A First Class Dining Experience. Friday 14th June.

 This blog is about a train journey with a difference, so to get you in the mood, I would like to quote from the few first few stanzas of the best railway poem that I know, 

This is the night mail crossing the Border, 

Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor, 

The shop at the corner, the girl next door. 

Pulling up Beattock, the steady climb:

The gradient's against her, but she's on time. 

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder 

Shovelling white steam over her shoulder, 

W H Auden's Night Mail, of course. I love the relentless rhythm and the image in the final line I quote. But why, you ask am I going on about trains? Well, on Friday night Helen and I were lucky enough to enjoy a fine dining experience aboard the Great Central Railway which travels between Loughborough and North Leicester, return. The reason that I am writing this blog is to say a big thank you to Catherine, Sally and Leanne, my erstwhile colleagues at Penman Watch and Jewellery. After spending 35 years teaching at Spalding Grammar School, I worked, part time at the jewelers shop for 20 years. When the time came to finally hang up my eyeglass, one of my departure gifts was this experience. At my age, gifts that are experiences, rather than stuff are so much more memorable particularly so, when I can share them with Helen. 

So we got dressed up for the occasion;

The beast that was going to shovel white steam over its shoulder. Number 78019 is a standard class 2 2-6-0, built in Doncaster in 1954. The history of this engine is fully documented if you google up the number. My electric Hornby 0 0 gauge engine on my model railway was a copy of the same engine. 

Loughborough G C Station is dressed in period for the 1960s, so here are a couple of shots of the platform and waiting/refreshments room. 

Helen ensconced, waiting for grace.

A word or two about our meal. It was a most enjoyable experience. The standard of cooking and presentation was truly first class. The serving staff were friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. Helen started with the leek and potato soup with garlicky croutons whilst I enjoyed a Parma ham pesto parcel. We both chose the belly pork, new potatoes and vegetables. The pork was one of the tenderest and tasty I have had. A chocolate torte, cheese and biscuits followed by coffee completed an excellent dining experience. We steamed out at 7.30 and arrived back at 10.00 pm.

Leaving Loughborough Central we are riding on the only double track preserved main line in the UK. Shortly after departure we pass the site of the Shepshed Lacemaking factory, now industrial units but reminding us of that once important industry that finally closed its doors in 1980s. A little later on the left was the Ladybird printing factory where books for children all over the world were produced. It closed in 1991 and is now a wallpaper factory. Oh Maggie what did you do?

The first station down the line is Quorn and Woodhouse. A classic island design and now dressed for the 1940s with its "Dig for Victory" plots and NAAFI tearooms. We don't stop because we are all still eating the starter, but noticed the newly built turntable which allows the steam giants to be turned around. 

Above you can see our table light and the Swithland reservoir which has been designated a SSSI. We pause with this view whilst we are served our main course and get stuck in. 

The next station we steam into is Rothley which is decked out in the period of 1918. We don't stop here on the way out, but progress on to Leicester North. This station is entirely new and built as part of the restoration. Here the engine is moved to the back of the train to pull us backwards on our return journey. This maneuver allows me to get a few more pictures of the engine. 

Re-coupling for the return journey. 

Finally, as the light fades, the gas lighting at the Edwardian period Rothley shows us the way home. 

Thanks once again to Penman Watch and Jewellery, and especially Catherine, Sally and Leanne for our very memorable experience. 

'Opping over Offa's Dyke, Sunday 3rd June. Four Dams and a Dark Park

 
The market town of Rhayader is both isolated and almost smack in the middle of Wales. It is a significant centre for outdoor pursuits which attracts visitors throughout the year. The town's name means waterfall and in Welsh translates as Waterfall on the Wye. Its raison d' etre is the major cross roads going to the four points of the compass and that is exactly at the clock tower. As well as being the gateway to the Elan valley reservoirs, there are several things of note about the town. The coldest temperature recorded in Wales was minus 23.3° C. here in 1940. The world "rock paper scissors" championships takes place here annually as does the world wheelbarrow championships. With 173 people per pub, Rhayader has the highest ratio of drinking establishments per person in the UK. When red kites were virtually extinct throughout Europe, they hung on here to spearhead their revival.

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1892 for the Birmingham Corporation to compulsory purchase the water catchment area of the Elan and Claerwen valleys. After the land was cleared of the existing residents including 3 manor houses, 18 farms, a school and a church, the building work commenced in 1893. In addition to the dams and reservoirs a 75 mile long aqueduct was constructed the allow the water supply to flow into the Frankley reservoir near Birmingham. 

This first stage was opened by King Edward Vll and Queen Alexandra in 1904. A very impressive performance given the relatively primitive level of mechanisation. One can't help pondering how many years it would take to build today and how huge the budget overrun would be. 

Phase two of the plan was delayed by WWl, the 1930's depression and WWll. However work restarted in 1946 and the Claerwen Valley system was eventually opened by Queen Elizabeth ll, six months after she came to the throne. 

Caban Coch dam and reservoir, the lowest of the series of dams. The reservoir that the dam supports contains 8 billion gallons of water 

Looking back down the Caban Coch reservoir. At this point there is a bridge across the reservoir with the Foel water outlet tower just "up steam" of it. Submerged at this point is our second dam called Carreg Ddu. It acts like a step on the reservoir floor and is built directly underneath the bridge. Its purpose is to ensure there is always water available to drain out at the Foel tower. Across the bridge there's a Baptist Chapel, built to replace the one that lies drowned at the bottom of the water. 

Pen y Garreg dam with a fine run off of water. Known as the middle dam. The reservoir behind the dam contains 1.3 billion gallons of water. There is a tunnel through the dam giving access to the central tower. It is illuminated by apertures on the down stream side (of course) and must be like looking through a waterfall. 

A small break from all things aquatic and please join me in looking at this chainsaw wildlife gallery. Paul Edwards and Michael Crabb working with local school children, who provided the ideas, created this wonderful set of sculptures from a redundant Douglas Fir plantation. Google them up for more details, and have a look at their YouTube film. 

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So how many creatures did you recognise?

The Craig Goch dam which is the forth or top dam of the Elan Valley system. It is aesthetically the most pleasing,  with its gentle curve and arches along the top. In my photo water appears to be flowing down the front, but this is just the result of staining from previous flows. The reservoir contains 2 billion gallons...... and all this so my brother can have a drink of water in Birmingham. 

The upper Elan Valley has been designated a Dark Sky Park. A body called the International Dark Sky Places oversees and ratifies these places around the world. There are over 200 of them in 22 countries. They are in one of three categories. 

Sanctuaries; the most remote and darkest conservation areas, also the most fragile. There are 20 of them around the world. Bardsey island (Ynys Enlli) is the only one in the UK.

Parks; Conservation areas that provide dark sky programmes. There are 7 in the UK, Elan Valley being the only one in Wales. 

Reserves; Surrounded by population at its periphery  however policy controls the darkness of its core.Two in Wales, both are also National Parks. Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia (now reverted to its original name Eryri.

Nought baa sheep for miles and miles. 

A photograph of sky at night in the Elan Valley. This was not taken by me, but downloaded from the Dark Park website, but I am pretty sure that you will agree it's very impressive. 

After that photograph it must be time for bed. 

'Oppoing Over Offa's Dyke. Friday 31st May.

Knighton is about a 4 hour drive from Spalding. The route that you would expect the satnav to suggest is A14, M6, M54 and then A5, A49, finally the A4113 to Knighton. I think Helen, about halfway there, pressed the button on the satnav which obeys the command "avoid motorways and big roads at any cost". Besides confusing the driver, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because we enjoyed an idyllic rural drive through pastures green and still waters by. It gave us great pleasure and only cost us a little time. And what is time? An abstract concept dreamed up by man that only benefits those in charge.

Why, you might ask, are we driving to Knighton? The answer can be seen in the picture below. 

We have hired a lodge with a hot tub and sauna for a week's worth of R and R. It's in a beautiful rural location, surrounded by farm land, hills and woods. A real feature of the district is the abundance of wild flowers which reminds of how things were 60 years ago.

The lodge is kitted out to a very high specification. Let me show you round. 

 The view through the patio doors in our bedroom. The lodge has a kitchen/living room which looks out onto a large balcony, a bedroom and bathroom. In the bathroom is a large standalone bath, shower and sauna. 

And, of course let's not forget the eponymous hot tub. The working title for the holiday was "Hot Tub Holiday".

Whilst lying in the hot tub in the early evening we could see Red Kites soaring in the sky above and roe deer feeding in the field and hillside behind us.

However the best thing of all here is that it is really...........quiet.