Green Bicycle Racks
These bicycle racks were outside the cathedral.
What an unusual and good way to solve the problem of bike security in a sensitive area!
The Travel Choice advertised on the stands is for Peterborough’s transport system.
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough is one of my favourite cathedrals, but it is generally underrated by tourists and often is quite empty.
Now that the square in front of the cathedral has been restored and upgraded, it must become a place more likely to be visited.
I particularly liked their little exhibition, which described the construction and history of the cathedral. They were particularly honest about relics and their collection.
Cathedral Square, Peterborough
When I was last in Peterborough, the Cathedral Square was a large building site.
It’s all finished now and is possibly one of the best central squares in East Anglia.
To Peterborough In An Inter City 125
My paternal grandmother was born in Peterborough and as it was a wet day, I thought that it might be a good place to go to the city for lunch and to take a look at the rebuilt station.
So I boarded one of East Coast’s Inter City 125s at Kings Cross.
The train certainly doesn’t betray its age, even if it’s probably been refurbished a few times since it was built in the late 1970s.
But then after travelling by train in many of the countries of Europe recently, I would rate it, one of the most comfortable Second Class rides in Europe. If not the most comfortable!
When they write the definitive history of the first three hundred years of trains in the United Kingdom, these trains will be the only class running today, that will get their own chapter. But then the author of the book, will be able to sample a ride in one of these trains, as they will defy the odds and outlive everything else.
How To Announce Yourself
As I went through Peterborough on the train yesterday to Leeds, I noticed a couple of law firms in offices by the station. I’m reminded of a little event.
C’s chambers had a satellite office in the city and one day at this time of year, they were having a Christmas party after work. Our son, a trainee solicitor at the time, was also doing some business in the area on the same day, had a legal problem and thought he might find some help and expertise at the party. So he walked in and said.
Does anybody know how to write a writ for habeus corpus?
And that is how one of the oldest tenets in English law; habeus corpus and our son, made their presence felt at a Christmas party in the twenty-first century.
Dullingham to Nottingham
I actually left fromy my local station at Dullingham, rather than my return destination of Newmarket as it was easier to get to at 9:15 in the morning. The cost of the return ticket is the same at £27.65 from both stations, so ticketing was not a problem.
To get to Nottingham was a double change at both Cambridge and Leicester. This is one of the problems about getting trains from East Anglia to the rest of the country. Nothing is ever straightforward unless you drive to either Ely or Peterborough first and I can’t drive at present.
The second problem is that the East Anglia to Midlands and North trains are just too small. The train was very crowded all the way to Leicester from Cambridge, but luckily I had a seat by the window. After Leicester I was in one of the larger Meridean expresses to Nottingham.
Everything otherwise was fine and I arrived in Nottingham just a few minutes over three hours after I’d started my journey, which was as should have been expected.
The only problem I had, was that the station information at Leicester wasn’t up to the standard I usually find and I could have missed my connection, if I hadn’t guessed right. It probably wouldn’t have been serious, as there are quite a few trains between Leicester and Nottingham. But what if I’d been going the other way, where missing the connection would mean a sizeable wait.
I’d never been to Leicester on a train before today, which is surprising, as in the past I’ve used trains to quite a few cities in the Midlands. I sometimes wonder if I’ve got a thing about the city, as it was one of the last trips C did by train for her business. She had just finished the radiotherapy for her breast cancer and had gone there by train and she then took a train to London to see a friend sworn in as a judge. Except for the odd trip to London, I don’t think she ever went on a train again. I also remember that I’d been to see Ipswich lose at Leicester. the day before she told me, that she had breast cancer. So perhaps it is a town for me to avoid! Although they do have a Carluccio’s there now, so at least the food will be good.
How Trains Have Changed
I travelled down to Ipswich for the match against Burnley on Saturday, by changing from the East Coast train that had brought me from Edinburgh to the National Express East Anglia one that took me the rest of the way. The train was a comfortable Turbostar and I sat cosily in First Class, which is one of the perks of a Senior Railcard, as I get one third off. I had thought about sleeping, especially as Ipswich is the end of the line, but in the end I talked about football and trains to two drivers from East Midlands Trains, who were positioning back from Ely to Norwich.
It was a pleasant journey in rolling stock that is a far cry from what we used to have to endure. We all had to agree though, that according to reports some of the newer trains that cross the Pennines are a lot better and have been consistently praised for the quality of the ride.
I arrived at Ipswich on time with ninety minutes before kick off after a six hour journey from Edinburgh.
A point to note is that the Felixstowe-Ipswich-Peterborough route is being upgraded to handle more and longer container trains to and from Felixstowe, by selective dualling of the line between Felixstowe and Ipswich and also between Soham and Ely. It is estimated that this and other schemes will take almost 250,000 lorry journeys off the road. To me this is a good thing, especially as the cost is probably less than adding an extra lane to sections of the A14. But there is a downside. I was told that these heavy freight trains can damage the track and make the ride of passenger trains worse.
Peterborough Cathedral
On Monday I had to visit Peterborough and went over the cathedral.
Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough has this reputation as a rather grim overspill town, but it has a beautiful cathedral, which like several in the UK are old Abbey churches. In fact when Henry the VIII dissolved the monasteries it was the sixth richest in England. The cathedral has one of the largest mediaeval painted ceilings in Europe.
But Peterborough is also the birthplace of my paternal grandmother. She was a Spencer and her father was a builder, who according to legend build some of the city. I’ve recently met a distant Spencer cousin, whose ancestor was also a builder, who built part of Armley in Leeds.
The strange thing about Monday’s visit was that I’ve just looked up Whitsed Street, where she was born on Google and I parked the car in the next street.
The Anonymous Widower 