There'll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover

"Sailors" buying tickets for an "essential journey" on the
Severn Valley Railway at a forties weekend

I write in my fourth week of confinement to my home, save for the essential daily exercise (which is in fact rather less than daily because we have found plenty to do at home and don't always drag ourselves out!) and the essential occasional delivery of groceries etc to a relative in his nineties who is not going out at all. As the so-called coronavirus "lockdown" continues I am really missing the freedom to travel, even if only to the next town! By now three trips to London for various purposes have not happened, a wedding next month will not be happening, and Easter in Canterbury did not happen, and nor will the planned group outing to the brewery at Wainfleet All Saints.

Worst of all is not knowing whether our special tours planned for later in the summer to mark our fortieth wedding anniversary will happen: nothing has been cancelled yet and all bookings still stand for the time being, but no-one knows whether that will continue to be the case. meanwhile I have no idea when I shall be able to book Advance rail tickets and no inclination to make firm plans for any further trips. There is still a booking for a tour of Italy in the autumn and I hope that is far enough in the future to go ahead, but who knows? If there is a second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak then perhaps autumn tours will also be at risk. Ironically, that tour was supposed to be happening right now but had already been postponed for other reasons!

So I am stuck at home, neither travelling nor enjoying my time planning any travel except in the vaguest sense of thinking about where to go and when "when all this is over," as people keep saying, reminiscent, so I understand, of wartime! Our mental list, which I really must get round to writing down, will have to be ticked off a bit faster once we are able to leave home again, and I fear that the railway service will not be quite the same - how sad that so much investment will leave travel companies, like every other business, with little or no income for so long. What will train travel be like "when all this is over"?

One thing I have been doing, and much quicker than I imagined possible, is constructing my new model railway layout which is a reminder of holidays in Switzerland and based upon the RhätischeBahn in Graubunden canton. I hope to write separate series of posts about that in due course. Meanwhile, I thought I would write a piece now on the (vague) plans for where to go when this is all over - bearing in mind that it could be any time of any year and that the UK and other nations will not necessarily open up together and that "Brexit" may yet complicate things. I have just applied to renew my passport because although it does not expire until next March I may need to have six-months' validity beyond a travel date after September ...

United Kingdom Vague Plans

Whatever else we do, there must be a holiday in Britain some time, surely? The current plans for the summer stand for now, with hotels booked in Edinburgh and Chichester and on the Purbeck peninsula in Dorset, and a Royal Scotsman tour of the Scottish highlands. No other train tickets have been bought but I would now be thinking about it, and whether I should also book a hotel on the Isle of Wight, as we have done the last few years, to precede Chichester. Indeed I am thinking about whether I should book that hotel - provided that I can cancel it again if necessary. And should we drive to Dorset in case the trains are not back to something like normal? Meanwhile, though, we can begin to plan next year!

A priority next year will be to book again anything we have not been able to do of our Ruby Wedding celebration tours, that is the Royal Scotsman and the country hotel in Dorset with all the family, but we do not yet know if we shall need to do that! Otherwise, we have yet to visit the English Lakes, easy with a change of train at Birmingham New Street for us, and we'd like to go to Liverpool, for which I had already begun basic gathering of information. I am also beginning to miss Cornwall, so it is time to go there once more, perhaps trying the refreshed Night Riviera service, assuming it resumes after all this is over ... And local trips to East Anglia and Lincolnshire will be back on the impulse-travel list!

Europe Vague Plans

Assuming that the Italy trip in the autumn is OK, we can plan other trips to the continent, but if that is cancelled we shall rely on Great Rail Journeys to come up with something similar for next spring, again, assuming the business is still operating then.

We were also intending to return to Le Locle in late spring to enjoy the lake at Les Brenets when it still has plenty of water in it from the Jura meltwater and to do a little more ancestor research. So that would be the trips "hung over" from this year. Otherwise we should like to return to the French Riviera and I think that would be a fitting celebratory tour when this is all over, an emphatic return to normal - but it remains to be seen, of course, whether there is enough demand for travel for all that still to be available.

I do hope that the railways will be able to bounce back. Less commuting, maybe, as people learn to work from home when they can, but if people can also learn to enjoy the world as it is with fewer cars on the road and fewer aeroplanes in the sky, then just perhaps the railways and buses can come into their own, once we have the confidence to sit near strangers again. A world of just five weeks ago seems almost as remote now as the 1940s ...

My, How You've Changed!

Local craft ale. My drink at dinner in
Nottingham city centre

We had an invitation to a celebration of an old university friend's 40th anniversary of his licensing as a Reader (a lay preacher and assistant minister) in the Church of England recently. It was in Nottingham where he and my wife were good friends at that time, and neither of us had been back there since her graduation other than to the university itself, but that is not in the city centre.

The celebration, a church service followed by a buffet lunch, was on a Saturday, starting at 11:00 and we decided to make a two-day "adventure" of it by travelling there on the Friday and staying overnight, exploring a bit and possibly doing something on the Friday evening if we found the right sort of thing.

For just one night we did not need much luggage and I did not bother with a wheeled suitcase, simply putting everything into my small overnight bag (that's probably why it's called that!) including my MacBook so that I could catch up with some photographic filing on the way. Nottingham is not far from our home in Stamford and there was not much to be gained from either First Class travel or Advance Tickets, so we booked off-peak Standard Class returns via a change of train at Leicester each way and I booked a city centre Mercure hotel (for which I collect Club Accor loyalty points towards future free hotel stays). Again this was a cheap room because for one night we really did not need much space.

George's Great British Fish and Chips

So off we went about midday on the Friday, having done several mundane market-day jobs at home before we left. Our shopping included a takeaway salad lunch to eat during the journey - the change of trains at Leicester provided an ideal opportunity to eat, followed by coffee bought from the Pumpkin café next to the waiting room.

Arriving in Nottingham we recalled that not long ago there had been a major fire which marred the recently refurbished station. A good tidy-up job had been done and if we had not known about the fire we'd never have been able to tell from looking at the station. Nottingham station is interesting in having the city's main tram line passing right over it and providing an excellent interchange with the railway below, but although I had chosen a hotel on the tram route we were in no hurry and decided to walk to out hotel.

"Just an ice-cream" for pudding ...

Our walk took us through the Broad Marsh Shopping Centre, which from my memory was never very special but now frankly is a dump. To be fair it is undergoing substantial rebuilding, but that looks long overdue. Having go into the place, through a building site and along half-closed roads, we then struggled to find the way out that we needed: such a pity because once we did find the outside world we were in charming city-centre streets which were really very attractive. A further short walk brought us to the pleasant street corner where our hotel was located and we checked in.

Mercure had given us a room upgrade, which was very nice, but unfortunately our air-conditioning was not working. That was one of several things that went wrong, actually, and the handyman was not able to fix it but lent us a very effective fan which did a reasonable job. We were given a free drink at the bar by way of compensation and when we checked out the next day we were given a discount on the room rate as well, the best they could do, really, so I will still be able to leave a good Trip Advisor review!

Having unpacked we set off for a walk around the city and decided that the only activity we needed that night was a good dinner, so we went back and changed, enjoyed our free drink in the bar and set off to a restaurant we had picked out on our walk, George's Great British Kitchen, one of the few independent restaurants we had seen. Apparently it began life as a fish and chip restaurant and still trades on that history but has a much wider, British, menu now. We both had haddock and chips but with different craft beers, and the most amazing ice-cream that came complete with a huge candy-floss! The photographs illustrating this article are all of this meal. The whole city seems to have weathered the recession better than most towns, and the tram system and city centre in general all feel very much better than I remember from visiting decades ago. When my wife and our friends were students here it was all very different: like most places the streets were full of traffic but now are very quiet and pleasant spaces.

Off to bed, and a decent night's sleep in spite of the choice between "hot" and "noisy" (we chose mostly hot with a touch of noisy), and in the morning we walked off to All Saints' church for our friend's celebration. Again, the tram route goes that way but we chose to walk. We had checked out and so had our luggage, but it was not much luggage for a one-night stay in warm weather. We met other friends as we approached the church and had a good time, especially those who had been at university together but also those of us on the fringe who just happened to be married to one of them, and after lunch five of us travelled back together, catching the tram straight back to the station for the next southbound train. We sorted out how to buy tram tickets and had just bought our five when a tram turned up. The ride through to the railway station was very smooth and pleasant: trams are such a civilised way to move through a city. We then followed the signs to the railway platforms and found seats on the London train that was already there, well ahead of its departure time: time enough to buy a round of coffee at Pumpkin (enough to earn a free one on my loyalty card next time I travelled!). The other three were all going on to London to their homes in Surrey but we changed at Leicester again for the train home to Stamford. Not such a long wait this time and we were soon on our way. Two of our friends from Surrey had travelled to Nottingham that morning and must have spent more of the day travelling than anything else, but at least when travelling by train it is possible to relax and enjoy the trip, and they had company on the way back.

I did take my camera with me intending to take photographs of Nottingham trams, but somehow the opportunity never seemed to arise, so perhaps I shall return one day.

Return to the Dart

After last year's fabulous holiday in Dartmouth, we decided to return this year and booked our room at the Anzac Street B+Bistro as soon as the date could be fixed, then asked the East Coast ticket website to inform us when the advance tickets were on sale for the outward trip. As it happened this year's stay in Dartmouth would be in Royal Regatta Week which involves almost the whole town, and there were new and exciting things to see and do. It also came just after our wedding anniversary, and so we decided that our anniversary meal would be lunch on the way there, in the First Great Western "Pullman" restaurant car, the only remaining full dining service on a British scheduled train service: it had been new last year and we had not known about it and so this year I made sure that I booked the outward tickets on a train with the restaurant service. It would, we hoped, get the holiday off to a brilliant start and if it lived up to the hype would avoid the need for a big meal on our first evening in Dartmouth.

So, it was on a Tuesday morning that we boarded the 09:00 train to Peterborough at Stamford station. We always allow lots of time for the change at Peterborough when starting long journeys, especially when we are booked with advance tickets on a specific East Coast train: in the event of major disruption we would have time to get to Peterborough by taxi if necessary and resume the journey there, but to date this has never been necessary. On this occasion we were a few moments late but nothing to cause any difficulty and after a short wait boarded our train for London, which was on time and actually arrived a little early (so early it had to wait for a platform to become available). We made our way to the Circle Line platforms and used our Oyster Cards to pay for the short trip to Paddington to catch our next train. When travelling to Paddington for main line expresses we change at Edgware Road for the last part of the Underground transfer, so that we arrive on the concourse at the main line station and not at the far end of the local platforms: it is only a quick cross-platform at Edgware Road and saves a long walk with luggage at Paddington.

And so to the First Class Lounge at Paddington for a few minutes until our train is announced, the 12:06 to Penzance. As we walked onto the platform we soon found our coach, the only First Class one on the train, immediately next to the restaurant car. We found our booked seats and put our luggage on the rack and I then popped into the restaurant to book our table. The waitress put a reservation sign on a table for two and then said that as there was no meal service beyond where we were travelling to we could move our luggage into the restaurant car and occupy the seats there for the whole of our journey, which we opted to do, bringing our "reserved" labels with us so as to free up two more seats in the First Class coach.

The service lived up to its "Pullman" title, to my surprise, I must confess, and to our delight. Effectively it was an "at seat" service following our change of seating, and food and drinks of the highest quality with excellent service from attentive staff. Budget it is not, but we were deliberately making this a special meal and so began with a half-bottle of Champagne while we deliberated over the short but wonderful-looking menu, developed I understand, by Mitch Tonks the restauranteur who has premises in Dartmouth. Spring water and bread rolls were provided as standard. Alison had a starter of chopped beets with burrata and grated walnuts while I had smoked salmon with capers, cornichons and cream cheese with rye bread; for main course we had lemon sole with brown shrimps and fillet steak respectively, with seasonal vegetables; then she had the Devon blue cheese and fig tart while I had a chocolate orange mousse. Alison finished the Champagne with her sole while I had a glass of rich red wine with the steak. Coffee came with a Pullman branded chocolate.

All was served, consumed and cleared away by Exeter and we settled down to enjoy the last few miles to our change of train at Newton Abbot, alongside the Exe estuary and then along the coast past using the recently re-opened section of main line at Dawlish, with the hasty patching-up still in evidence: the railway was all right but the road behind it and the houses which had hung over the brink still looked decidedly unsatisfactory. The station there looked better than when we had last seen it and we couldn't help wondering if the battering had done it a favour by forcing some repairs which had been long-needed! The line then turns inland along the Teign estuary and we had to be ready to leave the train to catch the local connection down through Torquay to Paignton.

First Great Western's video about the Pullman service

So far everything had gone very smoothly and easily and we had eaten what was quite possibly the best meal we'd ever had on one of the most comfortable trains that operate in the UK. It looked like it was all unravelling when we stood on the platform at Newton Abbot to hear that a blockage caused by a broken-down train was severely disrupting the service on the branch line to Paignton. Two trains were cancelled and passengers were being urged to use a regular bus service from the station forecourt which was accepting tickets for the railway: all very well but buses are not good at taking holiday luggage. Should we wait for the next train? We had some time to spare in Paignton before our steam train on to Kingswear for Dartmouth, but on the other hand we could not delay for long a decision to take the bus as these were so much slower and would need all that spare time. As we pondered, our train came in, on time, and was announced as if nothing had gone wrong. We boarded, looking out at all those who were boarding a bus outside in the street: we had made the right decision!

At Paignton we walked round to the Dartmouth Steam Railway station adjacent to the main line terminus and acquired our Jubilee Passes for the week, ordered in advance online, and boarding cards for the first trip, the train to Kingswear and ferry to Dartmouth. This year my pass cost a little less, with a senior citizen concession! These allowed us unlimited use of the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Companies' services for the five days of our stay and proved invaluable, as they had last year.

Soon after leaving Paignton, the steam train runs along the coast for some distance, passing beaches, parks and playgrounds before crossing the peninsula and following the Dart estuary into Kingswear. This really is an excellent way to arrive at a holiday destination, although judging by the lack of luggage carried by other passengers there are few who do it this way. On arriving at Kingswear we enjoyed a cup of tea at the excellent station café while the crowds queued for the next ferry then we wandered down the pier to catch a slightly later one, being in no hurry to check in at Anzac Street. We were greeted at the B+Bistro by Simon and Aga and shown to our room, a slightly smaller one than last year, at the front of the house, having no need for the occasional bed this year.

After settling in we went for an evening stroll, seeing everything being made ready for the regatta and people arriving at the marquee for the regatta ball. We bought a salad from M&S and took it back to our room for supper, needing nothing more after our Pullman lunch. And so, eventually, to bed.

The weather forecast was not good for Wednesday and although we did not have firm plans for the day, one  possible option was ruled out by the weather as the scheduled Coastal Cruise was cancelled due to rough seas, but there was a harbour cruise and we went on that instead, tripping around the Dart estuary with an informative (and supposedly amusing) commentary. This did take us as far as the castles guarding the entrance to the river, a trip which we had not made last year.




We called at the tourist information office and decided to visit Brixham, where we had never been, and caught the ferry across to Kingswear and then the bus to Brixham. Buses go from a turning circle cantilevered out from the hillside over the railway just beyond the station and are a frequent service of small single-deck vehicles well-suited to the narrow lanes of this part of south Devon.  This journey was not covered by our passes and the best fare was the Dayrider ticket which would cover our return to Kingswear as well; indeed it would cover any other trips we might decide to make in the Torbay area that day, which as the day developed became quite useful. It was still rather windy when we arrived at Brixham, with occasional light showers, but we strolled around the harbour and sat outside for our coffee at a harbour side café.

We had wondered if the ferry to Torquay, the Western Lady, might be operating, but no, the weather was still too poor for that, and so we decided to take advantage of our Dayrider bus ticket and make our way to Torquay by bus. The traffic was terrible and the ten-minute frequency bus arrived after more than half an hour, followed by the two others that should have arrived by then. The traffic did not improve and it seemed to take about a week to get to Torquay, although we did see a lot on the way, riding on the top of a double-deck bus. By the time we arrived there it was raining heavily and it was almost time to head back to Paignton for the train home ... but the traffic had lessened slightly and we even had time for a cup of tea at Paignton before catching the steam train and then the ferry to Dartmouth. Dinner at Anzac Street was absolutely wonderful and we retired to bed well satisfied with our day. Yes, it would have been better without the rain, but it good as it was.


Thursday was the only day for which we had plans: we were to walk to Coleton Fishacre as we had last year, but this time via the South West Coast Path. We had visited the house last year but had not seen much of the grounds, so a further visit, as well as seeing this stretch of the coast, was in order.  Once more via the ferry to Kingswear and we started walking the coast route, using the mapping apps on our iPhones and following the way marks. Just as we began the walk the rain started. This is the first time I'd ever done a country walk with an umbrella, but it did the trick and after a few moments the rain stopped and the sun came out. Not as hot as last
year, but we were wearing substantially more, so it felt as hot! As we followed the coast we came across the wartime battery at Inner Froward Point and explored that for a few minutes (while our jackets dried out) before completing the walk to Coleton Fishacre. The entrance from the Coast Path is not manned, but we were honest and made our way through the gardens to the pay desk, not to mention the café for local beer and a scone before visiting the house. and the rest of the gardens.

I was delighted to find that since our last visit the prohibition of photography in the house had been dropped and I was able to take lots of pictures of the art deco interior of this externally arts & crafts house, as well as to explore the gardens, the main reason for our visit. After we had seen all the garden there was to see, we repaired to the café once more for tea and then made our way back to Kingswear by a different route, walking by the roads to a bus stop we had passed the previous day. This walk was much easier and quicker than the coastal footpath by which we had come, and we timed it so that we arrived just before a bus was due which took us back down towards the ferry and home to Dartmouth. 

There was a pause before we could catch the ferry because there was a helicopter search-and-rescue demonstration in the river which required the river to be cleared and so we had to wait on the Kingswear side and watch the display whether we wanted to or not. Which was fine: we were on holiday, after all. And there were photographs to take - maybe not as good as from the Dartmouth side, but OK anyway.



When the ferry company started shifting the backlog of passengers in both directions we were able to go back, rest, shower and change for another wonderful meal at Anzac Street and a brilliant day was complete.

 On the Friday we decided to take the river trip to Totnes. We had done this last year but it is not easy to tire of this trip through the Devon countryside, and this time we would not return by the river but by bus from Totnes to Paignton and then steam train again from Paignton to Kingswear. We wanted to get back to the Dartmouth side in time for the scheduled air displays from The Blades, an RAF Typhoon and the Red Arrows. We consulted the "Round Robin" (boat, bus, train round trip) timetable and found that we could easily do it and so we went to the little booking kiosk on the waterfront at Dartmouth and booked our tickets. It was warm and dry enough to sit on deck as we cruised up the river to Totnes aboard the Cardiff Castle, one of the largest cruise boats on the river. 

The Steam Railway and Riverboat Company runs a dedicated bus service from the Steamer Quay at Totnes to the bus station at Paignton, often with open-top buses but ours was closed top (I suspect they all were that week!) and we travelled on the top deck with a great view of the countryside. From the bus station at Paignton we walked down to the seafront and then rather than catch the next train to Kinsgwear from there we knew we had enough time to walk along the seafront as far as the station at Goodrington. It was an interesting walk along the promenade, past the fishing harbour and round the cliff top to Goodrington Sands. The sand along this part of the coast is very red and quite different from anything I've seen anywhere else. We eventually made our way to Goodrington station and having seen a train a little while before had expected that ours would be the one conveying the Pullman Observation Car, so we decided that we would travel in that. When it came we boarded and found that for the first time that we had known the on-board Champagne Bar was open, so the day was simply getting better and better - it had been far too early to use the bar on the boat trip but now was just right for a glass of sparkling wine (I think it was Cava rather than Champagne, but very pleasant to sip in an armchair in an observation car on the Devon coast!


The train was loaded heavily with people making their way to Dartmouth for the air displays, and the Pullman car is, naturally, marshalled at the back to give the best views through the end windows, so we found ourselves at the back of a lengthy queue for the ferry but the shuttle back and forth pretty quickly and we were soon over to the Dartmouth side. We found a good place to stand but it was announced that The Blades would not be performing as the cloud was too low for their displays. Thus we had a little to time to go back to our room and come out later for the two RAF shows. The first, the single Typhoon, was amazing: such a powerful aircraft that could make steep, almost vertical, climbs with ease and the sound of the engines was overwhelming. The air behind the aircraft glowed orange with the heat from the after-burners.

Our ears recovered from the Typhoon in good time for the Red Arrows display team. The programme was restricted to their "flat" by the low cloud and they passed by in a number of formation flights, unable to perform their rolling and other more adventurous routines. Soon they had gone to a round of applause the pilots would not have been able to hear, and as the ferry service resumed we made our way back for our final meal and good night's sleep at Anzac Street, passing an enormous queue for the ferries back to Kingswear. Indeed, Kingswear station was full of trains, including and excursion from Bristol, waiting to take people away after a day at the Dartmouth Royal Regatta.

And so to the day of our departure. There was no hurry to get to Paignton and before we left Dartmouth we spend some time at the little museum which gave us an idea of some of the history of the town, and just as we thought we’d seen it all and were about to leave we were taken by the very friendly staff to another house along the same street and shown a ceiling. These had all been merchants’ homes and they seemed to have competed with each other for the best, and most pious, ceiling: this one was decorated with plaster carvings depicting our Lord’s family tree from Jesse, father of King David, onwards, following the biblical genealogy. It was absolutely stunning and fascinating to see, having only just become available for public viewing. Then we caught our ferry and the steam train, Pullman Observation Car again, to Paignton then waited at the main line station for the Cross Country train which would take us home. As before, we travelled home via a single change of train at Birmingham New Street: this is much simpler than our outward route via London but we would not have enjoyed the amazing Pullman lunch if we had come this way, and in any case a round trip is a good thing to do in itself, allowing us to see more of England than we otherwise would. The train was direct to Birmingham and we spent our time between trains there exploring the newly-opened part of this huge station: the rest is still under construction and will not open for some months yet, but it is all very promising.

And so home on our familiar little Cross Country train and that final walk across the Meadows in Stamford, wondering on all that we had done since we came this way just five days before.

Pullman car with a difference

All the "adventures" which have been published in Parish News have begun, continued and ended with train trips, sometimes with bus and/or ferry rides and walking, but this adventure began with the car. I much prefer travelling by public transport, but since the Beeching closures of the 60s there are places impossible to reach without resorting to the car, and in this particular case the destination itself would not have existed without the Beeching closures and other rail service withdrawals! We were looking for a short break to celebrate a wedding anniversary and came across an advertisement for a unique hotel in Sussex, converted from the former railway station at Petworth with eight of its nine bedrooms in converted Pullman cars standing at its platforms and the breakfast room and lounge area in the former waiting room. This we had to see and we booked three nights there and set off by car.

I can give you no details about the drive to Petworth which was totally unmemorable, but it was one of the first trips in our "new" XJ8: the big Jaguar is the nearest we can get to Pullman style in an affordable car, but you don't get the at-seat refreshments!

The hotel reception is the booking office and after checking in we were shown to our room in the nearest Pullman car - it is also the most recent to have arrived at Petworth and although the interior was fully converted into our bedroom and en suite shower room the exterior restoration was incomplete. Breakfast could be taken on the platform, tables and parasols being provided, but during our stay the weather was never quite good enough for early morning al fresco so we breakfasted in the waiting room throughout.

Accommodation in the former coach was stylish, much of the art deco interior being intact, and comfortable, much like a very grand caravan, but it rained for much of the first night and the rain on the metal roof did not lead to a great night's sleep! The rest of the stay was much better.

The hotel only provides bed and breakfast and we expected to take excursions to the town, a couple of miles away, for restaurant dinners. The first night, tired from the journey, we walked to the Badgers pub at the end of the approach road, the former station hotel, of course, and dined there. It was a great meal and the menu looked so interesting that we went there on all three evenings for dinner, another benefit being that we could walk there and back and did not have to worry about being fit to drive. It seemed to us that it would be worth these two businesses getting together to drive custom to each other by encouraging hotel guests to dine at the inn.

Four traditional Pullman cars converted to provide eight
bedrooms at the Old Station Hotel, Petworth. Ours was
the far one on the left.

As well as the breakfast area the old waiting room, all of timber construction, also contained a large lounge area with a number of books and displays about local history, railway history and especially the history of the Pullman Car Company including a "biography" of each coach - a lot of them are with the Orient Express company or on preserved railways, some have been destroyed in one way or another and some, like our own hotel room, converted to other uses.

Tornado preparing at Alresford station - the view from the
picnic area

Each day we were there included an outing by car to various places, and one outing in particular is appropriate for inclusion in this weblog, which was a trip to the Mid Hants Railway, beginning with a drive through interesting wooded countryside to Alresford from where we would take the steam train to Alton and back, visiting both towns in the process.

As it happened the then brand-new A1 Pacific locomotive Tornado was a visitor at this railway (known as The Watercress Line) in the week we were there and we were able to see her working on the day we visited. This locomotive is a marvel: none has been preserved and so this new one was built from scratch using the original designs but without, of course, the original factory facilities, so each component had to be made especially for the job. I first saw it, unexpectedly, at Tallington while having my car washed and could not quite believe what I was seeing!

We arrived at Alresford in plenty of time and had a picnic lunch overlooking the station, then caught our train to Alton, where the preserved line meets end-to-end with the electrified line from London Waterloo, the two separate railways sharing a common station. The preserved line even carries a period advertising sign for electric trains to London! I wondered then about visiting this line by train all the way - we've never done it, but it did start a train of thought (sorry) which led us to some of our other adventures recorded here.

We browsed among the shops in Alton and caught the next train back to Alresford where, shower dodging, we had tea in a local tea shop and went for a walk following a town trail picked up in an information centre, something we often do when on adventures rather than just wandering at random and wondering what we are seeing. And so back to the car and to our static Pullman "caravan" and after other outings, home to Stamford.