Delays and Cancellations - and that's just me ....

Severn Valley Railway

By this time of the year I usually have a few winter trips arranged and one or two in the summer and autumn of next year, too. This time I only have one booking in the diary, a Great Rail Journeys escorted tour in Switzerland by way of celebrating my forthcoming 70th Birthday (although it will take place some months after the date, which is just as well in the circumstances). I write from a Thameslink train on my next adventure, for which I bought the tickets on departure, and we are planning a visit to the Birmingham Christmas Market but do not yet have a date. The vagueness in the planning is a result of some medical issues I am currently experiencing, but the way forward is now a little clearer and I hope that some plans will soon take shape. I have been a little cautious about announcing any group days out until I know my own availability and until the industrial relations in the rail industry become more stable, hopefully soon.

Meanwhile a recent road trip did include a day exploring the magnificent Severn Valley Railway, so I'll take the opportunity of my current train ride to bring the blog up to date with a description of the day on the SVR.

The Severn Valley Railway Adventure began with the Market Deeping Model Railway Club's annual summer lunch party at which a raffle was held and my ticket was drawn. One of our members had a couple of shareholders' First Class Freedom of the Line ticket vouchers left which he would be unable to use and had given them as a prize in the raffle, and they were still available when I went to claim my prize ... 

We were staying in a Premier Inn in former industrial premises in the centre of Kidderminster and walked across the town centre to Kidderminster station on the Severn Valley Railway on a sunny autumn morning, via breakfast at Caffè Nero. The idea was to catch the first SVR train of the day to the other end of the line at Bridgnorth and then wander back to Kidderminster on various trains, ending with the penultimate train of the day in order to allow some slack in case of a problem: with our car parked in Kidderminster we had to be back there in order to get home. At Kidderminster we went to the ticket office window of the Severn Valley Railway station with our Freedom of the Line vouchers which were converted into First Class tickets by the simple process of stamping them with the date. The first train of the day according to the timetable was at 10:00, but while I was having the tickets stamped an announcement was made that there would be an additional train at 09:40: experience had shown that he first train of the day was overcrowded so by adding an extra one twenty minutes earlier they were more easily able to cater for the crowds - a Good Sign. We boarded the train, composed of 1940s-50s maroon coaches hauled by a BR standard steam locomotive, the sort of train that would have been the latest technology when I was a toddler travelling with my parents! We sat in the buffet car (which was not serving: we'd have had to travel in the scheduled 10:00 train for that, but we'd just had breakfast so that was OK) and we almost had the space to ourselves.

At Bridgnorth I watched the locomotive run round the train for its (unscheduled extra) trip back to Kidderminster and then we walked into the town to explore. There we had coffee and visited the local museum. We had been to Bridgnorth before and did not need to see much, and had plenty of time for what we did do! Back at the station there was time to buy a pint and crisps before boarding our next train: the plan was to visit most of the stations on the line by travelling back and forth, also using most of the vintage trains that were in use that day. One of the great things about the Severn Valley Railway is that it has several complete rakes of coaches of more-or-less matching vintage and style, so it is not simply a steam locomotive with random coaches. We drank our beer and ate our crisps on this train, which took us to Arley, a two-platform country station on the river bank.

At Arley we had (just!) enough time for a country walk to see Victoria Bridge, an impressive cast-iron bridge which carries the Severn Valley Railway over the River Severn, which we remember seeing used as a Scottish bridge in the film The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Back at Arley station we caught the next train back to Highley, a delightful country station where for those who have more time there is an opportunity to visit the locomotives and other historic items on display nearby. Here there was a short shower of heavy rain for our visit, and the station is not blessed with a lot of shelter, but there was just enough for the crowds awaiting the next train, and the rain soon stopped. From there we took the train to Bewdley, where we had allowed ourselves a bit of time to explore. Being honest, arriving at 15:47 the exploration consisted almost entirely of selecting a place for tea and cake and consuming it (The Courtyard Bar - stunning cakes and friendly service, and on the Severn riverside). I could imagine that in summer this would be a glorious place to spend some time at the riverside bars and restaurants. We walked back to Bewdley station to await our last train of the day, back to Kidderminster.

It is a short ride from Bewdley (once the southern terminus of the Severn Valley Railway until the station at Kidderminster was built), past the West Midlands Safari Park with some of its exotic animals visible,  to the SVR terminus at Kidderminster. We had had a wonderful autumnal day out which had mostly felt like summer, if a little cool, and with just one short shower. The Severn Valley Railway was as busy as ever, with a decent service of interesting vintage trains and good service at its many refreshment facilities, and the Severn Valley countryside and the town and villages were wonderful to visit. I thoroughly recommend a visit to the Severn Valley Railway: by rail to Kidderminster it is an easy day trip from much of England and Wales, or makes an easy day excursion from Birmingham (trains from Moor Street or Snow Hill) as part of a longer break.

The Royal Windsor Steam Express

LNER 4-6-0 "Mayflower" with The Royal Windsor Steam
Express at Windsor & Eton Riverside

Pullman-style service and steam haulage from London Waterloo

Our daughter and her husband both had significant birthdays this summer and their combined birthday treat was to be a day in Windsor, travelling there by Steam Dreams' new-for-2019 express from Waterloo, Pullman dining class. We combined it with a couple of days visiting them (and our baby grandson), all by train (with a hint of bus!). The weather was extremely kind to us and all five of us had a great time.

So we set off after church on a Sunday, the 14:00 train from Stamford (which is only the second departure towards Peterborough on a Sunday, the first being just an hour earlier - obviously a Puritan timetable that assumes we all go to church!). Soon we were in London after a quick and simple change of train at Peterborough, another experience of LNER's new class 700 "Azuma" train: having got to grips with adjusting the seat we found this rather more comfortable than our first ride a couple of weeks earlier. We had a couple of little shopping jobs to do at St Pancras (handy, there being such good shops there) before going to the basement platforms for our Thameslink service across London to London Bridge - again all quick and simple - where we took the next departure for Orpington. All trains on time, all with space for us and our luggage and all clean and tidy. We travelled First Class on the trunk haul from Peterborough to London and were served coffee on this part of the trip. Through London to Orpington we used our Oyster cards and then to our daughter's home for dinner I had free bus travel from my Lincolnshire County Council senior citizens' bus pass!

A word about luggage. We normally use wheeled suitcases, as described on my page about luggage, but as this was only two nights and hot, dry weather was expected we each took a small backpack instead, which worked remarkably well. I travelled in the lightweight summer suit I had decided to use for the Pullman trip to Windsor, so all I had were shorts, two clean shirts and underwear, and sandals, together with shaver, toothbrush etc..

After dinner we walked back into town and checked in at the Premier Inn in Orpington, the town's only hotel, which opened just a short while ago and saved us a lot of difficulty when visiting family in this area. There was the usual Premier Inn standard of room: spacious and pleasant without being luxurious, and we had a great couple of nights there. The middle day was spent doing odd jobs at the family home and having lunch in town (The Orpington restaurant and record shop - yes, really - is to be recommended for quality and service, and no, I am not paid to say that!). Then came The Big Day.

The Royal Windsor Steam Express runs three times a week, all on Tuesdays: morning, late morning and afternoon. We were booked on the late morning departure from Waterloo at 11:15. We could not afford to miss it, of course, so we travelled into London in good time and although there was some problem somewhere that made some of the trains from Orpington to London rather late it did not really affect us because we simply got on a late one running at about the time of the one we were intending to catch. The trains go on from London Bridge and we alighted at Waterloo East, which has a short bridge connection to the main Waterloo station. We were in good time and enjoyed drinks at a café on the concourse before queuing for the platform; all these Steam Dreams specials go from platform 19.

Platform-end photographers await
the steam express at Waterloo

We were in plenty of time and I went to the end of the platform intending to photograph the train arriving. That's when the only problem of the day arose: after our train was supposed to be there, a service train came and occupied the platform, and then left again and then we were informed that because it was late we would all have to board as quickly as possible so that it could depart with no further delay - although frankly the best photos would be had at Windsor anyway, but the delay was a bit annoying with a young baby in the party.

We took our seats at tables dressed with linen cloths and fine cutlery, and as soon as we boarded the train was off, chuffing lightly out through the London suburbs among the local electrics, and the light meal was served: orange juice, Champagne, a very nice little granola yogurt and a cooked main course of mushrooms with sauce on toasted muffins, followed by coffee. Once clear of junctions and frequent stations the train sped up and the exhaust beat was more audible with less background noise. The staff were great and looked after us well. All to soon we were at Windsor & Eton Riverside station and that part of the trip can to an end. But the visit to Windsor was just beginning!

We had a great day but it loses a lot in the telling, so I shall not bore you with the detail, but we had a stroll over the river and around Eton, and then back into Windsor through the shopping streets with a brief peek at the Castle, and our grandson had his first go on a swing in a public park. The strange timing of meals was capped by ice-cream sundaes ...

And so to South Western Railway's service train back to Waterloo. We were quite impressed by the standard of accommodation on this train which is very much a local service: comfortable seats, charging points for our smartphones, free wifi on board. And the train was clean and on time. To round off a great day we arrived into the former international platforms at Waterloo, recently converted for local use, a bright, airy end to the day out.

But our travels were not yet over and after bidding the family farewell we made our way back to Kings Cross for the journey home, having had our luggage with us all day - that was why we wanted backpacks rather than cases this time! Waterloo to Kings Cross is awkward, and my younger days I used to walk much of the time, but it is a long way after a heavy day. We took the Northern Line tube to Euston and then walked from there to Kings Cross. The First Class lounge at Kings Cross was closed for refurbishment so we were given access to a room at The Parcel Yard pub, but it was not ever so relaxing there and refreshments were minimal. Still, the train was soon ready and we took our seats on another "Azuma", connected to Stamford and walked home at the end of another exciting adventure by rail.

I’ve Been Expecting You, Mr Bond

Alpine horn for the tourists at Schilthorn: cut-out of James
Bond disguised as Sir Hilary Bray lurks behind!

A week by train in the Bernese Oberland

Ever since our first visit to the Alps five years ago we have wanted to return to visit some places we had not then had time to see. I had begun to think about spending a week at, say, Interlaken, which would enable us to trip out to The Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch plus any other places that might come to mind, and when I opened my latest Great Rail Journeys catalogue I saw the Inclusive Jungfrau tour which provided all that we needed and more, with seven nights in Grindelwald (and, bonus, a night in Colmar on the way there, a place we had wanted to revisit after a short stop there on a previous trip). A visit to Jungfraujoch was included, as well as visits to Röthorn and Schynige Platte, and there were two free days on one of which we could arrange to visit Schilthorn, so we simply booked the Great Rail Journeys package, with a night in London before departure, and waited for the date to come!

It was an early start from London St Pancras International so we did not have breakfast at our hotel but went straight to meet our tour manager Stephen at the Great Rail Journeys office at the station. Once through check-in we had coffee while we waited for our train to Paris, and then enjoyed the light breakfast served on the train (as usual we were travelling Standard Premier Class, with a light meal included). There was supposed to be a coach transfer from Paris Nord to Paris Est but it was a tight connection and an easy walk so Stephen decided it would be quicker simply to walk between the stations rather than find the coach, load the luggage, struggle through traffic and unload the luggage again, so we had a little exercise between stations in Paris before continuing by TGV to Colmar.

At Colmar the weather was almost as hot and sunny as on our previous visit, but we had both the evening and the following morning to enjoy this delightful little city, well worth seeing. And I am pleased to say that the Grand Hotel Bristol, conveniently opposite the station, was much improved on our previous visit.

We left Colmar earlier than planned so as to travel on a TGV straight through to Basel where we changed trains for Interlaken. Because we had started early we had a couple of hours at Basel and as well as enjoying coffee under the trees at a pleasant pavement café also had a walk though the city centre to a river bridge, a bakery supplying our needs for lunch.

From Basel we took a train through to Interlaken where we connected to a mountain railway train to Grindelwald, at the foot of the Eiger. We stayed with the rest of the group (forty including the manager, the biggest group with which we’d ever travelled) at the Romantik Hotel Schweizerhof, and I would recommend it to anyone. Our room was huge and stylish, reminiscent of a James Bond film set! We had a view of the Eiger through our patio window, a walk-in wardrobe, double bath (!) and separate shower and a control panel for lighting and window shutter that took a few minutes to learn! We were going to be there for a week so we unpacked and made ourselves at home.

Unlike any previous Great Rail Journeys tour we had done, we were supplied with a packed lunch each day by the hotel, so days out did not have to include a search for lunch; and after dinner, sleep and breakfast we picked up our little paper carrier bags and made our way through the village centre to the cable car station for first exciting excursion, to Grindelwald First. For me this was a bit of a test run: the planned trip to Schilthorn would involve several cable cars, many of them very high above the ground and very long, so this little trip to First would reveal how comfortable I would be with cable car travel. Fortunately it was fine, although in terms of the experience itself it was disappointing that there was dense fog - or cloud if you prefer - nearly all the way up. There was not a lot to see from the peak, either, but we did do the Cliff Walk around it even though the scenery was nowhere to be seen, and we enjoyed coffee before travelling back down to the village, eating our lunch in the cable car on the way. In the afternoon we discovered the local church and the local museum and browsed around these. Dinner at the hotel and bed, ready for the first Big Day tomorrow!

Approaching Schilthorn by cable car

"Tomorrow" was Day 4, Friday, the first of two free days, and we had planned that if the weather was suitable we would visit Schilthorn, one of the highest peaks in the region and from which great views could be had (in suitable weather) and which appeared as "Piz Gloria" in the James Bond film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." After taking invaluable advice from our Tour Manager we set off for Grindelwald station and bought our travel tickets for the day, out via Kleine Scheidegg and Stechelberg and return via Mürren and the short route via Zweilütschinen. All we needed was three tickets, all of which we were able to buy at the station using our half-fare passes supplied as part of our holiday package.

The view from the terrace

We set off on the next train to Kleine Scheidegg and changed trains there for Lauterbrunnen. We had been this way five years ago in winter and it was interesting to see it in June: not much different, really! Once we had climbed out of the valley from Grindelwald there was still plenty of snow until we descended the other side through Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, where we caught the connecting bus to the cable car terminal at Stechelberg. Here we started the long climb to Schilthorn. There were three changes of cable car on the way and each time we just had a few minutes walk, with a huge crowd of other people, and then continued onto the next stage. One change was at Mürren where would be leaving the cable car on our way back. The views on the climb were great, but nothing compared with what awaited us at the top. From Schilthorn it seemed that we could see most of Switzerland! We could certainly see the Jura mountains in the northwest (which we had visited twice on other occasions), and Mont Blanc in France to the southwest, and the huge stretch of the midlands plain looking north and east. The great bulk of the Eiger and Jungfrau hid the southeast from our view. It was said that you could see the Matterhorn from here but that did elude me. It was a very slightly misty day, but not far from perfect for the panoramic view.

Looking down on the 007 walk of discovery - a bit
snowbound for us

We ventured into the revolving restaurant which had been the set for Blofeld's base in the film, but we did not eat there, having our packed lunch from the hotel. Beneath was a number of 007-related displays which we visited but which were not the reason for our visit - although without the finance from the film the restaurant might never have been completed and the cable cars would not have survived so we would never have been able to visit at all! I am a bit of a fan of the film, actually, as it is one of those which fairly closely follows the book (apart from having Bond drive an Aston Martin instead of his Bentley).

Going back down we were bogged down in the crowds and twice had to wait half-an-hour for cable cars, but this cannot be helped if we visit a popular place on one of the the few days with good weather! We left the cable car at Mürren and walked through this cliff-top village to the rail station at the other end. On the way we visited a gift shop where we bought our souvenir (a gift for ourselves!) for the holiday, a fondue set - quite reasonable prices, unusual for Swiss resorts. We boarded the train and travelled to the other end of the line at Grutschalp where a waiting cable car took us down the cliff to Lauterbrunnen. From there we returned to Grindelwald by the shortest rail route for a shower, change of clothes and dinner with the rest of the group. I was hailed by one of the men, "I've been expecting you, Mr Bond:" four of the group had been behind us in the cable car queue on the way down, but we had not spotted them!

The train stops at a viewpoint on its way up
through the Eiger

On the Saturday was the inclusive trip to Jungfraujoch on the famous Jungfrau railway which actually climbs up through the Mönch and (the north face of!) the Eiger, to the highest railway station in Europe. Again there were lots of people (and we actually met a young couple who had been beside us in a cable-car queue the day before!) but this time we had group reservations on the trains so there was no problem with travel. We began with the train to Kleine Scheidegg again and this time crossed to the Jungfraujoch platform to the dedicated group travel area from where we were escorted to our carriage. Only the first part of the journey is in the open air, and all of it climbs steeply; soon were we in the tunnel and then the train stopped at an intermediate station for five minutes, the sole purpose of which was for us all to leave the train and look out through windows cut into the rock of the mountainside. (If you look at the north face when the sun is low and shining in an appropriate direction you can see the light glinting off these windows).

The view from the terrace of the
High Alpine Research Station

Back on the train we climbed up to the underground station at the "Top of Europe" and made our way through the pedestrian tunnels into a large sunlit space with a gift shop, coffee bar and the start of a suggested tour through all that the Jungfraujoch had to offer. Unfortunately a panorama viewpoint was closed for improvement work (indeed the station was full of contractor's plant as well, so we did not have the best introduction as we left our train, but there is not much space up there!). There were active things to do outside, but for me the main point was the view across Switzerland once again. We tried to see the Schilthorn where we had been the previous day, but cloud kept intervening and we never did see it. The view down over the Aletsch Glacier, still covered in snow, was breathtaking.

Aletsch Glacier

Speaking of which, we had to move slowly and carefully at these altitudes with thin air! No rushing about possible. There was an "ice palace" with sculptures made of ice - incredibly difficult to photograph - and much else to occupy our time until it was time to gather and make our way slowly to our train back down. Only in Switzerland have I ever experienced altitude ear-popping on a slow train!

From Kleine Scheidegg we went back to Grindelwald and dinner. Day 5 had come to an end, and with it the sunny weather. The rest of our time was to be murky and damp, but still exciting and rewarding.

The locomotives on the Brienz-Rothorn line are angled to
keep their boilers horizontal on the steep gradient

Sunday was the Feast of Pentecost and was a public holiday along with the Monday after it, but the tourist attractions were still open, although many shops were closed. Yet another mountain ascent awaited us, although this time the train itself was part of the attraction, for it was steam-powered and climber steeply up from its terminus opposite the main station at Brienz to the top of the Rothorn. We had to travel to Brienz via a change of train at Interlaken, following the coast of Lake Brienz. After a short wait we took our reserved seats on the Brienz-Rothorn train and were pushed up the steep gradient by a powerful little locomotive that made a great deal of noise with each exhaust blast. I had experienced nothing quite like it in all my years of train travel (going back to the days when steam trains were normal).

Again we climbed up to where there was still snow. The snow was staying longer this year than usual and many normally-open walking routes were still closed - this is June - and some mountain railways only started operation this week. From the peak we could look down on the line and see other little trains making this way up and down. It was cold and damp and many of us went down on an earlier train than the one booked because walking was limited and the views restricted by the mist and rain.

We were among the "advance party" on an early train back and so had an hour to spare in Brienz, where we walked along the promenade on the lakeside, then up through the town and past the shops - grateful that it was a Sunday and we could not spend any money! Amazingly both the greengrocer and a hardware shop had wares on display outside with no worry about theft. This is an amazingly honest part of the world. The town was preparing for a yodelling festival, but we would be long gone before it began.

The day out ended with a cruise along Lake Brienz from the mooring by the rail station in the town where we met those who had stayed the course at the mountain-top. Our Tour Manager had been given a free upgrade to First Class for us all on the lake steamer, and so we sat on the upper deck (under cover!) and enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine - pushing the boat out, as they say, at Swiss prices - as we travelled in style back to Interlaken Ost for the train home to Grindelwald. It had been a really great day out in spite of the cold and rain at the mountain-top. I would not have wanted to miss the train ride up there nor the views when we could see them, and it was not so cold or wet down by the lake.

The train at its mountain terminus

 On the Monday came our last mountain railway of the holiday. I don't think I've ever travelled on so many, or such odd, railways in one holiday before. We began by travelling towards Interlaken again but this time leaving the train at Wilderswil, just outside Interlaken, to take the mountain railway to Schynige Platte. Like the train to Rothorn, this one had trains of just two coaches pushed up the hill by a locomotive in the rear, but this time they were electric locomotives and considerably quieter. They were antiques nonetheless and the ride was amazing.

The Alpine Garden

Schynige Platte is worth visiting for itself, as well as for the views from the top. We could only see well for the first ten minutes after leaving the train, and this was the first time I had been able to study the territory in which we had been staying for a week and which I had visited five year before on a day trip. We could see the valleys of the two branches of the river which come together at Zweilütschinen, each with a high cliff along each side. On the high plain between them sat Kleine Scheidegg and Manlichen and on the west clifftop was Mürren; beyond the cliffs on either side and in the distance beyond the plain were the enormous mountains that surround the whole Jungfrau region which we had been exploring on this fantastic holiday.

Looking back up the valley

There are many walks available from the station around the mountain top, but again with little to see and a cold rain we decided not to wander far and spent our time looking at the Alpine Garden and its little exhibition before going back down on an earlier train and then travelling back to Grindelwald the long way round via Lauterbrunnen and Kleine Scheidegg, back in time for dinner. It was so misty that at Kleine Scheidegg as we changed trains we could not see the Eiger!

A Neuchâtelois farmhouse at Freilichtmuseum Ballenberg

The next day, Tuesday, was our last complete day in Switzerland and was a free day. We had no agenda for the day when we set off from England, but while in Brienz we had found out about an open-air museum not far away at Ballenberg which had a collection of about a hundred historic buildings re-erected there from various parts of the country when their removal was required. The two areas we are most interested in, Neuchâtel and and Graubünden Cantons, were not well represented, but it still sounded like and interesting place to visit and so in the morning we set off once more for Grindelwald station. Again, they were able to sell us tickets for the whole day, including vouchers for entry to the museum at a reduced price for train travellers; the travel tickets included the bus from Brienz to Ballenberg and back and well as the train to Brienz via the change at Interlaken Ost. It is all so much simpler in Switzerland than at home: even though a variety of public and private bodies provide the transport it operates as one system so changing to bus or cable car is exactly like changing trains, with through tickets available.

Although a free day, the hotel still provided the packed lunch again and we ate ours during our time at the museum, which was like a long country walk punctuated by visiting the old buildings, some of which were just as they had come, some restored extensively, and some re-purposed to display artefacts or bygone ways of life, crafts etc.. The rain came and went, but we had a great day before taking the bus back to Brienz then the trains "home" in time to shower and change before our last dinner at the hotel. Back to our splendid room to pack ready for the morning's (fairly) early start, for we were returning to London in one day.

International trains at Paris Nord

LNER "Azuma" at London Kings Cross

The trip back via Paris went well apart from a twenty-minute delay to our Eurostar to London: it came in late and left late, and the carriage numbers were wrong, too, so staff had to redirect us to the right part of the train - chaos but once aboard it was a good trip with the usual light meal. We had booked a hotel room in London for the night just in case we were late and could not get the last train to connect for Stamford at Peterborough, but on reflection it would have been cheaper to take a taxi from Peterborough than to stay overnight in London! However, staying did mean that we had an opportunity to visit family in London for a good part of the day before travelling home at our own convenience, having the flexible tickets which Great Rail Journeys had provided for us. Icing on the cake was that our train to Peterborough was one of LNER's new class 800 "Azuma" sets which it was nice to try; our first class 800 ride.

Another Walk to the Pub ...

Train rides and country walk

Regular readers will be familiar with my occasional outings with my local church, starting with Ely, then York, Oakham (for the Grainstore Brewery) and Spalding. Recently I thought that a trip I had done personally a few years ago would make a good outing to invite others to join in, involving a country walk, rides on both our local main line train and the Nene Valley Railway, and lunch at a country pub.

Half a dozen of us booked, mostly "usual suspects" but also two people new to these "adventures", but on the day a couple of the regulars had to back out for health reasons so in the event only four of us travelled, but we had a great day nonetheless. For me it was rather special, as you will see!

We began as all these parish outings do with a rendezvous at Stamford station. Given the last-minute cancellation it was as well that I had not bought the tickets in advance, but I collected everyone's fares for the whole day's travels and then bought the day return tickets to Peterborough, using the Railcards of the three who had them. We caught the train on time and those who had not joined in the trip before were shown where the former direct line from Stamford (East station) to Wansford used to cross over our line and then where landmarks familiar from the road could be seen from the train, Burghley House being the main one. At Peterborough we made our way, slightly diverted by roadworks, to the Nene Valley Railway station on the other side of the river: in places this is just back streets and car park, but once at the river is a pleasant walk with swans on the river and some interesting railway bridges. Plenty of main line trains were passing overhead as we went to the station, arriving just as a Brush type 2 (class 31) diesel locomotive brought in our train. This was the first time I had ever known this train be on time!

We watched the locomotive, 31 271, being uncoupled and set off to the other end of the train to haul it in the other direction, and I couldn't help noticing the shunter looking at me as he climbed back onto the platform ...

We boarded the train, taking a compartment, for its novelty value, rather than a table in an open coach, and near the buffet counter from which I bought a round of drinks, although my companions would not let me pay for them. We were approached first by a man selling first day covers in aid of a fund to complete a Victorian postman's uniform - the railway operates a travelling post office train and has quite a display of postal equipment - and then by the one selling tickets (well, taking our money and giving us a receipt). The train pauses for about twenty minutes at Wansford before working forward to our destination at Yarwell,  and it was here that another man entered our compartment, the shunter I had seen earlier, who had recognised me as a former neighbour. It had been ten years since we last spoke but as soon as he introduced himself I recognised him, too, and he went to have a word with his friends on the locomotive and I joined them in the cab for the ride through to Yarwell. The locomotive crew were directors of the small company which owns the locomotive: a lot of people who invest and a handful who do the work - both are needed to maintain and operate the small fleet of locomotives they have, all of them class 31s. I have always liked these engines and have three of them on my 60s era model railway.

At Yarwell I said farewell to my new friends and collected my original friends from the train and we walked to Yarwell village, a stroll of about half an hour. It was a lovely day for a walk in the country and we were ready for lunch when arrived at the Angel Inn. They do wonderful chips at the Angel, and some great ales and we enjoyed a splendid pub lunch before setting off back to Yarwell station. We had to stride it out a bit because we did not want to miss our train. Although it was not the last of the day we did not want to spend the rest of our day out waiting for it at the station: the idea was to catch this one to Wansford and spend some time there looking at the items displayed there and having tea at Wansford station. The first of us, striding out in front, arrived on the platform as the locomotive was being uncoupled, the rest of us easily made it onto the train before it was ready to leave. Yarwell station is in a delightful rural spot and if you do not want to walk to the village for lunch there are picnic tables there and you can bring your own lunch or buy it on the train and spend a quiet couple of hours between trains.

After the short journey back through the tunnel and under the A1 we left the train at Wansford station and spent some time looking at what was there: a visit to a model railway set out in a carriage parked in a bay platform; a walk among the locomotives being repaired and restored, to the shed beyond where more restoration work was being undertaken; tea in the station café. During our time here the train came through once more on its way back to Yarwell, and then later we boarded for our ride back to Peterborough city centre. This time my shunter friend had arranged for me to ride in the locomotive cab all the way to Peterborough and I had a good chance to get to know more about the operation to keep the class 31s running. Judging by the condition of the steam locomotives at Wansford, the hiring-in of this diesel would seem to have been necessary to keep the railway going this summer - and with the hot, dry weather that has been consistent for some weeks now, diesel turned out to have been a good choice, because lineside fires would have been difficult to avoid with steam traction, and many preserved lines have resorted to diesel only this year.

Once back in Peterborough we took the walk back to the main-line station and it was just a short wait for our Cross Country train back to Stamford and home.

If you live near Stamford, Oakham or Peterborough and are interested in joining me on some of these day trips, please see the "Come with me!" Page.

A Transport Heritage Holiday

Reflections of a wet city in
the shiny valance around
New Street Station. That's us
standing there!

Our best friends suggested a spring holiday in Birmingham. Yes, that Birmingham in the English West Midlands: not an obvious holiday destination, but (1) they and I have all lived there briefly a long time ago and (2) it is actually a much better place for a short break than most people think. A neighbour here who once lived in nearby Lichfield (now there is a place to visit!) says that Birmingham undersells itself: as our largest city after London it is fairly self-sufficient and self-confident and simply does not advertise how great it is. Birmingham is also booming, and things that were brand-new and forward-looking when I was there in the 1970s have now largely been demolished, replaced, put back as they were before or are simply tired old buildings that look like they really do not belong in this vibrant reinvented city.

The Comfort Inn: the hotel in theatre land!

So we found mutually convenient dates, I booked a couple of hotel rooms and we each bought our train tickets, arriving from different directions within ten minutes of each other at Birmingham New Street, probably the most centrally-located railway station  in the UK, or even the universe! Our chosen hotel was the Comfort Inn, one of a chain of budget hotels, chosen both for its low price and for its location. The location in Station Street was both its biggest advantage and a disadvantage at the same time! It is the handiest hotel for New Street station, being just along the street from the new south exit of the station, but in a back street by a station meant the detritus of city life swilled around it a bit (the smell of cannabis smoke hung around the street one night). However, this part of town is on the way up: it is what passes for theatre land in Birmingham - not one of the first parts to be improved - and the nation's oldest extant cinema, The Electric, is three doors from the hotel and has recently been refurbished and reopened, and the strip club the other side has closed. These were small matters, though: this was not a holiday spent hanging around the hotel, and it provided the sleeping space we needed in a place that could not have been more convenient or economical.

We did have an agenda for this break. We were to visit the Severn Valley Railway and to take a boat ride on the canals - these trips for our friends: I have done both before but am always ready to do these again. The schedule left some considerable gaps for which we could devise activities once we were there, Birmingham having plenty of museums, shops etc, etc. Or we may just need a rest, or to explore places we had once known.

Travel-wise for us it was easy: there are hourly through trains to New Street from our local station in Stamford and I booked Advance tickets to save a few pounds (not a lot on such a short trip), and with travelling out on Easter Monday I was able to get a First Class upgrade for a little extra. The return leg was with a straightforward Off-peak Single so the we could be flexible about our return time. Our friends travelling from Croydon had to allow plenty of time crossing London and enjoyed coffee at Euston while awaiting their Virgin Trains Pendolino to New Street. We arrived first and waited for them on the main concourse. Meeting people at the new New Street is slightly daunting owing to the sheer size of the place, but in the event it went well and we walked off together to check in to the hotel.

After finding our rooms and unpacking we made our way through the Bull Ring (a shopping area, not a venue for animal cruelty, for those who do not know Birmingham) to Moor Street Station. We were not going anywhere but having tea at the Centenary Lounge on the concourse of this beautifully restored terminus. The art deco surroundings, the swing music, the excellent tea and cakes all make this the best place for a cup of tea and piece of cake in this part of the city. We then strolled through the city centre to the canalside and in due course enjoyed a pint in a pub by Gas Street Basin before seeking a suitable restaurant at Brindley Place for our dinner together that evening. So far the weather, which had been predicted to be cool and wet, had been reasonably kind to us, at least it had not been wet.

We arranged a meeting time for the following morning at Moor Street, having made our own arrangements for breakfast (we all did different things, so we did not include breakfast in the hotel booking this time - it is not difficult to find something in Birmingham city centre!), and bought a group ticket to Kidderminster for our day on the Servern Valley Railway.

The ride out to Kidderminster is interesting in itself, under the centre of Birmingham to Snow Hill Station (which was closed when we were living in the city!), then through the Jewellery Quarter alongside the Midland Metro tramway before bearing left to head south through the Black Country and into Worcestershire. At Stourbridge Junction we passed one of Chiltern Railways' silver trains in the carriage sidings, and soon we were at the platform at Kidderminster and within a few more minutes buying our rover tickets for a day on the Severn Valley Railway at their terminal station next door. We began by taking the next train all the way to Bridgnorth, a rake of British Railways Mark 1 coaches and a GWR pannier tank locomotive. This was small engine for a big train and sitting near the front of the train we were treated to quite a bark from the exhaust whenever we faced an uphill section of line.

From the train there's an interesting view across the West Midland Safari Park not long after leaving Kidderminster. Always there is a family in the park waving at the train, then the train pauses at Bewdley, once the terminus of the restored line before the new station at Kidderminster could be built. A stroll along the train to the buffet car and there were pints of beer for us all as we continued the journey northwards: the kind steward helped me carry them back to our compartment two carriages away.

This is one of the longer and better-established preserved railway lines in Britain and has a variety of stations each with its own character, and the line's own website is worth visiting for information about them. At a couple of the stations we crossed with trains going the other way, all trains steam-hauled today and one of them consisted of Gresley-designed teak panelled coaches. A little effort with the timetable supplied with our tickets enabled to work out which service we should need to catch on the way back in order to travel on this set, complete with Gresley buffet car, the whole set with art deco features!

Soon we were traversing the hillside high above the river at Bridgnorth and gathered our belongings to leave the train. Although I had visited this railway three or four times before I had never explored Bridgnorth: the plan was to have lunch here but we did not need to leave the station to do that unless we wanted to! There were many options, basically either a short time here and stop at several stations on the way back, or a longer time and stop once or not at all on the way back. After discussion, and looking at the reasonable weather (and it never got more than reasonable all week!), we decided to take a stroll into the town centre and visit the cliff railway on the way. The walk took us just below the top of the ridge, looking down on "Low Town" Bridgnorth and the River Severn, with "High Town" to our left and thence came across the upper terminal of the Cliff Railway. By now it was lunchtime and we were disappointed that the lovely-looking tea shop at the railway terminal was full and we'd have to look elsewhere for lunch, but we soon found the retro Tea and Roses in the charming town centre, which was worth seeing in any case.

We made our way back and bought tickets for the ride down the cliff - only return tickets are available here so each of us now has a ticket to ride up this cliff should we ever find ourselves needing to do so! I wonder if I'll remember where to find mine when the time comes ... By Swiss standards this is a very short funicular railway, but it has charming old-fashioned coaches and is quite unusual (though not unique) in England. From the lower terminal we made our way back up cliff by way of the highway until we reached the footbridge across the valley back to the railway station where we had a short time to explore the gift shop before boarding the aforementioned LNER teak panelled train for the trip back towards Bewdley and Kidderminster. We decided not to break the journey at any intermediate stop but to make our way back to Birmingham for a bit of a rest before our evening meal. I had personally visited most of the line before, so I was happy to do whatever the rest of the party wanted.

Art deco detail of the Gresley teak panelled coaches of our train back to Kidderminster

There was a short wait for our train back to Birmingham and we decided to leave the train at Snow Hill and walk across the city centre to our hotel, just to see something of how it had changed since most of us had lived here back in the seventies and eighties. My friends had not visited much since although I had been occasionally over the years and even visited from time to time when changing trains at New Street. The presence of trams and absence of buses in Corporation Street comes as a great surprise to anyone who has been away from Birmingham for a few years, and in my view there has also been a decline in the standard of the shops in both Corporation Street and New Street, with the "high end" shops concentrated at the Mailbox and in the shopping complex of Grand Central and Bull Ring. It is not bad, but it is not a smart as it was.

The Grand Central terminus of the Midland Metro tram
service. Soon trams will go through here to Broad Street and
beyond, using battery power in places to avoid the need for
masts in sensitive areas

A different venue for our evening meal that night and then bed at the end of a fairly busy day of exploration. On our second full day we had a number of options, but continuing the transport heritage theme we had decided on a canal trip and we had photographed the boat departures list at the Brindley Place waterfront on our first evening stroll, so we knew when we needed to be there and planned a fairly leisurely start to the day.  I start rather less leisurely than most, so I went for a stroll before our agree time to meet: actually it was a bit more than a stroll because it included a tram ride to the Jewellery Quarter and back! It was all rather wet, although not cold.

I went back to the hotel to meet the others and off we went. The tour took us through some of the Birmingham Canal Navigation waterways with a commentary on the history of the canals and their significance in the city and region. The boat was comfortable and we took full advantage of the licensed bar. Not much had changed since my last trip on the canal, but a very great deal had changed since my first trip in 1972! It was hard to imagine back then what would become of this part of the city forty year later. But things come and go: in 1972 the smartest part of the canalside seemed to me to be the Longboat public house, crowded with young, upwardly mobile people in the lunch hour as I passed by on a tour of Birmingham in freshers' week - Aston Town Planning Department's intro to Birmingham for new students of town planning, as I was then. After our trip on the canals we visited the very same pub, now called The Flapper (though not as period as the thirties railway coaches we'd used the previous day!) and we were the only customers in a down-at-heel bar, a shadow of what I remembered. The rain didn't help, of course.

Before we went to The Flapper we visited the Library of Birmingham and made our way to the rooftop garden for views over the city, and especially the canals that we had seen and were about to see. After we left, we followed the canalside just a little farther and then made our way back across the city centre for our hotel.

On our final morning we went for a walk through the city and explored places we had known before and then in due course caught our respective trains home, the hotel having kindly looked after our luggage in the meantime. Over the three days a certain amount of shopping was also done, so there was more to take back than we had brought, although not a great deal more!

I ought to explain for those who've never been that it does not always rain in Birmingham, or indeed in England, but for several weeks this spring (but for one brief burst of cold and snow and another of blazing hot sunshine) we have had daily rain showers right across most of western Europe. It must end soon, surely.

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Steam Heat

Not really a proper adventure because we started and ended by car, but last week we visited the Nene Valley Railway and travelled on a steam-heated train: with British Railways standard MkI coaches and a standard Class 2 locomotive built the year I was born, it was a real step back in time - and with real ale on board, too. Steam all over the place! My pictures are at https://www.flickr.com/photos/frmark/ for those who would like to see them.

Change at East Grinstead for Sheffield Park

Station stop at Riddlesdown: tunnel beckons!

We were staying with friends in Croydon (I really must write sometime about getting there!) when the idea of visiting the nearby preserved Bluebell Railway came up in conversation. An extension had recently been completed which connected the line to the national rail network at East Grinstead and so it had become another of the preserved, steam-operated lines that could be visited by rail, or even used for travel, if you happen to be visiting the places on its route (we had done this with the Dartmouth Steam Railway when travelling to Dartmouth via Paignton).

We began with the tram from their home to East Croydon station, using our Oyster cards for the fare payment, then bought a group day-return ticket for the four of us to East Grinstead and back - I had not known of this ticket and was advised of it by the clerk: it cheaper than buying four separate tickets even though two of us had a Two Together railcard.

Train loco running round at East Grinstead platform 3

The journey through arcadian Surrey into Sussex was very pleasant, along the east side of a valley in the bottom of which ran the A23 Brighton road and along the other side the branch line through Kenley to Caterham. East Grinstead main line station has a new building, and out of this station we turned right and walked the short distance to the adjacent steam railway station ticket office and bought our tickets and collected a timetable for our day on the preserved railway. These were rover tickets enabling us to travel back and forth between the stations as we wished. Our train was waiting at the platform and its locomotive running round, ready to haul it back to Sheffield Park.

The train was soon on its way along the newly-reopened northern section of this intensely rural branch line and paused at Kingscote station, restored in 1959 British Railways style, but we stayed on here and travelled through here and the next station at Horsted Keynes, restored as in the 1920s in Southern Railway style. It is here that the restoration of the line's carriages takes place, and they have a fine collection of coaches from various eras. The Bluebell Railway is licensed for civil marriage ceremonies and a wedding was taking place on the other platform at Horsted Keynes as we passed through. This station has an odd layout where the track between two of the platforms is single, with access to the train from both sides. And the platforms are numbered towards the entrance and not away from it as usual. A very quirky place, which we visited later in the day.

The current terminus at Sheffield Park: train of BR Mk1
coaches just arrived at platform and passengers making
their way to lunch

A northbound train came in from the other direction and our train moved on towards Sheffield Park, the end of the preserved line. None of these stations ever saw much traffic when in service but are very attractive and are now busy all summer with visitors enjoying the line which really goes nowhere much at all! Sheffield Park station was built really for the nearby stately home from which it takes its name, the home of Lord Sheffield,  and has been restored as it would have been in the 1880s, as originally decorated by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway which built it. It was lunchtime and we repaired to the Bessemer Arms for beer and sandwiches, and then spent some time looking around the locomotive collection in the nearby loco shed and the museum on the other platform.

Carriage restoration at Horsted Keynes

Our next train back as far as Horsted Keynes was hauled by an ancient LBSCR locomotive and was composed of wooden-bodied Metropolitan Railway coaches, very much older than the British Railways Mk1 standard coaches on which we had arrived. At Horsted Keynes we looked around the workshops in which further examples of wooden-bodied coaches were being restored, original components being used as much as possible, with new timber used where the original was beyond re-use. A very great deal of work is needed on each vehicle, mostly by volunteers.


And so back to East Grinstead and the next Southern Trains electric to East Croydon and the tram back to where we were staying.