The Very First.

Today I took Hilary and our friends Gwen and Martin from Kendal up to Keswick so that they could walk up Skiddaw and along the ridge back into the town. I couldn't join them - I'm not up to it  at the moment due to a few problems - you name it. . . it's not working right -  especially when it comes to fell walking!

But never mind, I still had a great day out. I took the bus to Workington and visited this instead:

Not  sure what it is?   Well, here's a clue:

That's right. It is, of course, "the first purpose-built, covered bus station in Great Britain" and it's got a plaque to prove it!

Training Completed

Today I completed the final stage of my training as a volunteer mooring warden on the Lancaster Canal for CRT.
I met the enforcement officer at the Lancaster moorings who then took me to the other sites on my patch at Hest Bank, Carnforth and Tewitfield. At each site I was shown the area covered by the mooring restrictions and also given some interesting background information as to why things are as they are, why changes have been made and what other changes are planned.
It's not part of the job,  but I was also shown how to interpret some of the numbers that appear on licence discs and which allow patrol staff to determine a boat's home mooring and whether it's a "continuous cruiser ". This was interesting as it appears that CC status has been granted to some boats so small and ill-equipped that you wouldn't want to spend a week on them, let alone forever.

It was also clear that the enforcement team know their patch very well and were already aware of the over-staying boats we encountered.
The hardest part of the exercise came later at home, when I tried to get to grips with the software to input my sightings to CRT's database. The instructions I'd been given didn't match what was happening on the screen,  but I got there in the end and I reckon that eventually I should be able to input as I go along via my smartphone as long as I have an Internet connection.

Still,  I seem to have passed the test, and can start monitoring next week. I have to agree days in advance with the enforcement team to avoid duplication, although because I live so close to the Lancaster site I can have that to myself and come and go as I please.
Overstayers beware!

Poacher turning Gamekeeper

Not that I ever was much of a poacher - not when it came to visitor moorings. With Starcross I usually went out of my way to comply with the mooring restrictions, be they 14 day, 5 day or even 24 hours. I can't claim a completely clean sheet (who can?) but I think I can honestly say that on the few occasions I did overstay it was in a place and at a time when I felt I wouldn't inconvenience anyone else.

But now the boot is about to be on the other foot. I've responded to an article in our local newspaper seeking volunteer moorings wardens for the CRT on the Lancaster Canal. I've been accepted too. (The qualifications seem to be "did you apply").  So far, I've had to fill in numerous forms and I've been down to the local office at Galgate Marina to meet the team and receive my health and safety training, which consisted of watching a number of videos and signing a Risk Assessment. I've also been issued with a life jacket, although surprisingly wearing it is not compulsory as my task doesn't involve leaving the towpath.

I've been set up on the computer system that the Trust uses to monitor boat movements, although I was surprised to find that I'll actually be recording index numbers manually and inputting them to the system from my own PC at home. I've bought myself a "Policeman's Notebook" (yes, they are actually called that!) from Ryman's that came complete with a (policeman's?) pencil!

I'll be covering the stretch from Lancaster up to the end of the canal at Tewitfield, and to begin with at least I'll be the only warden on that stretch. The Trust has made a number of changes to mooring restrictions this year in response to complaints from visiting boaters from over the Ribble about the lack of short-term moorings. The central Lancaster moorings, for example, are now to be 48 hours in summer rather than 7 days, which will upset some local (ahem) "boaters without a home mooring" no doubt.  Actually, I was asked at an early stage in the selection process whether I would be happy dealing with awkward customers. My reply that I had spent my working life in public transport seemed to satisfy them!

The next stage in the process is a visit to the sites I'll be responsible for so that I know what to look out for and then I'll be on my way. Apparently, part of the job is to welcome visiting boaters to the Lancaster and advise them on local facilities and places to see, so if any readers or fellow bloggers are heading for the northern end of the system this year, I hope to see you.

A Grand Day Out

"Scots Guardsman" and Hilary at Carlisle station.

A grand day out at the weekend with a trip on the Cumbrian Coast Express. Hilary and I joined it at Preston, having first of all walked from our house to Lancaster station then caught a southbound train that took us back past the end of our garden en-route to Preston, from where the Express promptly took us back north past the house again! (And we had to go through the whole procedure in reverse at the end of the day as the Cumbrian Coast Express doesn't stop at Lancaster).

The train arrived from London behind two vintage diesel locomotives (Class 47s for the cognoscenti), which took us to Carnforth where a steam locomotive took over. This was 46115 Scots Guardsman, built in 1927 for the LMS and withdrawn from British Railways stock in 1965. Its main claim-to-fame is its starring role in the 1936 film Night Mail

Our outward route was straight up the West Coast Main Line (the route of the "Night Mail") which involved the climb up to Shap Summit - at 1-in-75 one of the steepest main line inclines in the country. It was great to travel behind a steam engine that was working flat out (on preserved lines they are restricted to just 25mph) and we stormed up Shap so well that we were two minutes early at Penrith. 

The tour allowed two hours in Carlisle, where Hil and I both lived for a year (although at different times). It was almost 40 years since my time there and much had changed, but it did bring back memories for both of us.

From Carlisle we returned south via the Cumbrian Coast Line. Although this does involve some rather grim post-industrial scenery around Workington and Whitehaven it certainly improves as you head south, with sea views on one side contrasting with the Lake District fells on the other. A stop was made at Sellafield for water (for the engine, that is - not for drinking, thank goodness) and the rest of the trip passed all too quickly. 

As well as the vintage engine, the train was made up of British Railways carriages dating from the 1960s. For a certain blogger's benefit, I had a forward-facing aisle seat with a table (Hilary grabbed the window seat) although of course on the good bits I had an even better place: in the vestibule with head out of the window - something you certainly can't do on modern trains.  Although the rolling stock was 50 years old it compared very favourably with modern trains: large, comfortable seats that all lined up with deep windows, giving everyone a good view out; proper tables that are ideal for today's laptop-toting passengers (not that anyone was using one today!), windows that can be opened for ventilation (and to let the sound of then loco in) and, best of all, the only announcements made had to be by members of staff walking through the train, which meant they were restricted to important notices such as who had won the raffle (not us!) and no guff about safety and security, "taking all your belongings with you" (really?) and "arriving into" the next "station-stop".

We returned from Preston on a modern (i.e. 1990s) diesel unit, which apart from vastly superior internal lighting and the absence of drafts had very little to recommend it over the older stock and rounded off the day with a meal in the Moghuls curry house.

The only Indian restaurant I know with an outside toilet!

Happy Days.

Never Use The Train Line.com to buy rail tickets!

One of the trains that Hilary WON'T be riding on!

Hilary is going to visit her friend in Hull at the weekend and I've been doing a little research to find her the best price for the journey. (We have just bought a shiny new car, but whilst most people would be glad of the excuse to take it for a drive it's actually sat on the road outside since we brought it back from the showroom last Friday and the only journey it's likely to make in the near future is if I move it from outside our neighbour's house to outside ours).

Having identified the best route and the best place to split the tickets I was horrified to find that when Hilary went to buy them she was using The Train Line website.  It appears that if you type "train tickets" into a search engine this is the site that comes up first. However there are two good reasons why you should NOT use this site:

Firstly, I'm sure it's name is at least partly responsible for the growth in the use of phraseology such as "train station" and even "train lines" rather than "railway station" etc. But more importantly it charges a you £1.50 "booking fee" on every transaction!

As far as I know, it's the only site that does this. None of the train operating companies' websites do so and there is no need for it. Nor does it have cheaper fares. All ticket booking sites use the same national rail database to calculate fares and advance ticket availability (although sometimes you can get a slightly lower price from the train company you are actually travelling with).

You can buy tickets for any journey from all train operators, but not all have equal terms and conditions. Most (but not all) will charge you to send the tickets by post and some even charge you for the privilege of picking up the tickets from a machine yourself!

For what it's worth, I usually buy simple single and return tickets from the station booking office (they are nice people there and it keeps them in a job) but if I do buy advance tickets on-line I get them from Arriva Trains Wales. They send them promptly through the post (although they don't come from Wales!) and don't charge you for doing so. Needless to say  they don't charge you to pick them up from a machine at the station either. Also, they are a publicly-owned company where the profits go back into the public sector. Unfortunately it's the GERMAN public that benefits as they are a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bundesbahn, but no matter!

Oh, and if you do opt to get your tickets from a machine, please remember that although you have to specify the station at which you will pick them up at the time of booking, in practice you can pick them up at ANY station. Very useful if you are splitting tickets to get a reasonable fare.

Edited to say that the comment from Dave has reminded me that not everyone is confident or competent enough to use the various ticket-selling websites and may prefer to use the services of agencies such as Severn Dee Travel, so I have provided a link in the side bar.