Glasgow Central – Crewe – Acton Bridge

I skipped breakfast at the hotel this morning to make an early start south. Instead I called in at M&S at Glasgow Central and picked up one of their mixed fruit bowls.

The 8am to Euston already had a large queue at the gate when I arrived. I had a reserved seat so could stand well back from dash for free seats when the gate opened.

The train wasn’t actually all that busy. There are quite a few morning services out of Glasgow, and this one will collect most of its passengers after I’ve got off, as it runs via Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry.

The first stop was Carlisle. Surprisingly quiet for a Monday morning, I thought, and the same applied at Lancaster. I went to the buffet and got a cup of tea, and there was no queue. All very civilised for a Monday morning.

Leaving the service at Crewe, I headed to platform 12, which is normally when I board excursions, but on this occasion was being used for the local service to Liverpool, via Acton Bridge. I had of course passed through Acton Bridge on my way south, but there are no local services to there from West Coast Main Line any further north.

I stepped off the last train of the trip, three minutes late, at 11:52.

The trip back to Iris was slightly longer than it would usually be, having left her at Saltersford Lock. I left the car at the top of the hill in Barnton and walked down the path, first alongside the Trent & Mersey and finally the Weaver, a walk of a little under a mile.

Martin wasn’t around to say hello and thanks to, for keeping an eye on her. It’s lovely to have our little community on the river and not to have to worry about the boat while I’m away.

This has been a monster of a trip, easily the longest both in duration and distance covered, with 63 trains, including assorted local transport systems. There were also two ferries, a paddle steamer, four coaches, three buses, two cars and two flights. As well as England I passed through Wales, France, Switzerland, France again, Italy, Switzerland and France again, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Scotland, in my 18 days away.

It’s perhaps not a surprise that I struggled to keep up with this diary. By the fifth day in I was running two behind and after the second Paris visit I didn’t complete another entry for a week. I did however post the photos into drafts of the diary after each day, to remind me what I was going to say.

By the time I got back home, I’d written up as far as arriving in Venice and since I’ve got home I’ve been adding odd days here and there as time and the inclination took me. I’m posting this last entry on 13th August, having had a burst of energy to finish it off over the last week.

I’m going away again in a fortnight. I’ve not yet decided where or indeed whether it will be an Interrail trip, a flight or a mix of both. The only fixed point is that I’ll be going to a concert in Verona on my birthday, but maybe more of that in a later post, we will see..