The Things You Find When You Look Through Old Photos
I’ve just bought myself a cloud and I’m putting all the family pictures on DVD up there, so that my son and certain old friends can see them.
I found this photo of a sign on the outskirts of Leicester or Derby.
The Things You Find When You Look Through Old Photos
I wonder what happened to Bubbles and Babes?
Did the bottom fall out of the market?
The picture was taken around 2006 or so!
A Crazy Day!
Yesterday was a day I won’t forget.
As I said in this post, I was having a lot of frustrations with East Midland Trains, and decided to come back by Virgin from Birmingham.
I also decided to make a day of travelling, as I had someone with an idea, to meet in Manchester, so I decided to go via Preston and then come in to Manchester from the north west.
I left on the 08:30 from Euston and my main reason to go to the city was to see Preston bus station and the city’s buses. Although, I did walk around the market and the shopping area, visit the Preston Martyrs Memorial, looking unsuccessfully for a cup of coffee. It is not a city centre of which to be proud, as I mused here.
I left around 13:00 and took trains 2 and 3 of the day to get to Eccles via Huyton.
Arriving in Eccles, I bought a day travelcard for the trams and then explored some of the new lines, before going back Carluccio’s in Piccadilly station to have my meeting.
I then took trains 4 and 5, from Manchester to Derby after my meeting, saw the match which was a crazy four-all draw and then came back into Euston at 01:30 this morning, using trains 6 and 7.
I’m a bit tired this morning, but it was a good day and it could have been much worse if Ipswich had lost. It would also have been a lot more expensive, if I’d decided to partake of some of dubious and very expensive hospitality of East Midlands Trains.
I must say this for Travelodge, who when I decided to not use the room I had booked, allowed me to painlessly cancel it with no charge over the Internet.
A Crazy Football Match For A Crazy Day
I was running a few minutes late after my meeting in Manchester Piccadilly and eventually, I got on a train to Sheffield. It was the usual overcrowded TransPennine Express going to somewhere like Scunthorpe. Hopefully, when they finally sort out and electrify the cross-Pennine routes and Piccadilly station, you’ll always go to the same platform to get trains to places like Sheffield and Liverpool. at least though there were plenty of staff about and the train I needed was not in the platforms at the back of the station.
But I didn’t get to Sheffield in time to get a train to Derby that would get me to Pride Park in time for the start of the match. Nothing was late except my start time at Piccadilly and I caught a Cross Country train that would get in to Derby at 19:51. However, someone decided to try a spot of attempted murder on the train and when we got to Derby, the Police locked us all in for a few minutes until they made an arrest.
So I decided to take a taxi. If you know the area, walking to Pride Park from the station is not that far. But the taxi driver gave me a tour of the city and then dropped me at the point of the ground furthest from the Away Supporters End. By the time I got into the ground, Ipswich were leading by three goals to one.
We were all ecstatic at half time and wondered how many it will be. But in the Ipswich were almost lucky to hang on for a four-all draw.
I then walked back to the station to get the 22:02 train to Birmingham for the Virgin train home.
But it was running thirty minutes late. Luckily there was another train and I piled in to try to get to Birmingham in time.
I made the Virgin train, by the skin of my teeth and it was a few minutes early in London at 01:15.
But why did I need all that hassle to get back, when most train companies, but not East Midland Trains, provide a train back to the capital after a match.
Are East Midlands Trains Serious About Running Trains?
Although, I’m an Ipswich Town supporter, I live in London, a short bus or Underground ride from Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations. So as this week, Ipswich are playing at Derby and Sheffield Wednesday, you’d think it would logical that tomorrow, I go to Derby and on Saturday I go to Sheffield from St. Pancras.
You would be wrong!
As there is no direct return train from Derby back to St. Pancras, I decided to go via Preston and Manchester to Derby, as I have things I want to see for this blog and someone to meet in Manchester. The latter solves my supper problem, as we’re meeting in Carluccio’s in Piccadilly. I can also get an excellent gluten-free breakfast on Virgin trains on the way up.
I did think about staying overnight in the Travelodge by Derby station, but after trying to buy a ticket to get back on Wednesday morning, I decided that the prices on offer, were just too steep. Other similar distance journeys, early in the morning to London, were certainly cheaper than those on offer from East Midland Trains.
So I decided to get home via Birmingham and Virgin Trains for £22.00 after the match. And that includes First Class from Birmingham to Euston. But I do get into London at 01:30 on Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, I’m going to Sheffield via Lincoln, as I have an old friend I want to see and can get a train from Lincoln to Sheffield. It’s not as roundabout as you’d think.
But I’ve done this before, as last time, I went to Sheffield Wednesday, I went via Doncaster, as the First Class on East Coast, is so much better than that on East Midland Trains.
Is Derby Reading’s Little Sibling?
I was at Derby on Saturday and took these pictures of the station and a couple of the old engines hanging about.
The concept of the station is very similar to that of Reading, that I visited earlier in the week. The bridge is narrower and there are no escalators to the platforms.
As Derby pre-dates Reading by a few years, you could argue that Reading is Derby’s bigger sibling.
But it’s a good design nonetheless! Like Reading it has good facilities on the wide platforms.
The big diesel is 37425, which is a Class 37 and although owned by the Class 37 Locomotive Group, it appears to be pulling some form of engineering train for Network Rail.
The other diesel engine is a Class 57. Does DCR stand for Derby College something?, as the college is behind the engine.
It Was Blue Skies, Sun And An Unlikely Win At Pride Park
The train got to Derby station in just over an hour and a half and then it was a short walk to the ground.
Walking To Pride Park
You walk through, an office park to the ground and it is all pretty easy going. Although a map or two and some more finger posts would be a good idea. For the first time this year, we saw a ground bathed in sunshine.
Pride Park In The Sun
Derby County had the bulk of the play by 57% to 43%, but despite this, Ipswich won 1-0.
The goal incidentally was the sort you read about in stories, but see rarely in real life. In the last minute of added time, at the end of the match, Carlos Edwards received the ball in the centre circle and runs towards the Derby goal, before unleashing an unstoppable shot from twenty-five metres out.
Mick McCarthy summed up the match like this.
We burgled it. I thought I heard the sirens and I said ‘shut the doors, the police are coming!
I would add that as my ticket to get in cost me £17.50 on top of £29 to get there by train in First Class, I can’t say that my day out wasn’t good value.
The Anonymous Widower 