“I never travel without my diary. One should always have somethingsensational to read in the train.” - Oscar Wilde

Thursday 15th August

I didn't want to get up when the alarm went off, but if we were going to get the best out of the day we needed to get up and get going. Despite initial reluctance Robbie was out of bed and into the kitchen while I still clung to the duvet.

We were on the road before 9.30am and by 10.00am we were pulling into the station car park at Holt. For the third time this holiday we were at the North Norfolk Railway, sitting on the first train of the day with a cup of tea (coffee for Robbie) waiting to depart. What could possibly be better than this? I love the feeling of anticipation with the whole day stretching ahead of us. I don't mind if I travel on a coach or compartment that I've travelled on before, I don't mind which engine is out, and (unlike Robbie) I don't even care if we depart late, I just love the whole experience. 

The railway was very busy today and we had more than our fair share of badly behaved brats travelling on the trains. As a parent and step parent I know that coping with children can be challenging but it is up to the parent to set limits and to say 'no' and mean it when necessary. Why on earth do they think that it's acceptable for their 'little angels' to stand on seats, to yell at the top of their voices throughout the journey and to behave in a way that spoils the experience for everyone else. One little horror who rejoiced in the name Caspian had a father who was so pathetic that I wanted to shake him and tell him to man up and control his child. Who calls a child Caspian for heaven sake,  with a name like that its hardly surprising that the boy has issues. 

We spent the earlier part of the day dodging badly behaved children, but it didn't stop us enjoying the railway. There is something about Weybourne in particular that makes you feel calm and relaxed and the Ladies toilet is so wonderful that you can't help smiling. The black five and the 5619 were out today, they are both interesting, 5619 was making a strange blowing noise again today, we heard it making the same noise last Wednesday but it sounded fine on Sunday so I don't know what is wrong with it. 

I must admit that I tend to prefer diesels rather than steam so I always look forward to the last two round trips from Sheringham. Today we had a Class 101, Robbie likes it, but it is not among my favourites. To me it feels like being on a bus and I'm not into buses in the way that Robbie is. We sat at the front in the seats behind the driver and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The view through the front windows enables you to see things which you would usually miss, so we took lots of photos. When we were departing Holt we saw deer running across the field and Robbie even managed to get a photo.

"No one left and no one came on the bare platform" - Edward Thomas

Wednesday 7th August

We had an early start this morning. I don't like being ruled by the clock when we are on holiday, but we planned to visit the North Norfolk Railway and we wanted to get there early so that we could spend the whole day travelling between Holt, Weybourne and Sheringham. 

Surprisingly Robbie didn't make a fuss about getting up early, he got up,shaved showered and ate breakfast without any 'delaying tactics' - almost unheard of even on a work day! I more or less knew the way to Holt but more to prove a point than anything else I decided to use the sat-nav! It decided to take us on a different and rather contorted route via North Walsham so instead of the voice of the sat-nav sighing and saying "recalculating" I had Mr B at the side of me huffing and puffing because he didn't approve of the route and because he couldn't get a good enough phone signal to send an important email to his work. Norfolk is dreadful for phone signals and Internet access, Vodafone is better than 02 but it is still dreadful. If I drive to Stalham and stand on one leg on the middle of the Tesco car park I can usually get an 02 signal of sorts but it is rather hazardous and tends to attract attention!

We got to the North Norfolk Railway soon after 10am, in time to catch the Black 5 to Weybourne. I needed to visit the rather splendid toilets at Weybourne and after the early start I needed a nice cup of tea and a piece of their lovely cherry and walnut shortbread. A Class 31 arrived into Weybourne heading for Holt and I thought Robbie was going to burst with excitement. He was disappointed to find that they planned to swap it for a kettle off the shed at Weybourne on its return journey but at least he had a chance to see and hear it and take some photos. Apparently the kettle (GWR 5619) had failed that morning and the Class 31 had replaced it until the kettle could be coaxed into action. We watched it come off the shed and it didn't sound quite right (to my untrained ear) it was making strange 'trumping' sounds as if it was expelling air, but it looked rather splendid and I was delighted to see a woman in the cab. 

We travelled to Sheringham, had a look at the shop and bought a jigsaw and DVD for Robbie and a few postcards etc for me. then when the next train arrived we got a welcome cup of tea (coffee for Robbie) and travelled all the way back to Holt for a picnic lunch. Robbie positioned us in exactly the right place so that he didn't miss anything and as soon as there was anything to be seen or photographed he dashed over to get a better look.

More trips between the three Stations followed as well as a brief walk into Sheringham (which was horrible because it was far too crowded).For me the highlight of the day was the diesel, it looks amazing and sounds even better. I decided to pass on the very last trip of the day because I wanted to get some film of the train leaving and arriving. I made the right choice I got some really nice photos and video clips but there was something even better than that. I sat on a bench some distance down the platform towards the signal box enjoying the tranquillity and thinking of the poem Adlestrop. In our case the blackbird's song in the poem would have been replaced with the mournful calling of the wood pigeon, but the line "no one went and no one came on the bare platform" seemed to describe the late afternoon tranquillity of Holt station perfectly. I knew that the train wasn't due but I glanced along the line and I saw a slight movement on the other side of the line almost level with the signal box. As I watched a deer came into view and ambled across the line towards the signal box before vanishing into the undergrowth. I was not close enough to take a photo and I didn't have time to think of that anyway. It was one of those special moments that can't be preserved except in memory.

Out on The Drags

Robbie had persuaded me to give him a day off on Saturday, he wanted to do what he calls 'the drags' which from what I understand involves travelling backwards and forwards on trains all day. On summer Saturdays Greater Anglia run holiday maker trains which allow people to travel from London to Great Yarmouth on a through train. They are called drags because there are no wires between Norwich and Gt Yarmouth so the diesel loco has to pull the train from Norwich. It takes Robbie all day because he likes to get full value from his Rover ticket. Yesterday we had to get up at 6am in order to get him to the station on time, but his legs let him down and he got back much earlier than planned. His pain level has been really bad recently, I hope it will ease off soon because we are running out of options in terms of pain management.

I had a lovely day, the weather was perfect and I had plenty of time to enjoy the beach. I went to Mundesley at lunch time, it was a very enjoyable couple of hours, it was such a lovely day. I also had time to have a nice long chat with 'the other Mrs Jones' I have missed her very much while we have been away.

Head in the Clouds

Robbie was very late home last night, so he met me from work to get a lift home. Guess what he talked about on the way home - trains! Apparently there are plans to electrify certain routes and Robbie has big reservations. He probably has good reason for his doubts, but I was tired, hungry and not in the mood to hear a detailed comparison of the merits of diesel against electric. I was just thinking that for once it would be nice to talk about anything but trains, when Robbie did one of his famous conversational U turns and began talking about clouds. He pointed upwards and said "look at that cloud formation". I was tempted to remind him that I was driving and it was fairly important to keep my eyes on the road, but as usual I couldn't get a word in. I thought it was nice to hear him talking about something that had no connection at all with trains, you could almost call it romantic (well, as close as Robbie gets anyway). Then he spoiled everything by telling me that there was a list of cloud names in that dreaded book of his, Shott's Original Miscellany. He started to list the various different types of cloud and I made a mental note to burn that book. I love books and I honestly don't think I could destroy any book, but in Robbie's hands that book becomes an offensive weapon!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/5892821/Electrified-rail-network-the-benefits.html

Royal Scotts Grey 24.02.08

Robbie went to see his Uncle on Friday. It was one of those uncomfortable situations where he needed to visit, but once there he felt lost for words. There isn't very much that you can say to someone who has only just been told that their time is very short, perhaps just being there was enough. I spoke to him afterwards and I think he was quite shaken by seeing his uncle looking so poorly.

On Friday evening he travelled north and stayed overnight somewhere near Liverpool ready to make an early start for the charter trip in the morning. I was woken at 7.13am by a text from Robbie to tell me that Royal Scots Grey was purring nicely - do I care? After plotting my revenge, I curled up under the covers determined to have another half hour in bed before facing the demands of the day. After that he got so caught up in the day's activities that he forgot all about me, but I was busy with my own activities.

On Sunday Robbie began his very slow journey home. Network Rail must have known that Robbie was heading back from the North and they did their best to keep him off the rails, he encountered delays and replacement busses and took almost as long to get back from Liverpool as Sam took to get back from Austria! Hopefully he will have taken some nice photos, I have been so busy with washing that I haven't had a chance to look at the camera yet.

The Love of His Life 23.01.08

Robbie is abandoning me for the love of his life - Royal Scots Grey (its a train!). He came home today with this long (and exceeding boring) tale about a special charter and how he would love to go. It was one of those times when I couldn't get a word in, I'm used to it by now, so I just sat there trying to look interested and wondering how he could possibly speak for so long without breathing. He took my silence as disapproval and he spent the rest of the evening trying to subtly turn the conversation back to his beloved train and how wonderful the charter would be. Robbie doesn't do subtle, but it was incredibly funny watching him try, better than TV in fact! He has just told me what a 'special lady she is' and how 'all cranks have a special engine' he couldn't see why I found that so funny. Well, I have spent many hours being shown pictures of that train and I can't see what leads him to think it is female, it is quite obviously male! Anyway, I don't have a problem with him going if he wants to, if he had given me a chance to speak I would have told him that, but it was fun watching him squirm!!

Choppers at Barrow Hill 14.07.07

Robbie returned surprisingly early from his day at the diesel gala. He was triumphant about making a 2 minute connection at Birmingham New Street on the way home. I am not sure how he got from platform 3 to platform 11 in two minutes, but at least he was home earlier than anticipated. He took the video at lunchtime, the sound is good but he managed to get a whole load of weird people in the shot.