Is This A Surprising Omission?
With the sad passing of Sir Jimmy Savile, the UK has lost an iconic character, who gave more pleasure and did more charitable works than anyone else in recent years.
He was also well-known for his adverts for British Rail, where he promoted the iconic Inter City 125 or High Speed Diesel Train. There’s one of the adverts here.
So why has none of the nearly 200 power cars been given his name? Especially one on the London to Leeds service.
On the other hand, Sir Jimmy may have been asked and said no! Or do we not name trains, whilst people are still alive?
A Linguistically Correct Train
This train to Manchester from deepest Wales shows the Welsh form and the English form of Manchester on the destination board.
A Bilingual Train at Manchester
I’m not going to say it’s a waste of money to make the train bilingual, but how many people in Wales know the Welsh for Manchester?
I’ve always believed that those who live in a town or city, should chose its name and I’ve posted as such before in this blog.
You have to wonder how far this could go. How about using the Essex dialect form for Southend for trains out of Liverpool Street. Or would Saafend be too confusing?
Nottingham’s Pedestrian Unfriendly Streets
This picture is typical of many I could have taken walking between Nottingham station and the two football grounds and the cricket ground.
A Typical Nottingham Pedestrian Route
It would appear that little has been done to create a safe walking route to and from the city centre for pedestrians. I couldn’t find a bus either.
When I got to the station, I asked a policeman as to his views on walking to the grounds. I won’t repeat his answer here.
To be fair, there is a map in the station. But it doesn’t show the football and cricket grounds in the list of important places!
Let’s hope when they finish the development of the station and the trams, that it will make the journey easier!
Or they could perhaps use the Nottingham Canal as a walking route, as it goes roughly the right way.
What’s This Train doing At Norwich Station?
I saw this train at Norwich station, apparently working a service to Sheringham.
A Lost Welsh Train at Norwich
So have they moved Sheringham to the other side of Offa’s Dyke or have they run out of paint. You’d think as the train is almost in Ipswich colours, they would have repainted it as quick as possible.
Norwich Does Have Good Maps
I found this map of Norwich outside the station at Norwich.
An Understandable Map at Norwich
Even the most stupid, who could read a map would be able to find Carrow Road on this map, as it’s marked with as a black and white football.
Where are maps like this in places like Blackpool?
A Clock in Norwich Station
I took this picture of the clock in Norwich station.
An Inaccurate Clock in Norwich Station
Nothing wrong really, except someone in the station, put it back an hour a few days too early. I never knew that people in Norwich were ahead of their time!
92 Clubs – Week 4 – 11 Clubs – 18 Trains
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
Day 22 Day 23 Day 24 Day 25 Day 26 Day 27 Day 28
This was a rather poor performance on my part, but it had got off to rather a bad start on Day 22 and I did take three days off.
Here are the awards.
Heroes of the Week
These have to be Peter, who at 84, guided me across Manchester to Oldham and the unknown driver of the 14:06 out of Paddington to Penzance, that I took to Plymouth.
Most Surprising Stadium of the Week
It has to be Port Vale, as it shows how a small club can create a stadium of whom any supporter can be proud.
Best Stadium of the Week
I’d give this to Port Vale as well, if it wasn’t so difficult to get to. I might give it to Norwich, but then I can’t, can I? Both the Nottingham clubs have good stadia, which are easy to get to, but the others with the exception of Peterborough, are public transport nightmares. So I think I’ll leave the award! in a few years time or on a match day, it will probably go to Port Vale.
Best Signposted Stadium of the Week
Portsmouth virtually has its own station at Fratton and even has separate signs to the ground for Home and Away Supporters, so it wins by a country mile.
Worst Signposted Stadium of the Week
Peterborough virtually lacks signposting and as it is fairly close to the station, some signs would help. But as I said on Day 27, the stadium is very much a work-in-progress, so perhaps it will be very much better in a few years time. I think I’ll give it to Northampton, as with a bit of thought, they could probably make a nice walking route to the ground.
Dump of the Week
After a couple of near misses Manchester finally gets the rewa4rd it deserves. It is a city with bad maps, no information and a completely indecipherable bus system. Perhaps some of the billions, they are spending on the new trams could be used to make sure the buses work or that the maps are correct.
Sign of the Week
It just has to be the one at Port Vale.
Best Train of the Week
The High Speed Train to Plymouth, where I sat on on the floor.
Worst Train of the Week
The two trains to Oxford, where there was no tables in the back of the seats in front. How can I do my Sudoku?
Worst Bus of the Week
The one I took from Boundary Park to Oldham Bus Station. If you were in a wheelchair or had a baby in a buggy, you ewouldn’t have been able to use it.
This was rather a dissappointing week, in that I could have done much more. I could make the excuse of my hay fever! So I will!
92 Clubs – Day 28 – Portsmouth, Port Vale, Preston
This was an easy day, in that I took a train to Fratton after 09:30 from Waterloo to Fratton to get to Portsmouth.
Portsmouth's Fratton Park Stadium
I was back into London ion the 11:28 and was able to catch the 13:20 out of Euston to Stoke-on-Trent for Port Vale.
Vale Park is not easy to get to from the station and although the 21 bus supposedly does most of the trip, this does mean a confusing change or stopover in Hanley. So I took a taxi to the ground from there.
Inside Vale Park
The staff were very welcoming and one of them took the picture.
I tried to get the bus back to the station from Vale Park and asctually found the stop,but no bus of any sort appeared for some time. A local told me they were often like that and caused him great distress. In the end it was a 21 that appeared, but as I needed to get on I jumped ship at Hanley and got a taxi to the station, where I caught another Virgin Pendolino to Manchester Piccadilly. By now, I know the station like one of the rats, who I suspect live between the tracks, sao it was a run to catch the train to Preston. As it was a Trans Pennine Express, it was very crowded.
I’d been to Deepdale once before in the 1960s to see Spurs play, whilst I was at University and can remember walking a long way to the staidum then. So this time it was a taxi in the dark to Preston‘s ground.
Deepdale in the Dark
I got back to the station about 18:00 and as I had an Off Peak Single to Euston, it was a situation, where I just took pot luck. I had a choice of taking the Glasgow train for Euston, which was rather full or waiting fifty minutes to get on an almost empty train starting from Preston. One of the Virgin train staff advised taking the latter, but I knew that the Glasgow train would have to unload a few passengers at Wigan and Warrington, so I took the chance. By Warrington, I had a backward facing corner seat with a window view all the way to Euston. They really are the most comfortable seats on a Pendolino, where I always prefer to travel with my back to the driver.
92 Clubs – Day 27 – Oxford, Peterborough, Plymouth
If I’d chosen different trains to go to Oxford, this day could have been subtitled a day of six HSTs or Inter City 125s, but time was tight, if I was to get back to London at a reasonable hour.
Oxford, must surely be one of the most difficult stadia to get to from the town centre, even if you have a car. And if you do, you have to actually drive along the by-pass where there are queues of traffic. Of all the taxis I have taken to get to and from grounds, Oxford was by far the most expesive.
Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium
Oxford‘s stadium is just a rather anonymous pile stuck by the Science Park. I will not be sad, if I never ever go there again. It should be said, that Oxford is not noted for its wonderful traffic systems, as every time I go, it always seems to be totally gridlocked. A couple of years ago, I went there to play real tennis and walked to the court from the station. It would appear that or a bicycle is the only sane way to get about. If ever a city needed a second or parkway station it is Oxford.
Peterborough was a very different kettle of fish and it was just a short run in a High Speed Train to the city and then about 15 minutes walk.
Peterborough’s London Road Stadium
I should say that the walk could be made easier, but I suspect that as the ground is still not finished, that this will come later.
I was soon back on another HST to Kings Cross and then it was on the Circle Line to Paddington for Plymouth.
Sitting in Style on a First Great Western HST
I had been unable to get a seat online, so I just bought an Off Peak Return and made the best of what was available, as the picture shows.
I should say that it wasn’t that uncomfortable and I got a seat from Taunton, when the train started to clear. I wouldn’t like to sit like that in a Pendolino, as they certainly don’t ride like forty-year old HSTs.
It did look like it was all going to go pear-shaped, as the train had been delayed at Paddington for about fifteen minutes by a fault and this meant it had got stuck behind a stopping train along the Devon Coast. We were nearly thirty minutes late at Totnes and it was starting to look like I’d miss the 18:00 back to London. But then driver got a clear line and let the HST go, so much so that it was only twenty minutes late at Plymouth, giving me just ten minutes to get to the stadium and back.
Outside Home Park
As you can see I made it.
I did get a seat all the way back, but the train was late due to someone falling under a train at Reading West station.
But if the day did prove one thing, it was that the stopgap Intercity 125 is a superb train. But then I know that, having been through the Highlands at 90 mph.
There are plans to make sure these trains continue for a few years yet. Who’s to say that in the 2060s, they won’t be a tourist attraction in their own right, as they speed passengers to the West Country. Probably to the consternation of politicians, who can find all sorts of reasons to not use a what would be then be a nearly ninety year old train. After all, I doubt that electrifying this line to Plymouth will ever be done.
The Return Trip on a Train
Often the rerurn trip is the most difficult for anybody to book.
Tomorrow, for instance, I am visiting Norwich, the two Nottingham clubs and then returning from Manchester Piccadilly. Of late, I’ve been booking an off-peak ticket for the return journey, as I know it can be used on most trains in the evening. Usually, in comfort too, except on Virgin’s Glasgow services. So if I’m early, I don’t have to wait until some ungodly hour to get my booked train home.
But tomorrow, the return Off-Peak single from Manchester was over £40, whereas the Advance Standard Class single was just £15. But as the Advance First Class single was only seven pounds more I took that. I’ll get the diffeence back in three cups of coffee.
It seems to pay well, if you don’t follow rules and check all options.
The Anonymous Widower 