The first week of the school year is over, and hopefully things are settling down into the usual levels of mild background panic. I spent so much time trying to sort out forthcoming trips this week, that once again I neglected this weekend until the last minute. I'm sure that the chaos of last year would have been just the same had I not had things organised well in advance. Having planned to be in London next weekend for Open House resolved not to go that way this weekend, despite some fairly easy snippets of track remaining that way. Instead, decided on a little spin around the remaining Merseyside lines.
Things didn't start well - realised that my mobile phone had failed to charge despite being plugged in all night. This has happened before, but I've always discovered it early enough to rectify things. Since I use this as a clock and regularly access the National Rail Live Departure Boards to aid my journey, this was fairly irritating. Boarded 2M02 and met some familiar faces in the ex-First Class compartment of the Transpennine refugee unit. At Bristol Temple Meads the end of the hired-in HST sets meant that an extra Voyager was stabled in platform 4. Made very certain I was on the right one and settled into the Quiet Coach. My peaceful wait for departure was soon disturbed however, by an individual who I've seen around the station for years. He clearly has some issues, and I recall once seeing him abuse and publicly humiliate a woman who'd stepped onto a train before him - that must have been seven or eight years ago in fact. Today he decided to direct a fair amount of pretty disgusting abuse my way for "sitting in his favourite seat". Tried to be reasonable about things, but ended up having to be fairly unpleasant back to show him I wasn't going to tolerate his abuse. A rather difficult silence reigned as far as Cheltenham Spa where he got off.
I could have changed at Crewe, but decided to get the same 350 from New Street which I'd end up catching anyway. Realised soon afterwards that I was heading into Liverpool on the day of a Liverpool-Everton derby match! Incredibly bad planning, which saw the unit packed at Hartford and overloaded at Runcorn. On reaching Liverpool South Parkway where I intended to change, had no hope of escape and ended up travelling on to Lime Street with the rest of the crowd. Explained my predicament to staff who directed me onto the 11:29 back to Parkway. My schedule was now a little tighter than I'd hoped, but I was back on track. Through the cavernous new station at Liverpool South and over to the new platforms which serve the Northern Line, ending just short of the start of the now abandoned Garston station. Further delays waiting for the service to Liverpool Central.
Here my stupid fear of escalators scuppered me once again. Continued to Moorfields on the mistaken understanding I'd have better access to the Wirral Line deep-level platforms here. Took ages to find the lift, and once down at tube level, confused by the train routes and times, and even which way trains traveled around the loop! A short hop back to Lime Street Low Level got me on track, and the next West Kirby service got me back overground with some relief, and having seen nothing at all of Liverpool today. Arrived at Bidston in bright sunshine and sporting an irritating and seemingly fairly persistent headache.
Had a fair bit of time to kill here until the next Wrexham bound service, which I was to take as far as Shotton. Having spotted a Tesco store beside the line, wandered out of the station and braved several lines of traffic to get to the entrance. The approach road was not really pedestrian friendly at all, and I found myself on the 'wrong' side where rough gravel eventually gave way to a steep bank. Had to dash across the road to escape and finally found food and a much needed cool drink. Carefully took the correct route back to the station. Thanks to my exploits, only a short wait now until 153326 rounded the corner to form the train to Shotton. The tiny corner of Bidston I visited today did not inspire me to want to go back.
So, finally got to travel the northern section of the 'Borderlands Line'. A fairly slow plod at first through small towns, travelling mainly beside the M56. Eventually the landscape opened out with the marshes leading down to the Dee estuary close by the line, and views of distant Welsh hills. Passed the depressingly empty Dee Marsh Sidings, and crossed the river to arrive at Shotton. Strolled into the High Street which was just as menacing and grim as my last visit back in April. Found painkillers for my head and used a callbox for the first time in years thanks to my dead battery! On my walk back to the Low Level platforms, 66220 stormed by on the High Level lines just beside me. Attempted a picture but the strong sunlight put me in shadow. Ended up having a nail-biting wait for the delayed service to Chester, with the tight connection for Crewe getting less likely by the second!
Made it to the 1503 to Crewe in seconds, the guard on my last train having decided to come through seconds before arrival at Chester to sell me a ticket very slowly and carefully. Collapsed onto the front of a pair of 153s and barely even surfaced to try to see what was on Crewe Electric depot besides the usual line-up of Class 92s. Time for a coffee at Crewe, and a chance to rest and recuperate from my headache. Wonderful warm but breezy late-summer weather too. The Voyager arrived on time and I enjoyed a sleepy ride back to Birmingham. Helped a fellow passenger get to the platform for the 1712 service which took me all the way back to Weston, arriving a couple of minutes late due to some fairly minor hold-ups on route. When changing to the Highbridge unit I bumped into the very same people I'd be chatting with at the start of the day, thus coming full circle. A day full of obstacles and frustrations - which even if I'd planned all week I could never have worked around.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
