Category: Train

Homeward Bound – 11 April 2023

Posted on by Zogman

This is the day I always dread, and yet I look forward to being home again. It’s just the bit in between I hate the most.

We sat around after breakfast. Jamie would already be at work by now, because his working week had begun. Simonne’s would start after she dropped us off at Stowmarket station. We took one last longing look at that expanse of garden. One last photo from ’The Library’. Then we got in the car and Simonne drove us to the station. We said our goodbyes and then we waited for the first train in the chain we’d ride today.

The train, when it arrived was quite busy. Folk just like us eager to get back home after the Easter break. It wasn’t overcrowded, though, just busier than normal. There were no holdups this time, just an easy ride to Peterborough. Only a half hour wait going home. Much more doable than the hour long wait, travelling south.

This train was full, folk everywhere, including in our seats, but a gentle word from Scamp and they apologised and rose to give us our booked seats. This WAS a busy train, the busiest I’ve seen the Kings Cross to Edinburgh train. Now I understand why standard class is called “Cattle Class”. Folk were crammed in everywhere and it didn’t help that two old ladies were having a discussion in the corridor about where they could put their suitcases, while folk were trying to get to their seat. We survived, and as the guard predicted, everything quietened down by the time we got to Newcastle.

We hadn’t long to wait for our final train to Croy and then only about ten minutes until a ramshackle taxi took us home. The sun was still shining when we got home.

A cup of tea and a comfortable seat were all that was needed to dispel the memories of wafer thin cushioning in the LNER seats. It was a long journey, but a good pair of headphones and another Stella Rimmington spy story made the hours pass.

PoD went to the photo of the Old Newton garden.

Early bed tonight because I’m up and out tomorrow to Larky to get my eyes tested.

 

A much better day – 29 September 2022

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Decided to have one more try at the Samsung website.

The expression “A Dug wi’ a Burst Ba’.” springs to mind. I just couldn’t let it lie. I just tried to buy the phone this time, but it still kicked me out. Then I thought it might be the extra £100 from Jamie’s generous offer that was causing problems. With a heavy heart I removed it and tried again. Lo and Behold, it worked! DPD sent me a message this afternoon to say they would be delivering my parcel tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s the phone and not the box to return the old Huawei!

So, with a skip in my step and after a lift from Scamp, I got a train in to Glasgow to meet Alex. We got the bus out to Kelvingrove and the picture above is what we saw when we got off, PoD captured. Beautiful light on Glasgow Uni with dark glowering skies above. It only lasted for a few minutes then the light was gone, heading north to brighten somebody else’s day. We listened to the organist playing the gigantic pipe organ in the main hall of Kelvingrove Art Galleries, then we had lunch. After that Alex wanted to photograph the ceiling of the main hall, so I loaned him my wide angle lens while I wandered round the galleries. For the first time in my life I plucked up courage and asked a total stranger if I could take their photo. Thankfully, she said Yes. I never asked her name and she didn’t ask mine, but she was sketching a plaster bust in one of the galleries. Thank you, whoever you are.

After we’d covered everything in the building, we walked up to Glasgow Uni. All that good light was well gone by then, but Alex was heading for the famous Cloisters to get some slow shutter photos of folk walking around them. I did the same, but neither of us was all that successful and we left the excited ‘Freshers’ to their conducted tours and walked back down the hill to get the bus into Glasgow.

There was a bloke came on to the bus in a fancy motorised wheelchair. We were impressed at the way he could manoeuvre it into a busy bus and then reverse it into the wheelchair space. I told him as we left how impressed I was with his driving skills and he just laughed and said “Thanks for noticing!”

Another coffee in Nero and we walked down to the bus station. Alex was getting the bus home and I was heading to the station hoping that Scamp would give me a lift home from there, which she did.

Dinner tonight was Chicken Cacciatore. Delightful with a glass of red. A great end to a really good day.

Tomorrow looks like rain from start to finish!

Lunch in the Toon and a Wanderer returns – 26 September 2022

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We took the train in to Glasgow today after Scamp had run us to the station.  Just a wander around the centre of Glasgow with maybe the chance of a lunch thrown in.  Seemed like a good way to use a sunny day.  Sunny, but not all that warm, well it is nearly the end of September.  Glasgow was busy, probably partly because this is the end of September weekend which is a local holiday.  We walked down Buchanan Street and heard a bloke playing a blues on nice sounding guitar.  I gave him a few quid for his efforts.  We walked back up and found the restaurant Val had praised a few weeks ago.  It’s called Mozza and is part of a chain.  We’d been impressed with their pizzas when we’d been staying in Annette’s caravan in St Andrews last year.  Today’s pizza wasn’t a patch on the St Andrews one.  I had Italian Sausage and allegedly Italian Broccoli, but what was on my plate was cabbage, possibly Italian cabbage, but nothing like broccoli.  It was smothered in half a ton of cheese.  Scamp was smarter, she’d asked for just a little cheese and her’s looked a lot less of a mess.  It wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t all that great either.  It wasn’t as bad as Doppio Malto’s effort, but way below Paesano in my quality rating.

We went for coffee in Nero after the disappointing pizza and then headed for the train.  Just missed the train back by seconds and with 25 minutes to wait for the next one, we went for a walk round George Square and down to Cass Art to see if they had a sale on … they didn’t so we ambled back to the station and on the way I got a few shots of the big glass building that is 110 Queen Street.  I liked the round table set for a meeting.  That became PoD.

Back home and had just finished a coffee when the phone rang and it was the garage to say the Blue car was ready.  I drove the White Duke over to Stirling, noting  the two mile queue on the other carriageway, the carriageway I would have been using to drive home.  Picked up our car and found that an upgrade to the Engine Control Unit had solved the problem and an upgrade to the sat nav and radio had also been done and checked.  I haven’t tested their checks yet, I was too busy plotting a route home that would mean the wheels were turning all the time, but I think we may go for a run soon.

That was about it for the day.  Nice to have the Micra back, but I admit I almost stalled it a couple of times forgetting it wasn’t an automatic!

No plans for tomorrow yet.  Weather looks reasonable for the time of year.

 

Maybe one more good day – 6 June 2022

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We went for the messages and I posted a parcel. Those were the highlights of another sunny, warm day.

I phoned Jim Dickson’s garage first thing this morning and Scamp’s wee red car goes in to the car hospital on Thursday to have its rear box replaced. No, that’s not a euphemism, it’s the last part of the exhaust system. The bit furthest from the engine. It’s hanging on by a thread at present, so hopefully after Thursday it will be a quieter wee red car.

With that done we drove to Tesco to get the messages. Just the usual things plus a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin. While Scamp was filling the trolley, I paid for, and posted a parcel to Hazy. We piled all the messages into the boot of my car and drove off to Calders garden centre to get some compost. We were also going to get some chopped bark to act as a mulch on the plant pots. The bark forms a layer that stops the water evaporating in the warm sun we’re expecting to stay with us for months, well, weeks. Or to be more realistic, a few days. It didn’t matter, anyway, because they only had a massive bale of the stuff. We bought the compost and left the bark.

Back home and after lunch Scamp was working in the garden and I went out in the car to get some photos up on Fannyside Moor. Unfortunately my parking space had been taken over by two workies lorries because they were repairing a damaged power line. It looked as if they were going to be there all day, so I changed my destination to the Luggie, but I’d forgotten that part of the road was being resurfaced and there was a diversion. As usual with NLC there was one sign pointing left before the roadworks with a bit sign “DIVERSION”. After that, nothing. No indication of how to get where you wanted to go. No more diversion signs. They should have put up one big one that said

YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN NOW MATE!!

Finally found my way to the station car park at Greenfaulds, got parked and went for a walk along the Luggie Water. Every year at this time some trees beside the water get covered in creepy looking webs, not spider webs, but ones created by Ermine Moth caterpillars. I remember that name because when I used to fish on the Clyde and a hatch of Ermine Moths came on, the fish wouldn’t look at anything other than that particular insect. The Netherburn folk used to call them Herman Mofs. More like Herman Munster!

It wasn’t the caterpillars that got PoD, it was a quick shot of a couple of ants crawling over an unlucky Water Avens wildflower. It’s the wild version of a Geum.

The other remarkable thing was a bright red railway engine, stuck at a signal just before Greenfaulds Station. It had a nameplate that read “Christine” and a message “Hans-Georg Werner – Thank you & Good Luck” After some research I found out that this was a retrial present for Hans-Georg after he left his post as CEO of DB Cargo UK, and Christine is his wife. The engine was covered in pictures of gliders, apparently he is a glider pilot in his spare time. It’s amazing what you find after one chance photo.

I suggested we water the garden because it was such a warm day and the flowers, especially, need the extra moisture. It’s quite a relaxing thing to do on a warm evening.

Tonight we had a traditional Monday dinner of pasta with tomato sauce. I had the basic pasta dinner, but Scamp had some salmon left over from yesterday, so she used that with the pasta. I had some anchovies with just a little bit of Scamp’s salmon.

Maybe we’ll manage just one more warm day before the weather breaks. Scamp is booked for coffee tomorrow morning and we’re both visiting Margie for more of her stories in the afternoon.

Paisley – 22 April 2022

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Met Alex at the bus station in Glasgow and we walked down to Central station where we got the train to Paisley Gilmour Street station.

Ollie got home yesterday and I think the entire family is delighted with his progress. Alex, of course, had photos.

We got out at Paisley and walked through the town, had a bite to eat in Subway then got lost walking the wrong direction but found an old church at the end of a cobbled street at the top of a hill that looked interesting, so photos were taken. Further on another big sandstone church caught our eye and we spent some time there.

My phone was playing silly buggers and wouldn’t connect to the internet, but after a lot of swearing and a restart it was back in business and told me we were heading in exactly the wrong direction. We walked back through the town and passed a trio of blokes who were busking in the street. One of them looked familiar and the name “Rab Noakes” sprung into my head. I checked later and found I was right. I’m guessing he was just doing it for fun.

We manage half an hour in the Abbey and I got a few interesting photos of the stained glass windows, than we walked around and checked out the gargoyles, including the one that looks like the Alien from the movie.

I wanted some photos of Anchor Mill. Scamp and I have passed it many times driving through the town to go to the Paisley tea dance, but never had the time to stop and take some photos. Today was different. Not only had I the time and the company, I also had my ND filters and the attachments they needed to reduce the light getting in to the camera and allow me to use a slow shutter speed. Too much techy nonsense there, but basically I wanted to make the moving water look smooth and smoky. For once it worked a treat.

With that done, we were finished with our stated intentions and headed back to Glasgow on the train.

At St Enoch’s we bumped into Ross Malley and thankfully just missed his sister’s entourage as today was her hen party. I introduced him to Alex, we talked for a while, and then we went our separate ways. Alex and I walked up Bucky Street watched a street entertainer trying to whip up the Glasgow crowd to a frenzy and failing to encourage them to part with their cash for watching him jump through hoops of fire and knives.

We headed for our buses on opposite sides of the bus station and vowed we’d go back to Paisley again soon.

A shared Special fish supper bought on the way back home made a decent Friday night dinner for us. Scamp had been working in the garden and sowing some of the seeds she’d bought in the English garden centre.

The picture of Anchor Mill was PoD.

Tomorrow we’re dancing so we had a quick practise tonight.

Heading South – 14 April 2022

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You could say were were in train-ing for a holiday. You could say it, but only if you were into bad puns.

There wasn’t a lot to say about the day:

09:30 Taxi to the station.

09:45 Train to Edinburgh – First Class, of course.

11:00 Train from Edinburgh to Peterborough – First Class again.

14:45 Arrived in Peterborough after a somewhat disappointing lunch. A veg wrap for Scamp and a tub of veg salad for me. We made up for it with alcohol, though!

An hour to hang about in Peterborough station waiting for the next train. There’s not a lot to do in Peterborough station if you’re not a trainspotter, but I did get a photo of Scamp with a <spit> Starbucks latte, or Babychino as she described it.

15:50 Train from Peterborough to Stowmarket.

17:15 Arrived in Stowmarket.

Couldn’t find Simonne who was our chauffeuse for the final leg of the journey. She said she was in the car park, but she must have been lying … or else, there was more than one car park. Aha! There was another car park and there was Simonne! Hooray, we will go to the ‘new’ house!

It was only about a fifteen minute journey to Old Newton. After meeting and being greeted by Vixen, we went on a tour of the house, complete with the 3’-6”high doors. Almost like half a door, given that the width of it was normal. It was just the height that was a bit disconcerting.

When Jamie got home, later, it was too dark to get a tour of the garden. Instead, we had dinner of Thai Fish Cakes, which we’ve never managed to master and then we just sat and talked then watched TV for a triple episode binge of Anatomy of a Scandal which was quite interesting, or maybe we were both just zonked after a day of sitting, eating, drinking and changing trains.

Surprisingly the bed was comfortable and the room was, well, ‘roomy’. The original tenants might have been short, but they certainly liked lots of space. In a 16th century house I was expecting creepy noises in the night, but either the spirits weren’t interested or we were both too tired to be bothered, but we had an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

PoD is a rather scruffy building that used to be part of the station at Stowmarket. It might be a bit of an eyesore now, but if you look at the brickwork you’ll understand the amount of work and skill that went into the building of it.

Tomorrow we would discover the garden.

Well, it is my birthday – 8 April 2022

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Today I was in charge, but I was warned it was only for today!

After opening the cards and the parcels and marvelling at the imagination of my family, it was breakfast in bed served on a tray with a carnation in a bud vase!

I suggested we drive to the station and get the train to Glasgow. Scamp agreed, and she drove us to the station. She got a bit flustered getting the tickets and asked the bloke in the ticket office for a return, but didn’t say where to! The standard reply to “where to” is generally “back here of course!” Got the tickets, train arrived and we were soon in Glasgow on a fairly busy train. Just walked across to the underground and got two all day tickets. Scamp got through, but I didn’t. Tried three machines and each one said “Cannot read card”. The way it works on Glasgow subway, your plastic “pensioner’s ticket” gets updated with the amount you want to put on it and becomes like an Oyster card. Except, mine didn’t. The woman at the ticket desk checked it and all was well at her end. Eventually a bloke came, checked my card and buzzed me through with his “Let Me In” gadget.

We took the train to Kelvinbridge were, of course I had to go through the same procedure again. This time it was explained to us that they are having some problems with this method of travel, but only with some (ie the North Lanarkshire) Concession Cards, that’s the posh name for Pensioner’s tickets. He buzzed me through and gave me a paper ticket that would get my back to the rail station. Isn’t it nice when technology just works … until it doesn’t.

We went to La Lanterna – West End. It’s a tiny little Italian restaurant with only about a dozen tables. We’ve been there before and the food was good. It was almost empty and we got a table easily, but only after I’d been reminded by the head waiter to say “Good Afternoon” first. It’s an Italian thing that you have to say “Bonjourno” which means “Good Day”, before you start any conversation or ask a question. I’ll remember next time.

Scamp had Arancini (deep fried rice balls) as a starter and I had a pretty little trio of bruschetta. For a main Scamp had a green pesto risotto with asparagus and broccoli. I had Pollo alla Milanese (Chicken fried in breadcrumbs) with Neapolitan Spaghetti. For once, I was the one having a glass of red wine and Scamp, the driver, had sparkling water.

When we left there we went to check that the old STUC building, where we used to go to salsa classes, was still there. There had been rumours that it was going to be demolished. Apparently not, but it is being turned into student flats. At least the building will be saved.

We walked along Gt Western Road to the Botanic Gardens against a cold westerly wind. We went in to the Kibble Palace which is a beautiful place to wander round and best of all, it’s a giant heated greenhouse that holds lots of exotic plants that need to be kept warm. It was also holding lots of folk sheltering from the icy blast.

Next stop was Waterstones for the new Ben Aaronovitch book “Amongst Our Weapons”. They didn’t have it. It’s only a tiny little shop. However the bloke behind the counter said that Argyle Street had some copies, so we headed there. We were just about to got out empty handed when there was a hail storm, or it might have been “frozen rain”. It looked like hail, but the frozen balls were like snow. Strange weather.

Got the underground down to Argyle Street and got the book in Waterstones, then made our way back up Bucky Street, via a posh shower gel shop, to the train station and just managed to get on the Alloa train to Croy and then Scamp drove us home.

There was a parcel waiting for me. The postman had handed it to one of our neighbours. It was a birthday prezzy. Another one. I have a great family. It was a great birthday. I really enjoyed my day in Glasgow. As well as all the foregoing, we stood on the bridge over the Kelvin watching folk ‘Magnet Fishing’ and a song kept buzzing round my head. A song without a name by a singer whose name I couldn’t remember either. With the help of Mr Google I’ve remembered the song as “Wire Burners” from the album “Glasgow” and the singer as Findlay Napier. Do yourself a favour and listen to it. Although the best track is the first one ‘Young Goths in the Necropolis’.

We had a few glasses of wine later, Scamp and I and a thin G ’n’ T before dragging ourselves off to bed. I posted today’s PoD on Flickr before that. It’s a Pelargonium we saw in the Kibble Palace.

Tomorrow we’re up and out early to navigate our way through the roadworks to a dance class in Brookfield. Morning will come early.

Of course, this is a catch-up, but the gist of yesterday is fairly correct.

Too many folk! – 26 March 2022

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Today we were heading east on the train. We were going to Edinburgh or Embra to give it its proper name.

We were a bit surprised at how many folk were already waiting at Platform 1 for the 10.25am train for the capital. There didn’t seem to be rugby on, nor was there a football clash. We shrugged and got on the train.

In Embra, once we got out of the station at Haymarket, there were a lot of changes since the last time we’d been there. Great glass monoliths had sprung up dwarfing (are you allowed to say that in these terribly PC days) the old sandstone building that looked disapprovingly on their new brash neighbours. We walked up Morrison Street to the Conference Centre then into Ladyfield and on to Conference Square. Canyons, both of them. Narrow paths between towering glass and steel buildings. They look like canyons and feel like canyons when that east wind is blowing, but catch the light nicely when the sun shines, and the sun was shining today. Crossed the road for coffee in Nero, our usual watering hole when we’re visiting the capital.

Refreshed we walked through the Farmers Market after glancing at the Van Gogh exhibition site and feeling glad we hadn’t bought the extortionate tickets to watch stars float across some wildly blown up photos of the artist’s work.

It was while we were walking through the market that I got the first inklings that it was a bit busier than it usually is at this time of year. As we neared the Grassmarket we both agreed that it was indeed a bit crowded. Every stall seemed to have queues of folk two or three rows thick trying to get a look at what is really just tourist tack. No chance of going to Petit Paris today for lunch. Up over West Bow to the Royal Mile and the crowds were still milling around. We walked through the Princes Street Gardens, but there were no seats available and people sitting on the grass everywhere. When we got to Princes Street itself, I think we both made the decision to go home.

We almost had to run to get on the train home and managed to get a seat after walking half way along the train. Each carriage was full. Finally we did get a seat, but once the train reached Haymarket it was standing room only. A most uncomfortable journey in a hot, crowded train. I don’t know why everyone had decided to go to Embra today, but we were both happy to get back to the house.

Scamp sat in the garden for a while enjoying the sunshine, while I tried to fix one of her light globes. I’ve just realised I’ve got it charging in the back bed room. Must switch it off before I go to bed.

We had stopped at Tesco on the way home to get a cooked chicken and a loaf and we had Neil’s Chicken Salad for dinner. Bramley Apple pie for dessert.

I think the next time we feel the need to visit Embra, we’ll go mid-week.

PoD was the view up West Bow.

Tomorrow a bit of basking in the sun, hopefully.

Today we went to Embra – 18 January 2020

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It’s ages since we’ve been in Embra. Not since last year at least (Ha, ha).

Still sticking to the “Up and out before 11” mantra, we headed off for the 10.40am train from Croy. On the way we picked up the tickets for our London trip, so, a tick in two boxes. Fairly slow train, and in the same carriage as a foursome of what Scamp called “Apprentice Witches” who looked as if they were off on a Ladies Only weekend, lubricated with a bottle of cheap champagne. And why not, even ladies wot lunch are allowed a weekend off the leash occasionally.

Got off at Haymarket and were surprised with the number of polis in attendance, van loads of them. Hearts must be playing at home, I thought. I was right. Hearts were at home to Airdrie. We walked up and over to Nero on Lothian Road for our morning coffee. Suitably refreshed, we should have walked through the Farmers’ Market and over to the Grassmarket, but today was different. Instead, we walked down to Princes Street and then along its length to The Bridges. Walked over The Bridges and on to the Royal Mile. It was cold. Not bitterly cold like it sometimes is in Embra, but cold enough to require my wooly Buff, wooly had and a pair of gloves. At least it was bright as well as cold.  Took some foties on the Royal Mile and then we ducked down to the Grassmarket. This was really strange. We were going in exactly the opposite direction to what we usually go and the vistas of architecture we were seeing were totally different to those we usually see. “A change is as good as a rest”, they say and it was proving true. One thing didn’t change and that was lunch in Petit Paris in the Grassmarket. Truly French restaurant with a French menu and served by French blokes. Scamp had Crayfish in Garlic Butter and a main of Salmon Fillet with Thyme served with mash. I had Garlic and Pea soup and a main of Beef Bourguignon. Both meals were just as good as we expected them to be. I even risked the wrath of Nick the Chick with a glass or red wine.

To continue our ‘Wrong Way Round’ walk, we walked through the Farmers’ Market that was just starting to close for the day, and where I got today’s PoD of a bloke enjoying the view of the castle from the comfort of a deck chair. Then out past the Usher Hall and back to Haymarket for the train home. A much quieter train home, now that the Apprentice Witches were suitably sozzled and off making a noise elsewhere.

Not a bad day. Pity it was so cold, but the lovely meal in Petit Paris made up for the lack of warmth. PoD was indeed the bloke on the deck chair, but there are others on Flickr if you care to visit.

Tomorrow we believe there may be dancing at the Record Factory.

On the slow train – 20 December 2019

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Today we thought we’d take the slow train to Glasgow, from Greenfaulds. Slower, but with more interesting scenery.

So easy to park at Greenfaulds, compared with Croy with its overcrowded car park. OK, the journey took longer, but we weren’t in a hurry. The journey took almost 25 minutes which is not a lot longer than the time from Croy. Thankfully we didn’t have to get out the train at Springburn and change trains, or as I recall, wait for the train to change tracks and then get back in again.

While Scamp was looking for unspecified articles, I went up to level 3 in JL to look at the toys. Of course, as it was before Christmas, all toys were at premium prices, but it was worthwhile looking to see what might and might not be available much cheaper after Christmas. Of course, I’m not allowed to buy anything else until at least 2030 <wink>. Walked up Sausage Roll Street and had coffee in Costa. It really must only be Cumbersheugh Costa that make such poor coffee. The flat white I had was fine. Back down again and on to George Square where today’s PoD came from. Finally we got the train back again to Greenfaulds.

I knew I had one in the bag, but that didn’t prevent me from taking a walk over to St Mo’s. Just missed two deer, but the light was so low I’d have been hard put to get any decent images. I really need to go further afield these days to get some fresh scenery.

Still having problems with the new ON1 2020, but I uninstalled it and then installed a fresh copy. Now things seem to be running a bit better. However, now my NAS drive is having problems. White light is flashing which generally means that it’s rebuilding its catalog. It may be time to put it out to pasture and get something more dependable. That’s a problem for another day.

Tomorrow we may go out for a walk. Just to be out in the open air without any shops would be a blessing.