Welcome to the final instalment in my series about my Scottish holiday (May 30th to June 6th). The last post ended on a cliff hanger, with my train from Edinburgh arriving into York with the onward connection (on which I had a booked seat in which I had to be sitting for my ticket to be valid) looking decided iffy.
A VERY NEAR THING
By the time the train from Edinburgh pulled into York my next train was already waiting at its platform. I made it over the bridge linking the platforms as swiftly as I was able and boarded the train at the rear (Coach A) to walk along inside it to find my booked seat (in Coach H). I had made it, but it had been a near thing indeed – the train was in motion before I was even halfway from coach A to coach H. It arrived at my next change point of Grantham in accordance with the schedule.
GRANTHAM AND ONWARDS
A quick check of departure information at Grantham revealed that a)the next train I was booked on, as far as Peterborough was running to time and b)I had no need to worry about missing this connection. This meant that barring anything super calamitous I had no further worries at all, since so long as I got as far as Peterborough I had a Plan B available – there is a long distance bus route between Peterborough and Norwich, and since the company that operates this route has its depot in King’s Lynn the last services of the night tend to terminate there, and in this case there was if all else failed a service leaving Peterborough at 22:45 and arriving at King’s Lynn bang on midnight. Thus it was with feelings of relief that I proceeded to look for points of interest at Grantham Station, of which there are more than a few. Grantham is (in my book) noteworthy for three reasons: Isaac Newton, one of the greatest of all scientists, hailed from these parts; it was just south of this station that The Mallard achieved a speed of 126 miles per hour, the fastest ever attained by steam locomotion, and it is the home of the Woodland Trust. Newton does not get any coverage at Grantham Station, but the Mallard most certainly does.
The train I was booked on as far as Peterborough arrived when it was supposed to and got the Peterborough on schedule, and the next train I had to get, from Peterborough to Ely was prompt enough that I had a bit of a wait at Ely for my last connection on to King’s Lynn. There had been a major festivity taking place in Cambridge that day, so the last stage of my journey home was noisy due to homeward bound revellers. However this train ran to time as well, ending a public transport odyssey that involved seven separate trains (Arisaig to Glasgow, Glasgow to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to York, York to Grantham, Grantham to Peterborough, Peterborough to Ely and Ely to King’s Lynn) and lasted somewhat over 12 hours. The walk back to my home in North Lynn was never going to be a problem, even carrying holiday baggage, it was just before 11PM that I got home.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are the photographs from this last stage of my return journey…
aspiblog 