Tag: Peterborough

50th Birthday Holiday 15: Homeward Bound

An account in three parts of the return journey from the far west of Scotland to my home in eastern England,, by way of a conclusion to my series about my holiday around my 50th birthday.

Welcome to the final instalment in my series about my holiday in the far west of Scotland around my 50th birthday. The previous post dealt with the birthday meal, which was the last significant event of the holiday itself. This post looks at the journey home.

ACHNOSNICH TO CRIANLARICH

To combat the perils of Sunday travelling (necessitated by my birthday itself falling on a Saturday this year) I had limited the train part of my journey to Crianlarich, a junction station where the routes from Oban and Mallaig meet on their way into Glasgow, although I could have got significantly closer to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula had I trusted the Mallaig branch to be running. Thus for the first part of the journey I would be travelling in my parents car, sharing the back seat with my bags. We had decided that we should aim to be away by 9AM, to ensure getting to Crianlarich in good time. I did not have a booked seat on either this train or the connecting service from Glasgow to Edinburgh, but I did have a booked seat on the train from Edinburgh to Peterborough, and to make that I had to make both previous trains. We had a smooth journey to Crianlarich, though the sight of a crowd of people outside the station caused a bit of worry. It turned out that they were waiting for a replacement bus as a train heading towards Oban had malfunctioned and had to be pulled from service. There was thankfully no hint of trouble affecting services heading into Glasgow. Because of the role Crianlarich plays in this section of the railway the arrival of the service coming in from Oban did not end the wait – we still had to wait for the service from Mallaig to arrive and be coupled to the other for the onward run to Glasgow.

Here are my photos from Achosnich up to and including the platform at Crianlarich Station…

CRIANLARICH TO EDINBURGH

The run from Crianlarich to Glasgow was smooth but left me only a few minutes to make the change of trains at Glasgow Queen Street. The run on to Edinburgh was also smooth, and at Edinburgh Waverley I had the luxury of time. Owing to the station cafe at Crianlarich being closed and there being no other opportunities en route it was not until Waverley, around about 4:30PM, that I had the opportunity to get food. Safely ensconced in my booked seat for the long, though fast, run to Peterborough, and thus knowing that I would be home that night, I phoned my parents to let them know that all was going to be OK.

Here are my photographs for this section of the journey:

EDINBURGH TO HOME

The Edinburgh to Peterborough run was smooth, though a trifle crowded. Just south of York I visited the buffet car for further sustenance. Owing to the fact that Sunday night train and bus services overlapped very poorly I was making the journey on from Peterborough by train on this occasion, which meant a change at Ely. Fortunately there were no issues at any stage, and it would have been about 11:15PM, somewhat more than 14 hours after setting off from Achosnich, that I got back to my home in North Lynn (the train to Lynn arrived there at about 10:50, but when tired and carrying holiday baggage the walk from the station to North Lynn is not as insignificant as I generally consider it).

Here are my photos from Edinburgh to home…

50th Birthday Holiday 1: The First Stage

An account of a problematic start to this year’s Scottish holdiay, courtesy of LNER. Also a photo gallery of pictures all taken at various stages of the journey.

I am now ensconced in a tiny hamlet named Achosnich in the far west of the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, which is itself the westernmost past of mainland Britain, where I and my parents are having a holiday around my 50th birthday. The day itself is Saturday, for which I have already scheduled a small post which will come out as near as can be scheduled precisely 50 years after my birth. This post would normally have been entitled ‘Getting There’, but as will become clear this process has been somewhat less straightforward than it should have been.

THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN…

Up until about 11:30AM yesterday, for all that the day of my birthday had meant a Sunday to Sunday holiday booking and thus travel and the most unreliable day for using public transport, I was feeling pleased with how things were progressing. I had booked from Peterborough to Crianlarich, the closest place to our final destination that I could sensibly book to, and to guard against choppy waters in respect of the opening leg of the journey had opted for the safe option of the 9:25 bus from Lynn to Peterborough, rather than the 10:25 which would have had to run very late to get me in trouble, or to not run altogether. A clear run on the bus saw at Peterborough Station with comfortably over an hour until the train on which I was booked was due, so I purchased some light refreshments and killed time in the station cafeteria, before checking the departure information screen, still with masses of time to spare…

…GANG AFT AGLEY

…it was that look at the departure information screen that blew my travel plans sky high. There in big red lettering against the 12:18 to Edinburgh Waverley was the dread word “CANCELLED”, along with a perfunctory line about a faulty train. Fortunately my parents were not by the point irretrievably committed, and we were able to arrange for me to get the 13:18 to Edinburgh, on which I had established that my ticket would still be valid, since the cancellation was entirely the fault of LNER, and they would pick me up there and we would go together in their car to be a place they had booked that was between Edinburgh and our final destination. There were a few problems around Edinburgh, but we got to where we were staying overnight in time for latish supper. The journey to Edinburgh, save for it being a crowded train (Sunday is a light travelling day, but a combination of a cancelled train and the fact that Sunderland had won a play off final and with it promotion to the Premiership on the Saturday meant that space was at a premium) to the extent that I did not get a seat until Newark Northgate. However, by the time of the stretch between York and Edinburgh, which is where all the scenic stuff is I was not merely seated, I was in a window seat, albeit facing against the direction of travel.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here is my photo gallery…

One of the reasons I quite like starting journeys to a holiday destination with the bus trip to Peterborough is that the crossing of the Great Ouse feels like the beginning of the holiday, since save for WNAG committee meetings pretty much all my daily life happens east of that river.
After that the only place on the way to Peterborough that really offers photo ops is Wisbech, self styled “Capital of the Fenlands”.
Peterborough
York station
This page and others like it come from a book that was one of the purchases I made with my birthday present from my friends at WNAG
Darlington, the joint oldest passenger station in the world (the Stockton and Darlington route carried its first passengers in 1825, before when railways had been freight only).
Durham is dominated by two massive buildings, this one…
…and this one.
Newcastle is a city of bridges.
A distant shot of a tram near Newcastle.
A close crop showing only the tram and immediate surround.
This is the town served by Alnmouth station, though the station itself is a tiny bit inland from the town.
This long viaduct is in Berwick Upon Tweed, and it links England and Scotland.
The Tweed will never rival the Tyne for bridges, but these are quite impressive.
Is it possible to shoot a moving target when you yourself are in motion (and at some speed)? Yes, and this is defintive proof (but successes like this are rare).
This is the clock at Edinburgh Waverley station.
This establishment (see also previous picture) is directly opposite the Market Street exit from Waverley Station.
From here on in the pictures were all taken from the back seat (non-drivers side) of my parents car.

Comrie 2024 – Wrap Up

Concluding my account of my Scottish holiday with the return journey.

This will be the final post in my series about my Scottish holiday (28-31 May inclusive. I will briefly mention the birthday festivities which took place a day early – the day itself (May 31) was to be a day of travelling home, before covering the return journey.

THE BIRTHDAY MEAL

One of the shops Comrie possesses is a butcher, and the centrepiece of the meal was three large rib eye steaks purchased from that establishment. We also had Jersey Royals and locally grown asparagus, while there were locally grown raspberries for pudding. There was sparkling wine before the meal, and still wine with it.

THE RETURN JOURNEY

I was due to leave Perth at 11:15AM on May 31st, a time which was tailored to the fact that we had to be out of the building in Comrie by 10 at the latest – it was late enough not hurry our departure and early enough that the wait at Perth station would not be too long. This train was running a Perth to Edinburgh route and stopped at a number of places. There were some fine views, although I had put myself on the less good side of the train. I was worrying at one point as it ran late, and indeed I had only eight minutes to make the connection at Edinburgh, but I was never actually in any danger of missing that connection. The train from Edinburgh to Peterborough ran smoothly, though my reserved seat was on the less good side of the train for photography. At Peterborough I had a wait of about 20 minutes for the bus to King’s Lynn. This part of the journey also ran smoothly, and I arrived at the bus station a little before 6:40PM, and was home just before 7PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my photographs from the return journey..,

The train for the Perth-Edinburgh leg of the journey.

Lake District 2023 18: Getting Home

The final post in my series about my holiday in the Lake District, detailing the journey home.

Welcome to the final post in my series about my holiday in the Lake District. In it I talk about my journey back to King’s Lynn.

A MULTI-MODAL JOURNEY

Thursday was the only day on which I could travel home – the next non-strike day was the following Tuesday by when I was due back at work. I had been warned by thetrainline.com of trouble on the Ely-King’s Lynn portion of the journey – they had wanted to me to book a whole new journey, but I knew better – so long as I could get as far as Peterborough I could then get a bus to King’s Lynn, and there is no difference in the time taken to walk from the bus station to my home and that from the train station. Thus I was prepared for a journey using three modes of wheeled transport plus walking.

THE JOURNEY

My parents gave me a lift from Ambleside to Oxenholme the Lake District, getting me there well before my train was due. The train arrived five minutes late, which is early by Avanti’s usual standards. The train was a little crowded, but I had a reserved seat, and it was otherwise uneventful.

At Preston I had to change to another Avanti service, as the one I was on ran non-stop between Warrington and London, and my second change was at Birmingham New Street. This train was also fairly crowded.

At Birmingham New Street I boarded a service bound ultimately for Norwich. This train ran exactly according to schedule, and it turned out that I had just under a 20 minute wait at Peterborough for the bus to King’s Lynn.

ExCel proved to among the bus routes on which no single journey costs more than £2, a substantial saving on previous fares on that route (Lynx, whose buses I use to get to and from work are not as yet part of this scheme). Arriving at King’s Lynn bus station, as unappealing as that location is, was something of a relief – I knew for certain at that point that last possibility of trouble was behind me, which given the situation in which I made that journey was no small thing.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my pictures from this day…

Crossing the Great Ouse by bus, the moment I regard as the end of the holiday.
You will be seeing more of this swan family in posts to come, although the eight cygnets here have been reduced in number to six.

Scotland 2022: Homeward Bound

Concluding my account of my Scottish holiday with a look at the journey home.

Welcome to the final post in my series on my Scottish holiday. This one deals with my return to King’s Lynn.

A LATE CHANGE OF PLANS

On the Friday evening after getting back from the visit to Eigg I picked up an email warning me that the train I was supposed to be travelling on from Fort William to Glasgow had been cancelled. I was able to establish that I could get back on track by taking a train from Crianlarich (where the Oban and Mallaig lines diverge), but it still meant that I missed the most scenic part of the train journey. It also meant an earlier start to the day.

CRIANLARICH – EDINBURGH

Barring a delay getting into Glasgow, which is was of no relevance given how far ahead of schedule I was due to having had to alter my travel plans there were no hitches on this section of the journey, and I arrived in Edinburgh still miles ahead of schedule…

EDINBURGH TO PETERBOROUGH

I opted to spend time waiting at Waverley station and travel on the train on which I had a booked seat rather than take my chances on earlier train, a decision that although it did not work out for me I still regard as having been the correct one. Unfortunately, the last London bound train before the one I was booked on was cancelled due to someone running about on the tracks, which meant that the train on which I was booked had to take two trainloads worth of passengers. I am cautious about long distance trains and always look to board early, which was a lucky decision on this occasion – I was seated in the seat that was technically reserved to me well in advance of departure time, which was just as well, as an onboard computer malfunction meant that the only way a reservation could actually be enforced was in the way that I had done so – by actually being sat in the seat. The addition of an extra unscheduled stop at Berwick on Tweed, and a couple of other minor delays had me briefly worried about my onward connection at Peterborough, but we actually got to Peterborough 15 minutes before my next train was due to depart, and not even the shocking organization of that station (it is not easy to find general departure information there) could make me miss that train – I was safely seated comfortably ahead of departure time.

PETERBOROUGH TO KING’S LYNN

The train from Peterborough arrived at Ely, my last change point, bang on schedule, and there was never a chance of me missing the train on to King’s Lynn. That train also ran to schedule, and I arrived in King’s Lynn just after 10:30PM. I then walked home, and was unpacked by 11:00PM.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Here are my pictures from this eventful day:

Scotland 2022 Part 1: A More Adventurous Than Expected Journey

I am on holiday in Scotland for a week, staying in a place called Acharacle, a small town on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the westernmost part of mainland Britain. The cottage (actually a glorified caravan which I would be prepared to bet was moved to its current site on the back of a lorry) has a decent wifi connection, so I will to be able to at least some posting while I am here. This post deals with my travels and travails getting here yesterday.

A ROUTE OF MANY CHANGES

The plan was that I would travel from King’s Lynn to Fort William, where my parents would collect me. This is not the most straightforward of journeys and the ticket I booked involved four changes – King’s Lynn to Ely, Ely to Peterborough, Peterborough to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Glasgow, Glasgow to Fort William, and almost exactly 12 hours travel for the public transport leg of the journey. This would have been fine, but as you will see there was a rather major hitch.

A SMOOTH START

I got to King’s Lynn station in very good time for my train (indeed had I really hustled my way through the station I could have been on the earlier train, but decided there was little point). The train reached Ely very promptly, and I had the good fortune to get a quick onward connection to Peterborough (I accepted this piece of good fortune because although it meant more waiting at Peterborough for a train I had to be on, Peterborough like the majority of railway stations is less exposed than Ely). I found my seat on the train to Edinburgh without undue fuss, and enjoyed some excellent views between Newcastle and Edinburgh. Waverley proved not too difficult to negotiate and I was at the platform for my train to Glasgow in very good time.

The run to Glasgow was also smooth, and the train arrived at Glasgow Queen Street (low level) bang on schedule at 6:00, which in theory meant I had 23 minutes to get upstairs to the main station and find the platform for my train to Fort William. Unfortunately this was the cue for…

NIGHTMARE ON QUEEN STREET

I scanned the information screens for details of my train (on which I had a pre-booked seat – this leg of the journey was supposed to last three and three quarter hours) and found nothing. I sought assistance as departure time drew closer with no evidence of said train in site, only to discover that the service had been cancelled with no notification. After using my mobile phone to tell my parents about the problem I contacted my sister to see if she could help me find somewhere to stay overnight in Glasgow. As the evening wore on it became clear that that was not an option, and we settled on a taxi ride to Fort William station and a pick up from there by the parents. The taxi arrived in Fort William just after 11PM, and it still was not fully dark. The driver’s card reader failed to function due to how far we were from Glasgow, but my parents and I had enough cash between us to cover the fare (and every intention of getting the money back from Scotrail, the cause of the problem) and we settled up and set off for Acharacle. It was nearer one o’clock than 12 by the time we got there, meaning that I had been travelling for some 15 hours, with the only serious time spent other than on the move being the very antithesis of restful, so unsurprisingly I was exceedingly tired. The taxi windows were not big enough for taking photographs through, so in addition to everything else I was deprived of pictures of the most scenic part of the whole journey.

PHOTOGRAPHS

I do still have some photographs, some from the walk to the station and some from the most scenic sections of the parts of the train journey that actually happened…

An account of an adventurous journey that courtesy of Scotrail became a trifle too adventurous for comfort.
The glorious viaduct that crosses the Tweed
This shows the environs of Acharacle

Scotland – The Last Post: Inverness to Peterborough

The final post in the series about my holiday in scenic Scotland.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this concluding post in my series about a Scottish holiday. In this post we deal with the last stages of my journey home. 

AVIEMORE AND THE CAIRNGORMS

Aviemore is the first station the train calls at on its way out of Inverness towards Edinburgh, and also marks one edge of The Cairngorms national park. 

152015211522152315241527152815291530153115321534153615371538153915401541154215431544Cairngorms sign

DALWHINNIE TO BLAIR ATHOLL

The next stage of the route takes us to Blair Atholl.

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BLAIR ATHOLL TO MARKINCH

Markinch is situated two miles from Glenrothes town centre, a fact that is advertised on the platforms. 

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MARKINCH TO EDINBURGH

The train arrived at Edinburgh so promptly that had it been allowed by my ticket I would have had time to get the 13:30 to London instead of the 14:00. As it was I was glad to be able to take things a bit easy at this interchange, the corresponding one on my journey up having been a little close for comfort.

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THE CLOSING STAGES

I located my seat on the express train that would carry me to Peterborough and it was in a designated quiet coach. Unfortunately there was a large family who had been assigned seats in that coach and who did not really understand quietness, so it was not as relaxing a segment of the journey as it should have been. A minor frustration at Peterborough when I stepped out of the station exit just as an X1 was heading off towards King’s Lynn. This half-hour delay notwithstanding I got home dead on 8PM. 

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Scotland – Getting There

Post 2 in my Scottish holiday series (there will be more later today). This post describes the journey there.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the second post in my series about my holiday in Scotland. This one focusses on the first day, when I travelled from King’s Lynn to Kyle of Lochalsh and then walked across the bridge to Isle of Skye, where I stayed the night at Saucy Mary’s Lodge. 

THE FIRST LEG OF THE JOURNEY-
KING’S LYNN TO PETERBOROUGH

With my envisaged train for the next leg of the journey leaving Peterborough at 9:46 and the bus journey reckoned at 1 hour 20 minutes or thereabouts I decided that prudence dictated being on the 7:34 rather than the 8:04. The journey ran fairly smoothly and I arrived at Peterborough Train Station at just after nine o’clock. 

PETERBOROUGH TO EDINBURGH 

The 0:946 to Edinburgh Waverley, scheduled to get there at 13:20 arrived in time and was not absolutely packed, although it is clearly a popular service. I got a window seat in a designated quiet coach (both parts of which represent significant bonuses to me – the latter even more than the former). This was the start of the portion of the journey that is not so familiar to me, and also therefore represented the point at which the camera got pressed into service…

Spire
Taking photos through the windows of moving vehicles can be frustrating (and all bar a few taken when the train was at rest were taken thus)

ChurchVillage viewed from trainView from Virgin Train 1Wind TurbinesP1000114ViewCooling Towers

York Model Railway
On the approach to York, the first stop after Peterborough

York Model Railway2York Model Railway3Church2P1000125Approaching YorkYorkYork2York3York4York5Old Train

Darlington1
At Darlington, one terminus of the world’s first passenger carrying railway, the Stockton & Darlington.

Darlington2Darlington3Stately homeVillage2Road BridgeBridge and riverViewfrombridge1Riverview1Riverview2Riverview3Newcastle buildingNewcastle1Newcastle2Newcastle4Church, NewcastleChurch, Newcastle2River TyneRiver Tyne4River Tyne 4

North Sea 1
A first glimpse of the sea just north of Newcastle

North Sea2North Sea 3North Sea 5North Sea 6North Sea 7Wind TurbineNorth Sea 8North Sea 9North Sea 10North Sea 11Lighthouse, near Scottish border

Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley

EDINBURGH TO INVERNESS

A slightly late arrival at Edinburgh meant that I had to move fairly fast to make the change to the train to Inverness. A combination of the fact that some idiot at Scotrail (part of Abellio, the profit-making subsidiary of the Dutch state railway company) had deemed three carriages sufficient for this train and the heat of the day made this leg of the journey like travelling in an oven on wheels. However, neither of these factors kept me from taking photographs…

Edinburgh AirportEdinburgh Airport 2Bridge1Bridge2Bridge3Bridge4Bridge5Bridge6Bridge7Bridge8Scottish VillageScottish FactoryChurch - ScotlandCowsRenewable EnergyRenewable Energy2RiverRiver2River3River4River5PitlochryPitlochry PlaqueRiver through treesStony RiverRiver6River7River8River9River10River11River12River13River14River15River16River17River18River19River20River21CottagesRiver22Scottish TownScottish Town2

INVERNESS TO KYLE OF LOCHALSH

Arriving at Inverness over half an  hour late I then discovered that the train I had expected to catch to Kyle of Lochalsh was being replaced by a bus service. There were two different buses, and there was some confusion of who should go on which, but we set off at the appropriate time. I continued to ply my camera…

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My first sight of the Skye Bridge, and a by then very welcome sign that the journey was nearly complete. When I first travelled this way in 1994 there was no bridge, just a regular ferry crossing.

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The approach to Kyle of Lochalsh, with Kyleakin visible in the distance.

THE WALK TO SKYE

It was still pretty hot even at 8:45PM as I began the walk to Saucy Mary’s, which according to my instructions was 2.5 miles. The reason for this is that the bridge to Skye actually starts a good half-mile beyond Kyle of Lochalsh, is itself a longish crossing and then on the other side one has to go back along the Skye shore to Kyleakin which is directly opposite Kyle of Lochalsh. I arrived at Saucy Mary’s thoroughly exhausted and went straight to reception. There I was greeted with news that I had been relocated from my dorm bed to a room normally used only by staff. The reason for this was that the people who had booked the other four beds had revealed at the 11th hour, having not mentioned it while booking, that they were travelling with two babies, and the manager had decided that it was unacceptable to put me in the dorm room in that circumstance (absolutely right, and thankyou very much). 

Booking a Trip to Scotland: British Public Transport Daftness Exposed

A combination of an account of the booking of train tickets for a trip to Scotland and an expose of the sheer craziness of British public transport.

INTRODUCTION

My parents have booked a house near Kyle of Lochalsh for a week which includes my birthday. As a birthday present I have been given the wherewithal to purchase train tickets for the journey, which happens to feature one of the most scenic routes anywhere in Britain. To set the scene for the rest of this post and give you a little test here is a photograph of my railway tickets for the journey:

tickets
Can you see what it is about these tickets that even before I go any further reveals an element of daftness in British Public Transport?

BOOKING THE JOURNEY

Those of you who follow this blog with due care and attention will be aware that for some years I have been resident in King’s Lynn for some years, and had I moved I would certainly have mentioned it here. Why then is the ticket above booked as a return from Peterborough to Kyle of Lochalsh and not from King’s Lynn? 

The following screenshots will expose the reason for this and the utter craziness and illogic of pricing on British public transport.

KL-Ky
Note the difference in price between this ticket and the one from Peterborough (almost £60!!)

Peterborugh-Kyle
Given the immense price difference, the booking from Peterborough was bound to leave my up on the transaction (as you will see after these pictures in point of fact to the tune of some £50)

Outbound
My outbound journey.

return
The suggested return journey (don;t worry parents, I can also get back leaving on the later train from Kyle, at 12:08 and arriving home around about midnight)

KL - Peterborough
Even were I to rely on train for the King’s Lynn to Peterborough and back section of the journey two anytime day singles (the max I would have had to pay), would have set me back a mere £24.60 as opposed to price difference on the all-in-one of almost £60, but….

I will actually be travelling the King’s Lynn – Peterborough and its reverse route on the First Eastern Counties X1 bus, which will set me back £6.40 each way or £12.80 in total, making a saving of approximately £47 as compared to the all-in-one booking from King’s Lynn. 

You might think that having cut through all the BS re fares and booked the tickets the daftness would end there, but you would be wrong…

COLLECTING THE TICKETS

The booking accomplished yesterday evening, this morning I set about collecting the tickets. First, as a precaution since I would be needing to keep them safe for a long while I searched out a receptacle of suitable size, shape and robustness to put them in, locating this pretty swiftly:

ticketholder

Having thus equipped myself it was off to the library to print off some booking information that I was going to need to collect the tickets.

library

Then with the information printed it was on to the station to pick up the tickets. This is usually done via ticket machines, of which King’s Lynn station has two. Here are pictures of both machines, showing precisely why I could not use them…

DSCN5103machineoo

I fully understand the desirability and indeed the need to replace old ticket machines with new, but why take both out of service simultaneously? Why not take one out of service and keep the other operational until the first new machine is ready, then take the second old machine out of service and replace it, thereby keeping at least one machine operational the whole time?

Fortunately, there were staff present, and I was able to get my tickets printed at a ticket office. While waiting I bagged an image of the station plaque:

plaque

Although the process took longer and entailed more frustration than I had anticipated, I have the tickets and other info safely stowed, and am looking forward to my visit to the wilds of northwest Scotland. It will not be my first visit to Kyle of Lochalsh – back in 1993, before the opening of a swanky new toll-bridge and consequent removal of ferry services to maximise said bridge’s profits, I passed through Kyle en route to the Isle of Skye, returning to the mainland by way of the southern ferry crossing to Mallaig. 

I conclude this post with two more photos, one showing all the printed material I have for the journey, and the other ending our journey back where we started (a lot more straightforward in a blog than in a journey on British public transport!)

traveldocstickets