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January 2006 saw the Webmaster embark on a rather different railtour than usual. This particular trip differed from those previously in as much that it was divided into two distinct sections.
The first part of the trip concentrated on southern Scotland from a base in Edinburgh, whereas the second part of the tour involved a relocation to the north of England, for four nights based in Manchester - from where various northern towns were visited, along with a trip to north Wales. |
| click here to view the photo gallery |
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DAY ONE: 7th January 2006 | ||||||||||||
| This afternoon shall involve travelling to the Scottish capital by air from Southampton Airport in Hampshire. Accommodation in edinburgh shall be a rented apartment on the south side of the city centre. This evening I may be joined in town by a friend for an evening exploring some of the best pubs Edinburgh has to offer. | |||||||||||||
| DAY TWO: 8th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Today's travel shall be concentrated around Scotland's central belt,where I shall endeavour to take in a number of rail routes that have not been visited before. Journeys to destinations west of Glasgow shall be favoured, although today's plans may be altered if I have company. | |||||||||||||
| DAY THREE: 9th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| This morning I plan to head south via Glasgow to the port of Stranraer. This journey shall take in a long stretch of Scottish railway that I have not previously travelled over. It is hoped to visit some of Glasgow's best pubs this evening before returning back to base. | |||||||||||||
| DAY FOUR: 10th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| This morning shall be a 'relocation day', as I head south out of Scotland and travel First Class to my new base in Manchester city centre. This evening shall probably include a long overdue visit to the Marble Arch Inn on Rochdale Road, home of the excellent Marble Brewery. | |||||||||||||
| DAY FIVE: 11th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Day five shall involve a trip west via Chester, and on to Llandudno Junction on the North Wales main line, where I shall connect onto the picturesque Conwy Valley Line for a return trip to Blaenau Ffestiniog in Snowdonia National Park. | |||||||||||||
| DAY SIX: 12th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| The attractive Derbyshire town of Buxton is likely to be one destination today. Other local destinations south of Manchester are hoped to be included later in the day. | |||||||||||||
| DAY SEVEN: 13th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| The final day's roving shall probably see me head south to Stoke-on-Trent, wit a return journey via Crewe and Wilmslow in order to cover as many 'new' routes as possible in the time allowed. | |||||||||||||
| DAY EIGHT: 14th January 2006 | |||||||||||||
| Saturday shall see me head bck down to the South Coast, flying from Manchester to Southampton. | |||||||||||||
| Tour Diary | |
| DAY ONE: 7th January 2006 | |
| Late this morning I boarded British Airways flight 7863 from Southampton to Edinburgh. The aircraft, an Embraer ERJ145, departed on schedule at 11:25 in light rain and we soon climbed above the cloudbase into blue skies. Midway through the flight I spotted a Virgin Boeing 747 flying parallel to us as it climbed through our flight level. Whenever I fly I always make sure that I have a camera to hand, so I used my camcorder to shoot some footage of the aircraft as it climbed further and began to produce a vapour trail. The powerful zoom lens meant that I was able to obtain some excellent air-to-air footage. After about 45 minutes in flight we were beginning our descent into the Scottish capital, approaching via the Firth of Forth, which provides fine views of Edinburgh itself, with the Pentland Hills beyond. The temperature in Edinburgh was surprisingly higher than on the South Coast and it was thankfully dry too. On arrival at Waverley Bridge, the terminus of the airport bus service, I elected to walk the journey to the apartment I have hired. I am situated on the south side of town, close to the Meadows area, about fifteen minutes from the Royal Mile. It is not an area of the city that I'm very familiar with, so I was glad to find a large array of food shops within five minutes of my front door. The apartment itself is situated on the third floor of a traditional Edinburgh tenement block. It is comfortable, clean and homely inside and I was surprised to find a Welcome card and complimentary bottle of wine awaiting me from the owner. The view from the lounge window provides an outlook to Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, which dominate the city to the east. After unpacking my belongings I headed off to buy some provisions, then returned to cook myself a meal and relax in front of the television. I was due to be joined this evening by a friend, but unfortunately he missed his opportunity to book a flight and I therefore need to make alternative plans. So it is time to peruse my beer guides to find the best pubs for good ale and whisky in the local area! Early this evening I headed off via the Meadows to Tollcross, where I dropped by at Cloisters Bar, a converted chapel on Brougham Street and a pub I know well. The pub is always busy and mainly attracts a younger, though discerning, clientele, and serves about ten real ales, along with a large number of malt whiskies. I stayed for two pints before moving on to Bennet's Bar on Leven Street. This is a fine example of a traditional Scottish tavern and has one of the finest interiors in all of Scotland. Here I treated myself to a Lagavulin 16 year old Malt - the only Islay whisky that I'd not sampled before. After another hour I returned via the Meadows to seek out Leslie's Bar on Ratcliffe Terrace. Another example of a historic pub interior awaits any visitor to this southside bar. A final pint of the evening was enjoyed here before it was time to return to the apartment for supper before retiring for the night. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
25 Miles |
| DAY TWO: 8th January 2006 | |
| I was keen to have an extra couple of hours in bed this morning, as I didn't sleep too well last night (which is the usual scenario for the first night in a different bed). However I was up and about shortly after 8pm and after an hour was heading off to Waverley station for the first leg of my journey down to Stranraer. It was a perfect winter's morning - cold and bright, with not a cloud in the sky - my favourite sort of weather. I boarded the late running 09:00 service to Glasgow Queen Street and on arrival took the short walk along to Central station for my connecting service. As I had a while to wait for the direct service to Stranraer, I decided instead to board the stopping service to Ayr, which is located along the same route. The journey heads south via Paisley and Irvine before reaching Troon, where there seems to be mile upon mile of golf courses all the way down the coast as far as Ayr! I had a forty minute break in Ayr, so there was enough time to head into town to buy some food for the journey ahead. The route down to Stranraer was uncharted territory for me and I was not expecting such an enjoyable journey. The train was carrying few passengers and it was free of the usual curse that plagues me throughout my rail travels - that of the intensely irritating and invasive personal steroes, and now, the equally annoying iPod. The line has much to offer including rolling hills, vast moorland, rocky rivers and coastal views. As the train passes through Girvan, the enormous bulk of Ailsa Craig comes into view, around ten miles off the coast. Resembling the domed summit of a mountain emerging from the sea, the island stands 1100ft high. As the train neared its destination a blanket of cloud began to cover the sky from the south, meaning that on arrival in Stranraer it was rather dull. This was unfortunate, as on a cold day such as this, even the small amount of warmth from the winter sun is welcome. The port of Stranraer is dominated by the ferry terminal, situated on what appears to be reclaimed land at the head of Loch Ryan, on the banks of which the town stands. Despite the attractive countryside surrounding the town, Stranraer itself has a 'back of beyond' feel to it and gives the impression that the only visitors are here in order to use the ferry service to and from Northern Ireland. After a short time in town it was time to head back on the return journey - a 2 hour 10 minute ride to Glasgow. Back in the big city I headed off to the Crystal Palace on Jamaica Street in order to have an evening meal, then sought out a couple of Glasgow's Good Beer Guide listed pubs in the elegant Merchant City district. The first of these, the Blackfriars, had a fairly cosmopolitan feel and the large windows provided a good spot in which to watch the world go by outside. Sitting in here was not dissimilar to being in the USA. Glasgow's city streets remind me of a hybrid between Manhatten and San Francisco in places. From here I took a walk along the length of George Street to Hope Street, where I found the superb Pot Still. A traditional Scottish bar room, this pub serves some excellent ale as well as a staggering 540 whiskies!! Thankfully, being a sunday evening, there were few customers in the house and plenty of comfortable leather seats available, which is apparently a stark contrast to most evenings, when the pub is full of city workers enjoying a drink after work. I arrived back in the Capital at around 8:30pm and spent the remainder of the evening watching television and updating this page. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
296 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
321 Miles |
| DAY THREE: 9th January 2006 | |
| A glimpse out of the window at 8am revealed clear skies and a grand view of Arthur's Seat. Unfortunately, this was not to last and a blanket of cloud soon enveloped the city. I headed off to Waverley station to board the 09:18 service to Bathgate. This local rail line was one that I'd not previously travelled over. The thirty minute journey delivered me in one of West Lothian's less appealing towns(!), so it was back on the train after a short wait in the cold to head back east through Edinburgh to the newly opened station at the terminus of Newcraighall. Here I sought shelter from the elements in the Cuddy Brae pub before boarding a service bound for Dunblane. The unit I was travelling on delevoped a problem en route and we were transferred onto a new train at Waverley. I stayed on the service as far as Falkirk Grahamston, where I alighted in order to have a meal in the Carron Works on Bank Street. Before leaving town I paid a return visit to the excellent Behind The Wall brewpub, where I sampled a great pint of Grandma's Porridge Stout, which incidentally tastes a lot nicer than it sounds! From Falkirk I journeyed west to Glasgow Queen Street via Cumbernauld - now official home of Britain's ugliest building (which is thankfully shielded from the view of unsuspecting rail travellers!) On arrival back in Glasgow I took the short walk to Central Station for a service to the West Coast town of Wemyss Bay (pronounced 'Weems Bay' for the non-Scots among you.) The weather had by now closed right in and a light rain began to fall as the train neared its destination. The unwelcoming climate and the fall of dusk meant that the obvious choice was to head straight back to Glasgow, where I connected onto a packed communter service bound for the Capital. It bacame apparent en route that I had to return to base with some urgency, as my Edinburgh-resident friend contacted me to ask if she could arrive at the apartment at 6:30. As I hadn't left Queen Street until 5pm, this meant that there was little time to spare, but thankfully all worked out well, and we enjoyed a pleasant evening cathing up on the last six months and polishing off the bottle of wine that had been left for me by the owners of the flat. And so to bed, ready for my long journey back down to Northern England tomorrow morning. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
185 Miles |
Cumulative Rail MIleage: |
506 Miles |
| DAY FOUR: 10th January 2006 | |
| This morning it was time to leave the apartment in Edinburgh and to start the second leg of my tour of Britain. I packed up my belongings and headed off shortly before 10am for the walk to Waverley station in the rain. As the train I was booked on didn't depart until almost midday, I had a lot of time to kill, though in poor weather and with heavy luggage there was no opportunity to do much else than sit in the station's environs and hang around. I read a free copy of Metro for a while, then bought some food for the journey ahead in M&S before spending half an hour in the station bar until my train was due. The 11:52 Virgin CrossCountry service to Manchester Piccadilly departed on time and I found myself to be the only person travelling in the First Class carriage - this was rail travel at its best! Peaceful and comfortable. I recorded some video footage en route and admired the scenery of Scotland's Southern Uplands as we headed south towards the English border. Traversing Beattock Summit, at over 1000ft above sea level, meant that the weather was not at its best, as mist covered the hilltops and a heavy, fine rain swept northward across the countryside. The train kept good time and we had travelled all the way down to Lancaster before I was joined by another passenger in First Class. The weather improved slightly as we pushed south through Lancashire, but overall it never looked like turning into a fine afternoon. The service arrived at Piccadilly station, just south of Manchester's city centre at around 15:15. The city appears to currently be undergoing a massive transformation, with huge building projects going on all across town. A forest of tower cranes dominate the skyline - no more so than those atop the city's towering new Hilton Hotel complex at the junction of Deansgate and Great Bridgewater Street. The building looks close to being topped out soon, which, at 47 storeys, shall certainly make it the tallest UK tower block outside of London. A short journey on the Metro brought me to my apartment at the Deansgate Quays complex, adjacent to the River Medlock. The apartments are only a couple of years old and are built in a luxurious, modernist style, with floor-to-ceiling windows, wooden flooring throughout and effective lighting. The apartment I have hired boasts a lounge fitted out in the minimalist style, with plenty of glass and aluminium furnishings along with three leather sofas. I would love a place like this myself! A short walk up Deansgate in search of a grocery shop brought me to a Sainsbury Local store, where I stocked up on provisions before returning to the apartment to drop off my purchases. I headed straight out again towards Oxford Road, where I enjoyed a sirloin steak in the Paramount pub before taking a short walk to the Peveril of the Peak on Great Bridgewater Street - a Manchester classic which is listed among the finest historic pub interiors in the United Kingdom, as well as having a strking glazed tiled exterior. The pub proved a homely place to relax and the jukebox was laden with some superb music. I opted for a second pint of Black Sheep Bitter, but with hindsight wondered whether I should have: "Just one pint?" enquired the barman, as he then proceded to spill the entire glass across the bar and down my jeans! Profuse apologies followed, along with a free pint for not spontaneously punching him in the face! I was just glad that I'd changed out of my beige trousers and into black jeans before I'd headed out! I didn't order a third pint! The remainder of the evening is being spent back at my new base, where I am soon to try publishing this page, as I think I may be able to get online whilst here. This evening's final task shall be to finalise tomorrow's planned journey into North Wales. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
226 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
732 Miles |
| DAY FIVE: 11th January 2006 | |
| After a rather restless night (first night syndrome again!) I got up at around 8.30am and spent a leisurely 90 minutes or so in the apartment, having breakfast and preparing some sandwiches to take with me on today's journey. At about 10:15 I headed out to Piccadilly Station where I bought my Coast & Peaks rail rover ticket for the next three days' travelling. After milling around for a while within the modern environs of Piccadilly station, I boarded the 11:14 service to Llandudno, on the North Wales coast. The two hour journey took me via Warrington, Chester and Prestatyn and my original intention was to leave the service at Llandudno Junction in order to connect onto the Conwy Valley line for the train to Blaenau Ffestiniog. However, whilst en route I decided instead to stay on the train until it terminated at Llandudno. The reason for this decision was that, had I headed for Blaenau, I would have had four hours to kill whilst there, with little in the way of amenities in the town to keep me occupied - or so I thought. When I left the train at its destination I checked the timetables to Blaenau, only to find that there were in fact more services than thetrainline website had stated. This meant that I could spend a couple of hours in Llandudno and still manage to get to Blaenau and back by early evening. Good news indeed! Llandudno itself is certainly the most attractive town on the North Wales coast. It has an elegent Victorian charm with a number of historic buildings. Two sandy beaches, facing east and west, mean that it's the perfect place on a sunny Summer day and the craggy Great Orme overlooks the resort from the north. I spent some time walking around town, taking some photographs and shooting some video footage until my battery went flat (as were my reserves!). The town's former Palladium theatre has now been converted into a pub and has a wonderful interior, with the auditorium almost intact. I spent some time here in order to have a meal before returning to the station in order to catch the 16:14 to Blaenau Ffestiniog. By now the sun was going down behind the mountains of Snowdonia National Park, so the scenic nature of the line was somewhat wasted, as before long we were travelling in the dark. The hour-long journey delivered me in Blaenau though there was little time to spare before the return leg needed to be made back to Llandudno Junction. I was tempted to have a quick pint whilst in town but I decided against it - it's difficult to blend in somewhere when everyone else is speaking a foreign language! My connection at Llandudno Junction was extremely tight, but I luckily made it with seconds to spare and sat back and relaxed for the return trip back to the big city, where I arrived shortly before 9pm. Back at the apartment the first task was to recharge all the camera batteries ready for the morning and update this web page. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
237 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
969 Miles |
| DAY SIX: 12th January 2006 | |
| An attractive sunrise greeted me this morning as I prepared breakfast in the apartment. I left the flat at around 8.30am and headed to Piccadilly station in order to catch a train to Buxton. Frustratingly the departure time for the service was 08:58 - two minutes too early for me to use, as my railcard is not valid until 9am! Instead I boarded an alternative train to take me as far as Stockport, where I waited for the next train to Buxton. The route to the Derbyshire spa town takes passengers through increasingly attractive scenery, as the line enters the Peak District National Park. The line climbs ever higher and tackles some steep gradients in places. Photography from the train was somewhat limited due to Northern Rail's seeming inability to keep the vehicle's windows clean - something that I find irritating on scenic railway lines. On arrival at Buxton my expectations were surpassed as I found the town to be as attractive as I'd hoped it would be. England's many spa towns (Cheltenham, Bath, Harrogate etc) are all blessed with beautifully designed buildings and ornate parks and gardens - and Buxton is no exception. The town is especially photogenic around the Pavillion Gardens and I made the point of taken a number of photos during my two hour visit. On departure from Buxton I travelled back to Stockport for a quick change of trains and headed south on a Virgin service to Stock-on-Trent in Staffordshire's Potteries region. Stoke was another town I'd not previously visited (in fact it now has city status) and I was not much impressed with the area of the Hanley (the centre) that I saw. I stopped long enough to have a meal in the Wheatsheaf then made my way back to the station in the cold in order to catch another train, this time to the railway town of Crewe in Cheshire. From Crewe I was hoping to travel back to Stockport via Sandbach but found the line to be closed for ongoing engineering works. Plan 'B' was therefore swung into action and I travelled to Chester, where I ended up spending 90 minutes and relaxing with a pint in the Pied Bull - a city centre pub that I'd not used before. The journey back to Manchester this evening was on the 17:57 service which operates over the line via Knutsford and Altrincham. Unfortunately the train employed on the route was an unrefurbished Class 142, which, to readers with no knowledge of railcars, is a 1980s Leyland Railbus, with old style bus seating and lively suspension which earns the units the nickname Nodding Donkeys - so not the best mode of transport for a 90 minute journey! On a more positive note, the train's conductor spent about fifteen minutes sat with me, chatting about the railways and asking me details about the rover ticket I had (many rail staff have only limited knowledge of the routes and validity of many rail rover tickets!) Arrival back at Manchester Piccadilly was at around 19:30, from where I needed to get a connection for the short trip back to my local station at Deansgate. The remainder of the evening was spent watching TV, listening to Mark Radcliffe's excellent Radio 2 show (broadcast from half a mile down the road from here) and updating these pages. Tomorrow's travels shall take me to Liverpool and the Wirral. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
161 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
1130 Miles |
| DAY SEVEN: 13th January 2006 | |
| My final day on the rails arrived and it was time to head west into Merseyside for most of the day. The first leg of my journey took me as far as Wigan Wallgate - somewhere very familiar to me after having based myself in the town for a week-long railtour about eighteen months ago. I crossed the road to the adjacent North Western station and boarded a Liverpool bound service from the windswept platform. This route was new to me and was took me via St Helens Central, terminating at Liverpool's Lime Street station. My plans for the day centred on the Wirral peninsular, so I needed to transfer into the underground station for a Merseyrail service to take me to the coastal town of West Kirby. In contrast to yesterday, the weather today has been mainly overcast, and with a brisk, cold wind blowing for most of the day. The beach on the Dee estuary at West Kirby was therefore somewhat inhospitable! On a summer's day I'm confident that the vast sandy stretch would be packed with sun worshipers, but a late morning in January proved otherwise! I stayed in West Kirby for lunch at the Dee Hotel before heading back off on the train to the other railway terminus on the Wirral, that of New Brighton, situated at the mouth of the River Mersey. New Brighton is a larger town than West Kirby, with more to offer the seaside visitor, though it all looks rather rundown during mid winter. I visited the Wirral's top ale house, the Clarence Hotel whilst in town before having a walk along the esplanade and taken a couple of photos across the river. Departure from New Brighton took me a short distance back to North Birkenhead, then to the railway junction at Bidston, where I had a 30 minute wait for a Northern Trains service down the length of the Borderlands Line to the Welsh town of Wrexham. I shall make no secret of the fact that I dislike Wrexham indeed, but it was the best route to take in order to reach Chester, so I therefore endured a brief visit before catching the 17:02 back into England for a short break back in the Cheshire city. Here I needed to head back onto the Wirral, this time on the other line which connects Chester with Port Sunlight and Birkenhead Central before diving under the River Mersey and into Liverpool City Centre. I decided to end my week's travels with a stopover in Liverpool - the UK's self-proclaimed Real Ale Pub capital - a boast which I shall not dispute. My first port of call was the magnificent Philharmonic on Hope Street - possibly the most elaborate pub interior in all the land. Even the gents' toilet has a seperate preservation order! I enjoyed a superb pint of Cains Bitter whilst browsing through Liverpool CAMRA's excellent magazine. From here I took the short walk to the Everyman Bistro, located below the theatre of the same name, opposite the city's Metropolitan Cathedral. My final port of call was the Head Of Steam within Lime Street station, for a pint of strong ale before making my way to platform 5 for the 20:22 TransPennine Express service bound for York, which would deliver me back to Manchester and to base. And so concludes another interesting week on the metals. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
158 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
1288 Miles |
| DAY EIGHT: 14th January 2006 | |
| This morning I was able to spend a little longer in bed, as I was in no hurry to get anywhere - the only stipulation being that I vacated the apartment by 10am. It had been an enjoyable four nights and the accommodation was superb. A possibe base for future visits to Manchester? The 10:15 TransPennine Express service took me to Manchester Airport, arriving roughly 25 minutes later. As my flight wasn't due to depart until 14:20 it meant that I was in for a long wait. Fotunately I was able to check in immediately and relieve myself of my baggage before find a quiet corner in the departure lounge, which overlooked the apron area and provided views of the arriving aircraft. I killed some time by preparing some new content for the sister website and the time went fairly quickly. My aircraft arrived on the stand on schedule - a British Midland Airbus A319 - and we boarded around fifteen minutes before departure. I was amazed to find that the aircraft was at least two thirds empty and I was the only person sat in the third row! The weather in Manchester was bright and sunny and I had a great opportunity to videotape the departure from my window seat, just forward of the port engine. The forty minute flight was perfect, although the increased cloud cover as we headed further south meant that further video footage was not possible until we descending out of it on our final approach - the first landmark to emerge from the gloom being Twickenham Stadium, presently undergoing redevelopment of the South Stand. In stark contrast to the weather in the north west, London was overcast and wet - a heavy drizzle falling as we taxyed to the stand. The subsequent route home involved a bus connection to Feltham Station, where I boarded a service to Clapham Junction. As I type this I am currently aboard a South West Trains Class 444 unit on a diversionery route back to my local station at Havant, Hampshire. And so concludes a varied week on the metals, having travelled almost 1400 miles by rail over the eight days. The next tour kicks off in less than three months, when I head to the opposite end of the country - to the south western county of Cornwall. |
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Today's Rail Mileage: |
85 Miles |
Cumulative Rail Mileage: |
1373 Miles |
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