln.

Sunday morning breakfast could not have gone better, then we attended the morning Sung Eucharist at the Cathedral, had a rather less-then-usual Sunday lunch after the gastronomic delights of the previous two evenings and made our way back to the Cathedral for the special afternoon Evensong. It was good to meet some old friends and acquaintances, as well as some newer and current ones who had been at the college after my time. Two former members of staff who are now retired bishops were present, one of them preaching.

We had spoken to everyone we knew and exchanged contact details with some with whom we had lost touch and it was time to make our way home. The vergers had kindly stowed our luggage in their vestry and once I had recovered it we said our farewells and walked to the station. We'd had a choice of a departure which had a short wait at Newark and a long wait at Peterborough, or one that had a long wait at Newark and a short wait at Peterborough: we took the former, a long wait at Newark being a daunting prospect. Peterborough station is drab enough but Newark Northgate can be grim on an autumn night! In the event we arrived at Peterborough and decided to call a private-hire cab to take us home - this cost us an extra £25 but we were home before the long wait at Peterborough would have ended! We really do need a more frequent service between Peterborough and Stamford, or maybe we just need more Sunday services everywhere - the options for coming home were very sparse compared with the outward trip. Nevertheless, it was a great weekend, and I maintain still better than taking the car, with no restriction on drinking wine with friends and no trying to drive in the dark while tired after doing so much.

No Such Thing as a Boring Train Journey

East Midlands Railway class 170 at Lincoln

A very familiar route to a very familiar destination

It all began with the Bishop of Lincoln's car being stolen ... Newly appointed, Bishop Stephen arranged to visit all the parish priests ("vicars") in his new diocese before his diary became too full, just to get to know us all, but on the day he was due to visit Stamford the programme fell apart because his car was stolen and he needed the day to sort things out regarding that. New arrangements were hastily made with him visiting some in the town as planned but several weeks later, and some others visiting him in Lincoln, as by then it was becoming hard for him to clear a whole day for visiting. Unfortunately the new dates coincided with my radiotherapy and I could not be available to visit or be visited, so ...

Eventually, long after everyone else had met the Bishop I set off to Lincoln to go and see him. We had actually met before because he had been our interim bishop for a few months during the vacancy and he had installed me as an honorary Canon of Lincoln Cathedral, but we had not had the "tell me about yourself" conversation that he wanted to have. It had been a long time since I had been to Lincoln, and I had not been on many train rides recently either, so rather than just rush off to Lincoln, see the Bishop and rush back, I decided to go in good time, look around the city for a bit, have lunch and then attend the meeting before returning late in the afternoon: I would make it a day out.

I even bought my ticket at the station. I like to do this if the ticket office is open and it is a simple enough journey. It is good to talk to the booking clerk and build a proper relationship over the years. And so I sat on the station awaiting my train to Peterborough, which, as with all the trains on this day, was on time. Changing trains at Peterborough I had a few minutes before my train left for Lincoln, and in my wallet was a free coffee-and-biscuit voucher which I had received last time I passed this way with LNER - they give them to First Class ticket-holders who ask for them, and when I was given mine the Bike Barista who honours the vouchers was not open so they said I could use them any time in future. This time I was travelling Standard Class with two other train companies but the voucher was, of course, still valid once issued. Carefully carrying my coffee and wafer to Platform 2a I waited briefly for the train doors to be opened and found a suitable seat with a table at which I could get some work done on my way to Lincoln. These trains are so much better than the ones that used to be used on this route: comfortable seats with enough legroom and tables big enough to work on.

Lincoln trains often share a platform at Peterborough
with Thameslink trains through London

It is amazing how quickly time passes when you're concentrating. In no time the train was stopping in Spalding and then slowing and stopping while awaiting a platform at the junction station in Sleaford - the timetable is so slack on this train service that the trains often run early and have to wait here and there. At Sleaford a few more passengers boarded the train. It is busiest between Sleaford and Lincoln, and emptiest between Spalding and Sleaford, neither of which is surprising, really, but now that there is a full day's service between Peterborough and Lincoln, with better trains, stopping at these large market towns the number of passengers overall seems to be on the rise and the two-coach units fill well but I have yet to see one overcrowded like the single-coach ones sometimes were north of Sleaford.

And before I knew it I was hastily packing away my things as the train approached Lincoln: I could not afford not to be ready because this train was not terminating there but going forward to Doncaster so I had to get off smartly.

And so into the city centre. I was keen to see how it had developed since I had last been there with time to look around. Almost all the shops in the redeveloped Sincil Street area were now filled with a mixture of established local traders and new upmarket shops. This really was now the place to be whereas it used to be very much a secondary street with down-market shops. The covered market hall has also now opened but was not trading on the day I was there unfortunately so I was not able to visit that. I made my way to a small Italian bar I knew just off the High Street and had my lunch there before going to the bus station to take a bus up the hill to go and meet the Bishop.

It was a lovely chat: we had both waited a long time for it, and it was good to be working together. Apart from my unpaid voluntary ministry in one of the Stamford parishes I also have one other ministry working directly for the Bishop across the diocese, so there was plenty of practical stuff to talk about as well as getting to know each other as colleagues.

I had a brief meeting afterwards with my Archdeacon who kindly drove me back to the station, and then I was on my way home.

Returning meant a very tight connection at Peterborough, so tight that it was not shown in the online journey planners; they reckon that four minutes is not enough time to change trains at Peterborough (and it probably isn't if you're not familiar with it), but as I have said, the trains on this route often run a touch early and today was such a time. The train was stopped briefly at a signal while awaiting a platform at Peterborough but arrived in good time for me to make my way over to the correct platform for my connecting train to Stamford, which was just approaching the platform when I got there, also on time. Had I missed it, there would have been the alternative of taking the bus from the nearby bus station, but that would, of course, have been very much slower. Every train was on time, everything smooth and easy, a lovely day out, and dinner at home with my wife.

When I've not been able to travel much this year it was a joy even to undertake such an ordinary trip, one that I have done multiple times before, and to see that in spite of all the criticism currently directed at our railway system, there can be times when everything just works perfectly. Nothing was late, nothing was out of order, nothing was uncomfortable or inadequate. And now, for my next trip, Switzerland. Watch this space!

Some Practical Little Journeys

Train trips to events official and personal

Sometimes I travel for fun, sometimes because I have to be in other places to do things of varying importance. Either way I always try to travel by train or bus whenever I can (or walk or cycle for short journeys), for all sorts of reasons I have been through elsewhere in this blog. 

Recently I have taken a trip to Lincoln for an event at the Cathedral where our Acting Bishop wanted to thank those of us who continue to provide ministry in our retirement. The value of retirement ministry was illustrated when I arranged a meeting in Lincoln on the same day, planning to go straight from the meeting to the cathedral service, which was followed by a sandwich lunch (I walked in to the service just as the Bishop was starting it!). Fitting in the meeting before an 11:00 event meant that I had to leave Stamford much earlier than usual. It was tempting to drive, but I had so much I wanted to get done and driving the car seems such a waste of time even though theoretically it would get me to Lincoln nearer to the time of my meeting and in less time, and would enable me to leave whenever I wished. The ability to get things done won out, though, and I booked train tickets to leave Stamford on the 06:57 after a hurried breakfast.

This gave me a simple connection into the 07:31 East Midlands Railway service to Lincoln via Spalding and Sleaford. I said Morning Prayer on the train to Peterborough and then worked the rest of the way, partly on preparation for my meeting and then making my way through a rather full email inbox - retirement has not stood in the way of busyness! I arrived in Lincoln in plenty of time before my meeting and had a cup of coffee at the Grand Café at the bus station before taking a bus up the hill to my meeting.

I had a good time catching up with old friends and making new ones over the lunch after the cathedral worship and then it was time to walk back down to the station. I had booked Anytime tickets and had seats reserved on a 15:27 departure, but was ready to leave well before then. There was a LNER Azuma standing at the station bound for London with a stop at Peterborough, so I boarded that and was taken smoothly and swiftly back to Peterborough, this time via Newark and Grantham. The reason this train was not shown as an option for travel to Stamford is that it would have connected with the one westbound train per day which Cross Country is presently not running between Peterborough and Stamford: a "Covid Keep" I'd rather lose! There is now a much better service than ever between Peterborough and Lincoln, but it is of limited value to Stamford people because of the gaps in the timetable, one each way, on our local line. Anyway, it worked for me because I knew there was a bus that I could use to fill the gap, and being old enough for free bus travel it did not cost me anything - but it did not leave until just before the train, if running, would have arrived in Stamford, and it was very much slower than the train. Still, it worked and I was still home in reasonable time and had had a good day's work and play.

The other recent short trip was to Nottingham with my wife to attend the funeral of an old acquaintance. Again it was tempting to take the car but in the end we decided to travel by rail which would allow flexibility to have drinks with friends afterwards if appropriate and to travel together for part of the way back with those from farther away whom we knew to be travelling by rail. Getting there turned out to be much quicker than anticipated: our train to Leicester was on time, but the services from there to Nottingham were running just a touch late, two or three minutes, which made it just possible, if we hurried, to get a connection half and hour earlier than planned, and it was also a quicker train, non-stop to Nottingham. We had planned plenty of time in Nottingham for coffee and a tram to the church for the funeral, but after the coffee we actually had time to walk to the church, and even to take a detour through the arboretum which was rather pleasant, and still be in plenty of time. We met one friend there, and another couple arrived a little later on a train from London.

Afterwards, when memories had been exchanged over food and drink we made our way back. This time we joined our three friends on the tram which took us straight to Nottingham rail station. One was taking a Cardiff train from there, and the rest of us boarded the next train for London which was calling at Leicester. There we left our London friends and awaited the train home. There was almost an hour to wait, so we left the station and enjoyed a cocktail (buy one, get one free!) at The Merchant of Venice, the Shakespeare-themed Italian café-restaurant almost opposite the station, which is rapidly becoming our usual stopping place in Leicester. Trains between Leicester and Stamford are not especially quick, the route being a "pasting together" of what remains of several former branch lines, but it is a useful line and they are fast enough for our purposes. Again, they suffer from the gaps in service that I mentioned above, but for us these do not matter on this part of the route because we never travel out in the afternoon or home in the morning: it is when we are going out towards Peterborough or Cambridge and returning in the afternoon that the gaps are an inconvenience. Perhaps when the strikes are over and people have the confidence to travel again (and Cross Country employs enough drivers!) the full timetable will operate once more and we'll be able to travel when and where we like.

Different Ways to and from Lincoln

Travelling by train in Lincolnshire getting better but still affected by the pandemic

Coffee and cake at the Great Northern Hotel

Twice recently I have travelled to Lincoln on church business, and each time the timing of my travel has been disrupted to some extent by Cross Country Trains' continued temporary timetable with big gaps in service eastbound in the morning and westbound in the afternoon. Both East Midlands Railway and LNER now operate far better services between Peterborough and Lincoln (as noted in some previous posts), but these are only useful if I can get to Peterborough to catch them, and back from Peterborough after arriving there on my way back. The online journey planners do offer a route via Leicester to fill in the gaps but these take an extra hour as they are such a long was round. It is such a shame that this situation continues, but with some care in making appointments I am nevertheless able to use the train for my visits to Lincoln - anything has to be better than the tedious waste of time that is driving up the A1 and A46.

The first occasion was a midday meeting in uphill Lincoln and on the way there I took the same route as last time, with Advance tickets to Lincoln, LNER, changing at Newark. This time, though, on my return I was meeting my wife and granddaughter in Peterborough City Centre on my way home: they had the car and I was eventually driven home after time with them so the big holes in Cross Country's timetable would not have affected me. I did not wait as last time for the LNER service but took the earlier East Midlands service via Sleaford and Spalding, slower but better timed for the end of my meeting. On the way to Lincoln in the morning I had a little while to wait for my train to Newark, but because I had booked well in advance I had bought a First Class ticket at a decent price for this leg of the journey and was entitled to free tea and cake at the Great Northern Hotel coffee lounge at Peterborough which certainly passed the time nicely! Arriving in Lincoln I had plenty of time to walk up the hill and when I passed through Exchequergate into the cathedral precincts it was really good to see that the last of the hefty scaffolding that has covered the magnificent west front for several years was being taken down. This was the first time I can remember that I could see the whole of this front of the cathedral. So much restoration work has been done over so many years. 

The second occasion was to see someone in the morning and we chose 10:15 because I knew that I could get there then on an easy route, and that provided we were disciplined about the length of our conversation I would be able to get back to Peterborough before Cross Country packed up its westbound service for the afternoon. That went really well and it amazing how quickly time passes on the local train through Lincolnshire when you've tasks to do on your way to a meeting! Before you know it, the train is arriving in Lincoln and it's time to pack the briefcase and get off. This journey is so much more comfortable now that the service has enough coaches for two per train rather than the overcrowded single-car trains that used to operate it. Still no on-board catering, but I bought coffee and croissant at Peterborough to see me through!

Arriving in Lincoln for this visit, I had intended to take a bus up the hill, but Stagecoach East Midlands is also suffering timetable problems because of a shortage of drivers, and so I walked up rather than risk being late because of a longer-than-expected wait for a bus. The transport companies want to get us travelling again, but we can only do it when they are operating their services! In the event it was a lovely day and a pleasure to walk up past the art gallery and up Greestone Stairs to my meeting. I did not this time see the striking frontage of Lincoln Cathedral, but I did note that a film crew had parked its vehicles all around and seemed to be making a feature film of some sort. After my meeting I walked back down the hill and caught a through LNER train back to Peterborough and made my connection home. Had I missed that there was an East Midlands train about twenty minutes after it which would have made the next (and last for three hours!) connection for Stamford at Peterborough - a useful backstop when you don't know how long you'll be. I bought lunch from the on-board buffet on the train and resumed the jobs I'd been doing. It was an early lunch but it fitted in nicely with my day. I was using Standard Class Anytime Return tickets this day in order to allow that flexibility, and this was in any case the most cost-effective option, the meeting having been arranged too late for Advance singles to make a big enough saving.

Travelling home by LNER, Standard Class

Lincoln: A New Start for Me

Azuma at Peterborough, where we changed for
Stamford on our way home

A Day Out by Train with Friends

I have not been to Lincoln for a couple of years, whereas before Covid and retirement I used to visit about monthly. In those days there were few trains and I had to drive as often as not, and the rail journey was often longer and more complex than a short trip to ones own county town ought to be. During the lockdowns and "stay at home" advice of the last couple of years some significant improvements to the rail services have taken place and there has also much much work done to the city centre at Lincoln, and to Lincoln Cathedral, too. When some friends were staying and we were looking for somewhere for a day out together Lincoln came to mind: it is a place where I had lived many years ago, and before that a place where I and one of the friends had spent a few days when we had not known each other for long, so there were some memories to be stirred. Tickets were booked using the LNER app, choosing trains that would take us out by one route and back by another and would give us plenty of time in Lincoln while allowing us back to Stamford in time for a restaurant dinner. All of us having Senior Railcards the total fare was just under £100 for Anytime Day Returns, although where possible we did have seats booked on our chosen trains. Had we become bored or the weather become rough we could return early (but not late if we wanted our booked dinner!).

(This was to be an easy-going, relaxed day out, so I did not take my camera with me and any illustrations you see here are from my earlier collection.)

We left Stamford on the 09:56 Cross Country train to Peterborough and although our reserved seats were not all adjacent (the Cross Country algorithm does seem to leave something to be desired) we did manage to find a table for 4 for this short leg of the trip. This service neatly connects with an East Midlands Railway departure from Peterborough to Lincoln, part of the improved offering from this company since I last travelled that way. Although there had long been a train at about this time, it had always been a short, single-coach train which might be able to take everyone at Peterborough but was always grossly overcrowded when it reached Lincoln. The service also used to start late in the morning and finish early in the afternoon, of little use to most potential passengers - and although that did not affect us on this trip it was the main reason for me having to use my car in the past. We were surprised to find that our train was not just a bit longer than before, but consisted of four coaches and although there are no seat reservations on this route it was easy to choose a table together with a window to open for anti-viral ventilation as well as a view of the countryside. We were blessed with gorgeous weather for the time of the year, late October, with lots of sunshine and no rain (although the forecast until that very morning had not been so optimistic).

The first part of the ride to Lincoln took us up the East Coast Main Line as far as Werrington Junction, retracing the steps of the last couple of miles of the trip from Stamford, and then we set off across the Lincolnshire fens on the route through Spalding and Stamford towards Lincoln. This section is marked by distant and not-so-distant spires and towers of town and village churches among the clumps of trees that mark those places, including Deeping St James where we also once lived and Crowland, the historic Abbey of St Guthlac. Soon the train approached Spalding where two of us had grown up, but apart from the area immediately around the station all now unrecognisable, so much has the town grown. There were enormous new houses being built well out of the town centre and we wondered where on earth the people to live in them would work and shop, there being little in Spalding itself these days.

Soon we were off across the fens again to Sleaford, with a slight hold-up on the approach to the station because of the constricted access since tracks there were reduced some years previously. More people joined the train here than left it, and the four coaches were beginning to look more of a necessity than a luxury. Many more joined us at Ruskington and at Metheringham, now well out of the fens into gently rolling hills, and the train was nicely full without being crowded when we arrived on time at Lincoln. A pleasant ride through sunny Lincolnshire, and now to explore the city. It was great to be back, and I was looking forward to seeing how the city centre improvements had progressed since I was last here.

We started "uphill" around the cathedral and castle and made our way down, so the first thing to do was to visit the bus station, opposite the rail station, and take a bus up to the cathedral. These run frequently are are not too expensive and do save the effort (and time) of climbing one of the steepest streets in England!

From the Cathedral bus stop we went to look at the foundations of the Roman east gate, preserved in front of The Lincoln Hotel - fresh from a holiday in Rome it was good to be reminded that we have quite a lot of Roman remains here in England, too, even if ours are several centuries younger than some of the Italian ones! Strolling around East Bight we followed the course of the Roman city wall and saw more fragments of it in private gardens and then arrived at the north gate which is still in use by modern traffic, although somewhat reduced in grandeur, most notably by lorries not quite small enough to pass through. As we walked down Bailgate we reminisced about how things used to be: much was the same, and the pub where I used to recover from philosophy lectures had not changed much. We visited the site of St Paul's church, supposedly founded by St Paulinus in the early years of English Christianity, and then went to the Castle. No tickets were left to visit the buildings, but actually that was OK: it would leave us with plenty of time to see the rest of the city, and entry to the grounds is free so we spent a little time there and then found some lunch in one of the cafés on Steep Hill (yes, that is the name of the street!) before moving on to the Cathedral. One snag with visiting on a Monday as we did is that some bars, restaurants etc are not open for lunch on Mondays and with a table for four required we did have to queue for a few minutes, but only a few.

I know Lincoln Cathedral very well, partly from living in its precincts for nearly three years and partly from having taken part in its services from time to time over the last forty years, but my friends do not know it half so well, so it was good to show them around, and we did not need to join the guided tour ... What I had not seen before was the new visitor centre and education facility which had been built, with grant funding, on the north side of the Cathedral, partly in buildings formerly part of the cathedral school. The centre was not completely finished but had been partially opened for the half-term holiday for children's activities, and the new café was also open for our afternoon cup of tea, replacing the tiny coffee shop that had opened by the chapter house four decades ago.

When we had seen everything we wanted to see at Lincoln Cathedral we began the walk down the hill, stopping on the way to see the places that had mattered to us many years ago, and popping into the model shop to buy just a few more HO scale figures for my Swiss model railway, then doing just a little more shopping before exploring the Sincil Street area. This is now known as the Cornhill Quarter and a good deal more pleasant an area it is, although with many of the good local shops still present, and a cinema added. The Cornhill Quarter is immediately adjacent to the bus station, rail station and multi-storey car park and forms a great entrance to the city centre. There is still some work to do, but it is now much further advanced than when I last saw it and already looking great.

It was now time to make our way to the station and await our train home. Checking the departures we were not surprised to see that we needed to cross the bridge to the far platform, but as we crossed we were pleasantly surprised to see that the train, this time a LNER "Azuma" inter-city set, was already on its way from the siding to the platform and within a few moments of arriving the doors were unlocked and we were able to board, easily finding our reserved seats around a table for four. Much more spacious than the train on which we had arrived at Lincoln, this one took us back to Peterborough via Newark and the East Coast Main Line. As soon as it left Lincoln I went to the café-bar and bought a round of white wine to round of the warm, sunny day we had enjoyed together - I bought the last of the white wine, so I hope no-one else wanted any! While I was at the bar, the rest were watching the University of Lincoln slide past the window, and then were amazed to find that the Cathedral was also visible from the left side of the train, having been on the right side when we were at the station! There is quite a loop to get from the former Central station to the Newark line which was served by a separate station until a new link was constructed late last century. By the time we stopped at Newark darkness had come and we watched the scenery no longer. LNER took us smoothly to Peterborough for our Cross Country connection to Stamford, all on time and just right for dinner at the Cosy Club!

It had been a simple day out and yet a really good one: the weather was better than one dared hope
in mind-October, all our trains were clean, punctual and spacious enough, we had good company (well, mine was good: I have to hope the others felt the same!) and enjoyed all that we saw and did.

First Class from Lincoln

I do not travel to Lincoln as often as I used to do before I retired, but I have kept some interests there and occasionally have to attend meetings in the city. When I had to go this week I booked my tickets in advance so that I could use LNER’s new service between Peterborough and Lincoln, and I even managed to book First Class for the return leg, still saving money on the route I normally used to use via Spalding with East Midlands Railway. Not quite as quick, but I was hoping for rather more comfort than the single-car trains with insufficient legroom used on the other route.

On the way top Lincoln I was travelling Standard Class on one of LNER's legacy electric trains and I bought some lunch at Peterborough station while awaiting my connection. I had to change trains at Newark Northgate on this leg of the journey, so one more change that I used to have to make going the other way: through trains to and from Lincoln by LNER's route are only two-hourly, whereas the little East Midlands trains are slow but hourly. I was pleased at Newark to see that the connecting train to Lincoln, also provided by East Midlands Railway, now had two coaches and consequently was not overcrowded as they often used to be. As this train was going forward from Lincoln to provide the next service towards Peterborough via Spalding I could see that the shortage of coaches on that route was at last being addressed. I need no longer worry on that score if I chose in future to travel by that route.

My train arrived just a little early into Lincoln, as they often do, and I walked across to the bus station to ride up to the Cathedral and then walk round to my meeting, arriving nicely in time.

Early evening  at Lincoln Central

When my meetings were over and it was time to come home I walked down the hill to the station, having plenty of time before my LNER through train to Peterborough. Lincoln station was very busy with people going home from work, college and shopping, with a variety of local and regional trains going to all sorts of places, and not a single-car train in sight! Nor a "Pacer" unit with four-wheeled coaches; every train had improved beyond what we used to see here just a few weeks ago, and then, to cap it all, in came my train to Peterborough, a London-bound LNER "Azuma".


This was a brand-new class 800 5-car set operating a route which has been beefed-up from just once a day to five times, and I had a First Class ticket this time! The train cruised smoothly away from Lincoln station and into the night and I began catching up on email etc which had not received attention during my meetings, and before I knew it the train was stopping at Newark. I had been able to choose my seat reservation when I booked, and I had a single seat with table towards the end of a coach, very peaceful and convenient for the entrance, the luggage rack (which on this trip I did not actually need) and the toilet.

At Newark the diesel engines were switched off as the train was transferring to electric power for the rest of its run to London. On leaving Newark the at-seat catering trolley made its way through first class and I was served sandwiches and white wine - I was to dine at home later so I did not need any more than that, but I do hope the cooked meal was available for those going all the way to London (and I have no reason to believe it was not).

Although Azumas are no faster than the older electric trains in terms of top speed (both are capable of 140mph and restricted to 125 mph by line speed limits), the acceleration is far superior and departures are always quite a thrill; further, any delays are normally made up with very little difficulty and early arrivals are common, until the entire fleet has been updated and the timetable is rewritten to take the better performance into account, that is!

It was a good run and well worth the effort of booking in advance to grab the First Class journey home for less money than I usually pay for Standard! With East Midlands Railway promising a better timetable for its Lincolnshire services from December 2020 and the possibility of one or two more LNER services to Lincoln as well, the county is finally getting something approaching a decent train service. There will still be scope for more improvements, of course, with better trains to Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes badly needed, but whether anything can be done about the east Lincolnshire coast and Boston is another matter.

Wet and Windy, or how we miss the East Lincs Main Line

By train to Boston, Lincs

My route across Lincolnshire! You can easily see where the
route of the East Lincs Main Line used to be

People in Louth, Lincolnshire, say that in the 1960s they could travel by train to London in about the same time as it now takes them to drive to their nearest main line station. The people of Boston may look more fortunate as they still have a railway station, but to get to London from there now involves a fifty-minute ride to Grantham before starting a main line trip of a similar length to the old direct train from Boston itself. The closure of the East Lincolnshire main line between Grimsby and Peterborough was, combined with decline in fishing and in seaside holidays, a catastrophe for the Lincolnshire coast from which it has never recovered. The roads around the area are grossly inadequate for the traffic they are now forced to take, and even the new A16 laid along the track bed of the main line between Spalding and Boston is often overloaded, especially with lorries taking agricultural produce to market, traffic once taken by rail. 

Still, Boston is on the railway and can be reached. So when I had to go there I thought I’d give the train a try. I had to attend a training session in Boston, at 9.30 in the morning in November. It is in the same county but is a difficult drive on busy roads at the best of times, and in rain the journey by road was not a pleasant prospect. To be sure of getting there for the start, I'd have to plan to arrive at 09:00 to allow time for Boston's chronic congestion (probably also a result of having inadequate railways!) and to find a parking space. This would mean leaving at about 07:30, given the slowness of traffic around Spalding and along the A16. That perspective makes the 06:57 departure required to do the trip by train seem a little less daunting, although I did have to walk to the station before then, of course! But then, had I gone by car I'd have had very little exercise that day whereas I actually walked a fair bit one way and another. and exercise matters.

A pleasant surprise. I had no idea that USB
sockets had been fitted to EMR class 158
trains

It was a good day, broadly speaking. There were niggling little delays here and there because of the dreadful weather, but nothing to spoil things; all connections easily made. I bought my tickets in advance using the Cross Country Trains Train Tickets app and had them as electronic tickets on my iPhone, with a print-out just in case, so I did not need time even to pick up the tickets at the station and could just walk onto the train. I had reserved seats from Stamford to Peterborough and back, and between Peterborough and Grantham and back, but there are no reservations available between Grantham and Boston. The total fare, Standard Class Anytime Return was £30.65 with my Senior Railcard. (The mileage would have been £31.50, plus the cost of parking, so I have saved a bit on the expenses claim!) All the trains were warm and dry and I was able to get on with the tasks I had in mind to do on the way there and back - something which would have been out of the question if I had travelled by car. This was helped by East Midlands Railway and LNER trains having USB charging ports at all Standard Class seats: it was only at the stations and the on the section between Peterborough and Stamford on Cross Country Trains where I had to run my
iPhone and iPad on battery power, although on the other hand that was also the only stretch with free WiFi. WiFi was available at all the stations, too. With a fully-charged iPhone I never needed to use the paper tickets I had printed at home, but they were handy to keep in the pocket because they include the itinerary for the trip - very useful with two changes of train each way - and the seat reservation details, so although I never showed them to anyone, I looked at the times and seat numbers at each departure and junction station. That, too, would have been on the iPhone, but it rather more fuss to consult than a folded paper in my jacket pocket.

I had had a rather earlier-than-usual breakfast so I bought a croissant at Peterborough station before boarding the Liverpool-bound train which would take me to Grantham, and at Grantham I had a few minutes to wait for the Skegness train which took me to Boston. These were both comfortable trains with plenty of legroom, quite unlike the dreadful units that run between Peterborough and Lincoln and which I have to use much more often than these. I was on time at Boston and walked through some fairly heavy rain to my course in the town centre - a test for my new raincoat which it passed with distinction! All dried out soon enough during the day.

When it was time to come home I hurried far too quickly to the station and had to wait several minutes for the train. I don't think I had taken in just how convenient Boston station is, and I could have chatted just a little more to colleagues instead of rushing off.

The train back to Grantham stopped at Rauceby signal box (they still have them on that line!) for the signaller to warn the driver that the line was flooded ahead and that the train would have to proceed slowly. In spite of this we were only a few minutes late into Grantham, easily allowing for the connection to Peterborough. I would not be home for dinner as I was intending to go straight to a meeting when I arrived in Stamford,  so I planned to have a snack on the train to Peterborough, which was a LNER "Azuma" scheduled to have a buffet car. I was horrified on arrival at Grantham to see that my train was indicated baldly "Delayed" and with no time shown. I was soon comforted when a two-minute late departure was indicated (although the EMR train behind it was still just "Delayed" - probably yet more flooding). The train was one of the new service from Lincoln, a five-coach Azuma set ideal for this service, and I had my reserved seat. I walked through to the buffet and bought my sandwich and a can of Hop on Board ale which occupied the time to Peterborough: indeed I was still enjoying the beer on arrival there and finished it while waiting for the connection to Stamford.

And so to my evening meeting and eventually home to bed - arriving about fifteen hours after setting off from the station! But all very relaxed, with jobs done.

I was happy that I had made the correct decision to go by rail. Yes, it takes longer than driving, and it involved two changes of train. But it also gave me time to get things done, time to relax, and some exercise. I only got wet once, but then so did those who drove, for the car parks were no handier for the venue than the rail station in Boston. It was good day, a bit of an adventure. really, and as you know by now, I do like a bit of an adventure!

Better Bus Services in Lincoln

An intending passenger consults the large
information screen to discover from which
bay her bus departs. Displays adjacent to each
waiting area list the bays' departures.

Twice recently I have had to go to meetings in Lincoln when I have not been in so much of a hurry to get uphill that I've needed a taxi and so I have used the bus, which is far cheaper. As it happens, the first such occasion was just after the opening of the new bus station, a major part of the new "Transport Hub" being created in central Lincoln, bringing trains, buses, taxis, cycles and cars all together.

USB socket for my iPhone

Coinciding with the new bus station, Stagecoach in Lincoln have recast their city bus services, now marketed under the brand "Simplibus" and there are frequent buses up to the cathedral from the station, all with comfortable seats and USB sockets for charging your devices.

Buses are the other side of the glass wall: no
need to step outside until your bus is ready.

The bus station itself is a pleasant, light and airy place with space to wait for each service and with plenty of information screens listing departures with route numbers and destinations. What is missing is a comprehensive route map so that visitors can work out which route they need - this matter is easily resolved by picking up a free pocket-sized route map from the enquiry office (not many bus stations have those nowadays), but it would be so much better to have a wall-mounted map near the entrance so that you go into the waiting area knowing which service you need. That criticism aside, everything else is just brilliant and whether travelling with a day ticket or single bought on the bus, a PlusBus ticket bought with my train ticket or from next year my anticipated pensioner's bus pass (!) I shall find using buses in Lincoln much simpler than before.

Off we go: buses reverse away from their loading bays.

The old bus station (which I do remember opening!) was dark and uninviting and it was hard to find out, even when I lived there and knew the city well, which stand I need for which bus to where. You had to cross the bus lanes to get from stand to stand if you guessed wrong, too, but with the new station you never have to go outside until it is time to board your bus.

Not so grim up north

I have two colleagues in training who do not know Lincolnshire well. Indeed although I have lived for all but ten years of my life in Lincolnshire there is a fair bit of the north of it that I do not know myself - see my post re Scunthorpe in 2014. I arranged a day to drive them around the towns and villages of south Lincolnshire which I have known from my birth, and later a rail tour of the north.

We caught an early train out of Stamford and changed at Peterborough for Doncaster. Travelling First Class we enjoyed breakfast on the train, remembering to look out of the windows while passing through the western edge of our county along the racing stretch through the Bythams and through Grantham. I ought to mention that we only claimed standard class fares on expenses!

At Doncaster we changed into a TransPennine Express train for Cleethorpes, the holiday destination in NorthEast Lincolnshire, but as this was February we were not anticipating much time on the beach.  The trip through Grimsby was remarkably pleasant, with a feeling almost of being on a tramway through a leafy residential area as the town centre was approached, then through a neat Victorian station and out through a dockland and industrial area clearly in need of substantial investment, before following the coast to Cleethorpes.

It was windy, but beautifully sunny and easy to imagine this place in summer with hordes of people. This terminus was once heaving with holidaymakers and was also on the direct route to London from Grimsby via Louth, Boston, Spalding and Peterborough: the closure of that line towards the end of the Beeching cuts has left the east Lincs coastal strip impoverished ever since. Access to London had once been swift and simple, but now it takes as long to drive to a main-line station as it used to take to get to London by train. For Grimsby and Cleethorpes there had at first been through trains via Lincon instead (though no such luck for the other towns on the route), but now these do not exist either. The beach at Cleethorpes looked fantastic and this may well be a place worth visiting if we ever get a decent summer day!

We caught a bus back into Grimsby to see another aspect of the two adjacent towns and bought lunch at the Wetherspoons pub which looked as if it was originally the railway hotel by the station. There we discovered that Grimsby had been the home of Archbishop John Whitgift who is greatly commemorated in Croydon, a place I know rather better. Grimsby had very pleasant shopping streets and a museum of the fishing industry which was once world-renowned but has been the victim of depleted fish stocks. I must return some time at leisure and explore the town a bit more.

We tried to visit St James's Church, Grimsby Minster, but found it locked when we were there, although I gather it is usually open on weekday daytimes.

We returned to our corner of Lincolnshire by the more direct but not necessarily faster route via Market Rasen and Lincoln, the way the through London trains used to go when the East Lincolnshire Main Line was first closed. There seemed to be a problem (or "issue," as they say these days) with the information display on the platform, but the train came and departed on time, taking us through the middle of north Lincolnshire through to the East Coast Main Line at Newark. Standard class only, single car diesel unit of a type common throughout the county on the rural lines, but comfortable and fast enough, we had a great view of the towns and countryside through which we travelled, which was the idea. When you know the south of the county, the north is another place; you'd never appreciate that you were so close to home. The great cathedral at Lincoln soon came into view and stayed with us for some time, through our stop at Lincoln station and beyond. At Lincoln our little train filled with passengers heading for Newark for the main line to London.

We had intended to have a short break while changing trains at Newark, there being a handy pub not far from the station, but there was some disruption on the main line and we were able to catch an earlier train there that we should have missed, so we caught this instead and made our way home via a change at Peterborough rather earlier than planned - for we had not missed anything of our educational tour of the north of the diocese, simply a sit-down and a pint of ale which we could really fit in some other time ...

So here it is ...

Merry Christmas ... when it gets here. But Advent is incomplete without the shopping for gifts, festive food and decorations, of course, and this year we decided to make special treat for ourselves out of the necessity of Christmas shopping. We can do quite a lot of the shopping in our own town of Stamford or by popping over to neighbouring Peterborough, but we thought it would be good to have a short break (just one day and night) at the Lincoln Christmas Market. We had been at the very first of these when we lived in Lincoln in the early eighties and it has come a very long way since then! I booked a room at the Doubletree by Hilton down on the Brayford waterside, an easy and pleasant walk from the station, and tickets on Virgin Trains East Coast, using the one through train to Lincoln which leaves Peterborough at 8pm. We would have time for a drink at the Great Northern Hotel in Peterborough while changing trains then dinner on the train, an early night at a luxury hotel and straight into the mayhem of one of Europe's biggest Christmas markets before getting a train home.

 

So we left Stamford after work on the Friday evening on the 19:00 Cross Country train to Peterborough and after a pint of one of Grainstore's excellent ales at the Great Northern bar we went over to Platform 4 for the train to Lincoln. When we had lived in Lincoln there were several through trains per day between Grimsby and London via Lincoln but these completely disappeared at one time and are now gradually being reintroduced: currently there is normally one each way per day and the northbound one suited our purposes nicely. With no further change of train there was time for a relaxed dinner on board, included in our First Class ticket price which, booked in good time, was not at all expensive. Virgin Trains had recently introduced a new menu and we were very impressed with the "All Day" cooked meal options. I had the chicken, leek and ham open pie with gravy and potato mash and my wife the chickpea and apricot tagine with giant couscous: both were delicious and went well with the house white wine served as usual on these train in large tumblers!

Yellow belly Baron in the
hotel foyer

Soon after dinner we arrived at Lincoln and strolled round to the Brayford Pool waterside to find our hotel. Storm Desmond was blowing hard (but without rain) as we arrived. We had checked in online the day before and so just had to collect our key card and go to our room. By now it was getting on for bedtime and that was when a problem arose: the washbasin plug was jammed in the waste and we could not use the washbasin. When you're paying Hilton prices you expect basic things like this to work, and to be fair a man in a suit appeared pretty swiftly after I phoned reception, but it was not until half an hour later and two more visits, the last with a man in overalls, that we were able to empty the basin. Now we could not fill it but that was acceptable: we can wash in running water. So to bed half an hour late - the upside was that I mentioned this on checkout and was given a 20% discount which, as far as I am concerned, was more than acceptable and I left happy.

View from the 5th floor Electric restaurant

We were up bright and early in the morning and consumed the usual substantial hotel breakfast, served buffet-style, which kept us going all through our time at the Christmas Market. The bar and restaurant at the hotel are on the fifth floor; unusual but excellent, giving views of both uphill and downhill Lincoln. It is open to non-residents and access (when the doors are not locked because of high winds!) is straight off the waterfront and via a panoramic lift!


If you've never been to Lincoln Christmas Market I can thoroughly recommend a visit, but it is probably better to leave Lincoln sight-seeing for a separate visit, perhaps in the spring or summer, because the Christmas Market takes over all the uphill part of the city where most of the historic places are that you'll want to visit. The Cathedral, Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace (English Heritage) are all very different from normal, and packed with visitors! Starting early by staying in the city the night before, we were able to browse the main part of the market in the Castle before it became crowded: we visited many stalls and could wander freely, but very soon a one-way system was imposed in the Castle grounds to cope with the huge numbers of people arriving after us.

Leaving the Castle by the back gate onto Union Road we found a number of traders selling the novelties we were seeking as gifts and then visited the stall at The Lawn – which I remember as a psychiatric hospital! – and then made our way back towards Bailgate and the Cathedral via large marquee on Westgate where we bought some cards.

Lunch in the Cathedral chapter house was exceptionally good value and ewas a chance to sit down, too. We visited the Medieval Bishop's Palace where there was a “medieval” Christmas market: I had not thought to bring our English Heritage membership cards but the admission charge was only £1 each for this occasion, and it all goes towards the upkeep of our historic places anyway. The medieval market was quite well done, actually, in spite of the strong winds which had forced some traders to pack up, and we enjoyed some honey cake to an ancient recipe – or so we were told, and perhaps at an English Heritage event we can have a bit more confidence.

We made our way downhill to finish the day shopping in the city centre. A one-way scheme for pedestrians going up and down the steep and narrow streets kept us moving in safety at a reasonable speed. Many shops were open until late and when we had all we needed we went for a final stroll along the Brayford waterfront and went to catch the train home. A lot of effort had been put into handling crowds at the normally quiet Lincoln Central station, with queuing areas in the empty car park to prevent overcrowding on the platforms, and the normal single-coach train to Newark Northgate was three coaches – just enough. All our trains home were reported running on time and we settled down for an easy ride home, changing at Newark and Peterborough. On our way to Newark I noticed online that a passenger had been taken ill at Wakefield on the train we were to connect into at Newark, and it was now running about forty minutes late, meaning we would miss our connection at Peterborough. On arrival at Newark we checked if there was any action that could be taken to make the connection but there was no train that could be stopped to get us there in time but the train company would ensure that we got home. Having half an hour or more to wait, we strolled out to find a pub rather than wait on a cold platform or overcrowded waiting room. The pub opposite the station had closed and been turned into a paint shop, but an enterprising banner outside it showed the way to the Newcastle Arms, just along the street, where we enjoyed a pint of real ale before heading back to the station. We were not the only passengers who did this, but the vast majority just sat on the station in the residual wind of Storm Desmond.

When the train came we settled into our First Class seats and enjoyed the light supper provided – just sandwiches, and no wine at weekends – and when we reached Peterborough and went to the counter a taxi was called for us and for anyone else who has missed last trains (although there were not many) and the taxi driver kindly took us home rather than just to Stamford station as he was contracted to do: Virgin Trains East Coast paid the fare. I have since applied for the Delay Repay compensation for the late running train, but it will not be much because it is just half of the cost of the great value Advance single tickets we were using.

We had a great trip and I would recommend it to anyone. Even the two problems that arose spoilt nothing because both were dealt-with in an efficient and kind way. And that was our Christmas shopping started.