"For solace and relief I flee to Bradshaw or the ABC, and find the best of recreations In studying the names of stations." C L Graves

Sunday 11th August

We had another early start and once again Robbie was eager to get up and get ready. Before long he was showered, shaved, the picnic was packed and we were ready to go. The things I do for Robbie, I'd agreed to give up The Archers, a trip to the car boot sale and Sunday Lunch at Jonet so that Robbie could go back to the North Norfolk Railway on a day when the bookshop would be open. I didn't mind all that much really. 

We arrived in Holt bright and early, the station was only just waking up and Robbie got some lovely photos of the station while there were no people in the way. My early start was rewarded with a nice cup of tea and we caught the first train to Weybourne. Robbie rushed around taking photos as usual, not just photos of trains, he stood by the door with his head out of the window to get photos of the harvesting in the fields near Weybourne (he is a closet tractor/combine spotter!). It was a beautiful clear day and he got some lovely shots. You could see the sea with the wind turbines in the far distance, I tried to count them but I gave up there are loads of them and I don't think they spoil the view at all.

Robbie spent an eternity in the bookshop, he added a number of magazines to his enormous collection, then he found several books that he absolutely had to have and the crowing glory to his shopping spree was an old copy of Bradshaws from 1954. Thankfully I'd packed a heavyweight shopping bag and we took the bag which was now full to capacity and impossibly heavy on the train to Sherringham (we had a non corridor compartment coach - probably my favourite coach of the day) and all the way back to Holt. There was just time for a quick picnic in the sunshine before we were off again heading for Sherringham again.

We travelled backwards and forwards all afternoon making sure that we were in Sherringham in time to see the Class 37 arrive and to take lots of photos. It was awesome, definitely the best part of the day. Another couple of journeys followed but I may as well have been on my own because Robbie had his head out of the window taking photos and listening to the powerful growl of the engine. We stayed for the very last train to Holt and then headed back to the bungalow tired but happy. 

Dragged By a Rat and Pulled by a Gronk

Robbie was getting withdrawal symptoms after a few days without trains and he was very keen to go to the North Norfolk Railway on Wednesday. We planned to drive to North Walsham and get the train to Sherringham, but the car park was full so we drove to Weybourne instead, it is a nice drive but a bit narrow and scary in places. We were there in time for the 10.44 train that Robbie was keen to catch. 

The highlight of my visit was as always the beautiful station at Weybourne, the amazing bookshop and the incredible toilets - they are a work of art in their own right. One of the benefits of travelling by car and parking at Weybourne was that Robbie was able to buy a whole shopping bag full of books and magazines and we could put them into the car rather than having to carry them around with us.

We travelled between Weybourne, Sherringham and Holt so many time that I can't remember how many trips we made, but we travelled in a selection of Mk 1 carriages, a Kings Cross Suburban coache and a standard corridor coach. There were two engines out for most of the day, a J15 loco and a Black 5, both were amazing in there different ways. Towards the end of the day they had a DMU 101 on the route but one of the engines failed between Sherringham and Weybourne so they had to get a Class 25 type 1 loco off the shed to drag the DMU. Robbie found this unbelievably exciting, but I didn't enjoy being surrounded by badly behaved brats (compartment coaches have a lot to recommend them!). Robbie insisted on staying for the last trip but I escaped at Weybourne to the relative tranquility of the car park, It really is a beautiful station

Who am I?

It is such a long time since I last wrote the blog, It is a very strange time for me just now, lots of changes and new things to adjust to as well as a very busy time work wise, so I am struggling to cope with the blog. It isn't just that I struggle to find time for the blog, it is more about finding the right words, some things are too personal for the blog while other things things just seem to be difficult to put into words, but no doubt I will sort it out in time.


In my last post I wrote about Robbie changing the goal posts when we set out to go to York for lunch and ended up in Manchester instead. Some people seemed surprised that I didn't like his alternative suggestions about places to visit, so perhaps it is time that I wrote a little more about myself to explain the things that I like - and the things I don't like!


One of my favourite poems is Warning by Jenny Joseph, if you don't know the poem you can find it here
http://www.netmender.net/glenna/Purple.htm
I am not sure that I want to do some of the things that she mentioned in her poem, but I am enjoying life and I am definitely getting more reckless in my old age. So be warned, I have already started to wear purple!


I am not a hat person, I never have been. I hate people to touch my hair and as far as I am concerned having to go to the hairdressers is torture. The only hats I have ever possessed are riding hats and crash helmets. I take a large hat size and I can still remember the embarrassment of going to buy a new riding hat and telling the assistant my hat size only to be met with disbelief. It was a rather old fashioned shop with several different departments, rather like Grace Brothers in some ways. When the hat that the assistant had selected perched on my head like a pimple he would sigh as if I was doing it on purpose and we would go through the ordeal of trying on a succession of hats in ascending sizes. Finally we would find a hat that fitted and the assistant would grudgingly admit that I was absolutely right about my hat size!
So for me the mere mention of hats evokes feelings of discomfort, humiliation and messed up hair - I hate hats!


I love history, art, poetry and all sorts of other thing and I am passionate about books, I love bookshops of all kinds, but to me second hand bookshops are best of all. I could happily spend a whole day in a bookshop. One of my favourite place to visit is the National portrait gallery, but I loved visiting the National Railway Museum and I am really keen to go back there again.