I'm not sure if its the side-effects of planning ahead a little, or the knowledge of a fairly major weekend line closure looming, but the year seems to have opened with a surprising dash for mileage. I've been a little constrained by pre-Christmas engineering recently and it's good to get away to areas I haven't been to for a while. It's also interesting to play with some of the variations and new service which the new timetable brought with it. It's certainly one of the more dynamic shifts in service patterns for many years, and aside from some of the more high-profile additions (such as the Welsh Assembly Government bankrolled Cardiff-Holyhead service) there are some lower key but useful services appearing. One of these is the direct Northern Trains service from Nottingham to Leeds, with a variety of unusual routes and odd diversions on it's various runs to keep drivers' route knowledge up to date. Today's plan was to use one of these services end to end - the long wat around to Leeds.
Out on the usual early train, staying on as far as Temple Meads for the first time in what seemed like a while. Found much needed coffee and settled into the Voyager which soon arrived from Barton Hill. Spent much of the journey trying to get used to the various features of my new phone and enjoying heading north on what promised to be a fair but very chilly winter morning. Halted for some time outside Kings Norton before setting off via Selly Oak rather than the usual route through Camp Hill which these Manchester-bound services use to avoid a reversal at the congested Birmingham New Street. Frozen points maybe? A swift change here onto a busy CrossCountry 170 bound for Nottingham via Derby. Despite a few good-natured football fans, a quiet journey along routes I don't seem to travel much these days. Noted FastLine's 66305 waiting for a path at Lenton South Junction as we arrived into Nottingham. Here I had a couple of choices, and having looked at some of the known unusual routes operated by the Northern service, I'd opted for the 11:16 departure. This left an hour to wander into the city in freezing weather.
Back in good time to see the incoming Northern 158 arrive and find a seat. Whilst some of these services use routes around Toton Depot, this didn't seem to be the case with any of the Saturday services. Set out instead via Trowell and onto the Erewash Valley. A good few years since I came this way as I recall, and interesting with the foliage a little more seasonally sparse to see the remains of various freight locations and branch lines curving away from our route. A little new track for me, as we took the route avoiding the platforms at Chesterfield station - only recently redesignated as passenger lines. From here, we curved away from the main route into Sheffield, taking the 'old road' at Tapton Junction. Lost track of my bearings a little hear, but figured out where I was by the sighting of the stub of line at Westthorpe where our BLS tour reversed on route to Preston Docks. At Beighton we returned to passenger lines, arriving into the bay platforms at Sheffield for a reversal. Soon off again, via a bit of a meander through Barnsley, Wakefield Kirkgate and Methley Junction to Leeds.
After a quick wander around the freezing station, stepped out into the city and had a good wander around for the first time in years. Immediately on setting out I walked into a 'Free Palestine' demonstration of surprising size and volume. Ended up following the demo into the city centre, as did most of the youngsters out in the city. Perhaps they didn't understand the cause at issue, but they certainly swelled the ranks of the demonstration! I've always said that Leeds is a city where one should look up above shop-front height, and I remembered my own advice as I walked through street after street of remarkable and relatively unspoiled Victorian buildings. Also found myself furtively bus spotting, in search of my first Atheist Bus, a search which was finally rewarded through the filthy windows of a shopping centre bus stop!
Back to the station to stock up on coffee and board the 16:11 which took me all the way back to Bristol by a far more direct route. Settled in and relaxed for a comfortable and quiet ride, unfortunately mostly in the dark as the weather and evening closed in soon after leaving Leeds. A long and tiring day, but good to explore old route through new services patterns.
I've just seen my first Atheist Bus and I confess to feeling childish excitement and, had it not been in the midst of Saturday crowds in Leeds City Centre, I might well have punched the air and done a little dance. Those who know me in real life will realise what an alarming and unlikely prospect this is - and thus just how important this first sighting was to me.
The bus ads were launched last Tuesday and have taken to the streets of London as originally planned. However, the overwhelming and heartfelt response to this refreshing campaign raised over 2000% more than originally planned - thus they can now been seen in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, York, Newcastle, Dundee, Sheffield, Coventry, Devon, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Swansea, Newport, Rhondda, Bristol, Southampton, Newcastle, Aberdeen and of course Leeds. The campaign has also been able to fund tube cards including quotes from notable freethinkers and large digital billboards in Central London. Unsurprisingly, Stephen Green of Christian Voice was irked enough by this national sigh of relief from the non-religious to complain to the Advertising Standards Agency that there was "not a shred of evidence" for the claim there is no god. Presumably Mr Green has his irrefutable sources all lined up for the inevitable theological showdown. It will be interesting to see if the recently highly political Drs. Sentamu and Williams will manage to keep quiet and dismiss this with a chortle as they have to date?
As pressure mounts on the BBC to review their refusal to let humanist and secular speakers participate in Thought for the Day and today's iPM show features ABC originator Ariane Sherine in a 'thought for the afternoon' segment, there has never been a more open debate about secularism in the UK. Typing this in a freezing Leeds station, I'm still grinning from my first sighting of the bus. It feels rebellious - I want to ask people what they think of it - but of course, discussing religion is impolite - isn't it?
Exactly a month after the biggest shake up in railway timetables in the South West for many years, it's interesting to look back at what's been a fairly turbulent time. What's also clear is that despite First Great Western's disdain for it's customers views, they were uncannily accurate in their early judgements that it just wasn't going to work. Anyone who has ever complained to FGW will know how the process works - you make a reasoned and polite representation based on the aspects of the service you found deficient. In replying, a customer service advisor will scan your complaint for keywords and will cut and paste a stock paragraph - however irrelevant it might be to the context of your reply. Eventually, if you challenge these responses you'll be told politely but firmly that you are a persistent complainant and that it's better for them to get on with 'transforming travel' than to answer your queries. Well, I think there are probably an awful lot of persistent complainants out there today!
Even before the timetable started, people using Severn Tunnel Junction had some minor success in getting peak services reinstated. The timetable (which if you believe FGW was the work of the DfT and if you believe anyone else was the work of the devil) had crumbled by midday on 11th December, and the warm media glow of 'listening to customers' following the Severn Tunnel Junction reinstatements was soon replaced by stony silence from FGW. A couple of days into the farce, during which there were never less than twenty cancellations on the website at any given time, we received the infamous letter from Customer Services Director, Glenda Lamont. This is best summed up as "It's really not very good is it? But it's someone else's fault". No-one cared whether DfT or FGW was responsible for serviceable units being stored whilst the fleet limped on with a half-built maintenance facility unable to cope with repairs. In fact, we all assumed that the day-to-day tribulations of running a Train Operating Company meant that you developed contingencies for such events. What we really wanted was to get home on time.
My own experiences weren't too horrendous - my ten minute commute was frustratingly cancelled or delayed on a fair number of occasions, but I didn't suffer a great deal of hardship. But seeing people disentangling themselves from the mass of bodies getting out of short-formed trains, and hearing about the Verbal Warnings delivered to commuters for repeated lateness at work was heartbreaking for someone who actively tries to persuade people to use the railway. Still there was no response from FGW. And ultimately, perhaps it would have been better if they'd stayed quiet because the solution which was finally delivered this week left a very nasty taste. Someone somewhere described the substitution of buses for trains on the Cornish Branch Lines this week as "finally succeeding where Beeching failed". The idea was to redistribute the capacity from Cornwall around the Bristol area to strengthen trains and relieve congestion. A Cornish friend of mine, well aware of my 'persistent complainant' status with FGW simply emailed the words 'Cheers Mate, Thanks for the buses'. There was much concern that we were seeing FGW's true colours now, and they weren't the benevolent pink and blue of their barbie livery after all!
So we enter a second month of chaos, delay and overcrowding. My journey is still nothing compared to those Bristol-Bath commuters, rammed in so tight that if one of them passes out they don't hit the floor, or of the locals in Cornwall, with no service at all. At best it's erratic here - unreliable and prone to sudden, unexplained delay - much of which is the knock on effect of what's happening elsewhere. From a commuter's point of view its an imposition and an inconvenience. From an enthusiasts stance, its heartbreaking to see a railway so full of potential being run into the ground like this.
There are a number of meetings being arrange, MPs being lobbied and such - so many in fact I can't keep up and wouldn't presume to list them here. If you live in the South West, these campaigns deserve your support. You'll probably find more detail at the Save the Train Forum.
Out on the usual train, after a surprisingly poor night of sleep. Dozed quite a bit on the way. Circle to Kings Cross then a wander down the Fleet Valley to Exmouth Market and finally to the Family Records Centre. Soon got the hang of the records - partly by watching the clearly experienced and rather efficient family history buffs working quickly and steadily through lists of names and dates. Spent a fruitful couple of hours manhandling registers before ordering some certificates.
Coffee, and a wander through Clerkenwell before travelling to Clapham High Street via an overcomplicated but interesting series of short train journeys and a walk through Ruskin Park.
Long wander to some William Kent related sites in Lambeth, collecting photographs as I went. From Union Road and Larkhall Lane, via Wandsworth Road, Wheatsheaf Hall and Tradescant Road. Finally to Meadow Lane and The Oval and back to Waterloo.
Waterloo & City to Bank, then some happy but random City of London wanderings - taking pictures in steadily darkening conditions which have not produced great results. I might just attach one or two here.
A pleasant day - accomplished quite a bit, and revisited some railways I'd not seen for a long time.
 30 St. Mary Axe towers over St. Helen's Church |  ...and tiny St. Ethelburga's |
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.
