caravanman
Engineer
A lady friend invited me to meet up with her in York, so, ever the gentleman, how could I refuse? 
Up early Monday 4 October, not much to pack as only spending one night away from home. The dawn start meant that I was too early to use my "senior bus pass", so I had to buy a bus ticket, it's quite a long time since I suffered that small hit to my wallet! A coffee and a sandwich to eat on the train was purchased and so the journey began.
The 09.17 from Nottingham was a nice clean train, busy, but not too packed. A Northern train company service, and I was due to change at Sheffield. As we approached the 1st station stop after Nottingham, the train was halted for about 30 minutes as the freight train in front was waiting for a new driver. We were not sure what the problem was, but we were soon under way again. With that delay, I had missed my next connection from Sheffield to York, so around an hours wait for the next train onward. With many cheap tickets sold in the UK, they are only valid for that specific train, so I was pleased to find out that a delay that causes one to miss a connection overrules that validity, and one can still travel onward by the next available train.
A Cross country train en-route to Edinburgh was the service that took me from Sheffield to York. A much busier service, pretty much every seat occupied. My friend was travelling from Liverpool, and although I was an hour later than expected, we both arrived at York station within a few minutes of each other.
A walk up to view the York Minster, and a wander around the nearby streets. We discovered that the church right next to the Minster was where Guy Fawkes was baptised, who later tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Lots of older medieval buildings still remain standing. I assume York escaped much of the bombing during WW2 which destroyed many medieval buildings elsewhere.
York was known to the Romans, some sections of their city walls remain, and one can walk along the tops.
The Shambles is a famous street in York, even mentioned in the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror.
We joined a walking tour later in the afternoon, which was interesting, but sadly the weather had turned a bit wet by then.
After a meal and a few drinks we decided to head to the hotel. Long story short, my friends navigating skills, combined with a clueless bus driver, meant we were dropped off a long way from the hotel. By great good luck, we asked someone for directions, and the kind chap took us to the hotel in his car!
Next morning, having arrived by car, we now had to get into York again by bus, which involved a longer walk to the bus stop than expected, but we survived.
Another wander around the sights in the morning sunshine, before the rain came down again in the afternoon.
I managed to sit in a pub adjoining the station for an hour or so while waiting for my train home, so felt quite mellow by the time the train set off. The return route was different, this was an Azuma train of 10 coaches run by London North Eastern Railway, and the train ran from York to Kings Cross in London. Very nice, fast running train, not at all busy.
I changed trains at Grantham, and after a short wait, boarded my East Midlands Railway train home to Nottingham. The short 3 coach train was okay, but a lot of fumes from the diesel exhaust got into the coach, so not too pleasant from that perspective. Bus home from the station, and a nice cup of tea to round off the mini adventure!
Up early Monday 4 October, not much to pack as only spending one night away from home. The dawn start meant that I was too early to use my "senior bus pass", so I had to buy a bus ticket, it's quite a long time since I suffered that small hit to my wallet! A coffee and a sandwich to eat on the train was purchased and so the journey began.
The 09.17 from Nottingham was a nice clean train, busy, but not too packed. A Northern train company service, and I was due to change at Sheffield. As we approached the 1st station stop after Nottingham, the train was halted for about 30 minutes as the freight train in front was waiting for a new driver. We were not sure what the problem was, but we were soon under way again. With that delay, I had missed my next connection from Sheffield to York, so around an hours wait for the next train onward. With many cheap tickets sold in the UK, they are only valid for that specific train, so I was pleased to find out that a delay that causes one to miss a connection overrules that validity, and one can still travel onward by the next available train.
A Cross country train en-route to Edinburgh was the service that took me from Sheffield to York. A much busier service, pretty much every seat occupied. My friend was travelling from Liverpool, and although I was an hour later than expected, we both arrived at York station within a few minutes of each other.
A walk up to view the York Minster, and a wander around the nearby streets. We discovered that the church right next to the Minster was where Guy Fawkes was baptised, who later tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Lots of older medieval buildings still remain standing. I assume York escaped much of the bombing during WW2 which destroyed many medieval buildings elsewhere.
York was known to the Romans, some sections of their city walls remain, and one can walk along the tops.
The Shambles is a famous street in York, even mentioned in the Domesday Book of William the Conqueror.
We joined a walking tour later in the afternoon, which was interesting, but sadly the weather had turned a bit wet by then.
After a meal and a few drinks we decided to head to the hotel. Long story short, my friends navigating skills, combined with a clueless bus driver, meant we were dropped off a long way from the hotel. By great good luck, we asked someone for directions, and the kind chap took us to the hotel in his car!
Next morning, having arrived by car, we now had to get into York again by bus, which involved a longer walk to the bus stop than expected, but we survived.
Another wander around the sights in the morning sunshine, before the rain came down again in the afternoon.
I managed to sit in a pub adjoining the station for an hour or so while waiting for my train home, so felt quite mellow by the time the train set off. The return route was different, this was an Azuma train of 10 coaches run by London North Eastern Railway, and the train ran from York to Kings Cross in London. Very nice, fast running train, not at all busy.
I changed trains at Grantham, and after a short wait, boarded my East Midlands Railway train home to Nottingham. The short 3 coach train was okay, but a lot of fumes from the diesel exhaust got into the coach, so not too pleasant from that perspective. Bus home from the station, and a nice cup of tea to round off the mini adventure!
Last edited:
