In some ways I'm not sure that today's trip warrants a long descriptive entry. It was, in most ways, a fairly unremarkable and relaxing day out on the rails. It was a last chance for a while at least, to spend a Saturday exactly how I like - getting up obscenely early and taking some convoluted trek around the UK. If it wasn't for the engineering work which I've been grumbling about for months now bearing down upon the area next week, I would probably not have done much differently in terms of my planned trip - but it felt important to put some miles under my belt today. I managed 499 exactly - so perhaps a mention here is deserved after all?
Having had the order of play dictated by the availability of cheap tickets, I set off for Bristol, staying on the first train of the day a little further than usual. At Bristol I found myself needing coffee very badly, and managed to grab a cup and not spill it while dashing for the train to Newport. The sun was up, and the mist dissolving as we sped west towards the Severn Tunnel. It promised to be a perfect day for travelling. Breakfast time at Newport while waiting for the Nottingham train to arrive. I've done this route in parts over the years, and have always enjoyed the variation - starting out serenely skirting the Severn Estuary, then disappearing into the Midlands before emerging in Derbyshire. Everything ran smoothly today as far as Birmingham, where the train was suddenly swamped with Wolverhampton Wanderers fans heading for Nottingham. They were a fairly well-behaved bunch, but the short two-carriage train which had seemed so quiet back at Newport was now very full, very loud and running pretty late. I had a back-up plan for the next leg of my trip, so I turned up my collar, plugged in the headphones and looked out for the Fastline Class 66 I expected to be hanging around Nottingham somewhere!
I'd covered the next leg quite recently, but it got me further along my route nicely and it did use an interesting route. The Northern service from Nottingham to Leeds seems to have slotted well into the timetable, and was much busier than on my first visit early in the year. We set off on time, but encountered some very slow running early on which seemed to dog the run up the Erewash Valley. Things didn't seem to get moving until we took the 'Old Road' and headed in a huge circuit skirting Sheffield and arriving from the north. Amazing warm spring sunshine made me a little drowsy, and it was good to get out into the fresh air at Sheffield. Had a wander around the station, but the presence of huge crowds of Police apparently waiting for more football fans and all too keen to move people along quickly meant I was safer on the platform. Found a spot and watched the trains for a little while before making my way to the platform for my next service. I've not covered the Transpennine route via the Hope Valley for a long while, and it was good to revisit in the comfort of first class on a Class 185 rather than the last trip in this direction on a dilapidated 142 during the evening peak! Lots of wagons but no locos to be seen on route to Manchester. The weather on the western side of the Pennines wasn't quite as warm - so on arrival, settled into a familiar seat in the coffee shop to send an email I'd been mulling over on the trip, and to imbibe enough coffee to wake me up a little for the trip home.
A brief wander around the station shops before boarding the 15:07 for Bristol. These trains always make me think of the old days when Class 47s worked this route and were a guaranteed loco-hauled ride home. Settled in for the long ride back via the Midlands, happily reading, listening to music and people-watching my way south. Arrived bang on time in Bristol and spent a pleasant half hour watching the sun set over Bristol & Exeter House in the chilly but clear evening. It's trips like this which keep me sane and entertained in rather strange times. Reorganising things for the next few weeks will be challenging.
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.
