Decent places to go on a 2 week ALR?

[Chapeltom]

Just getting about 16-20 different days together for a 2 week ALR I'm planning to do next Summer. I'm planning it now as I'm doing the Coast to Coast walk two days after and that's going to take priority come March time. I'm a Yorkshireman and paying £429 for a 2 week Y-P ALR is going to hurt my bank balance, so anyone recommending any towns worth going to and seeing? Attractions, I like History if that helps

Obviously I won't do 16-20 days, the spare ones will be used in the future

Days planned already, most of these spent travelling for long periods

1 - Cambrian Coast
1 - Glasgow and branch lines
1 - Up to Esk Valley Line to Whitby, travel round Yorkshire a bit and come home
1 - Bristol, Weymouth, Winchester, Birmingham, Tamworth then up home via SHF and SPT. (I've an hour in Winchester+Weymouth)
1 - Norwich, Gt Yarmouth, Sheringham and Lowestoft
1 - Cumbrian Coast to Carlisle, Leeds, Peterborough then route home
1 - Valley Lines day
1 - Travelling round the East and South Coast, sleeper to Penzance
1 - Penzance up to London, lazy day, sleeper to Fort William
1 - Mallaig, Kyle and onto Wick
1 - Time in Wick, then down to Aberdeen
1 - Come home


Its 11 days worth but wouldn't mind a few ideas of some nice towns to visit.

 

[4SRKT]

Don't spend any time in Wick. It's an awful place. I realise you have to go to scratch the line, but come straight back as quickly as you can. At least it's not as bad as when I did it and the train used to split at Georgemas Jn. To get both Thurso and Wick I had to go Inverness > Thurso > Helmsdale > Wick > Inverness, which took all day and I still had over a two hour fester in Wick, which is two hours too long. Still, I got 3 different 37s out of it for haulage

On yr lazy day from Penzance to London try and do all the Cornish branches. They're seriously nice, and if you can manage it, get lunch at Looe.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yes it's possible to do all the Cornish branches in one day - I did that once on an ALR week using the same plan of starting from the Sleeper and getting the first train to St Ives, then inwards from that branch and heading for London after getting them all.

Do make sure to allow good time for the connection to Fort Bill across London, though. If things get late it is better to leave the Looe branch outstanding than to risk missing the Sleeper in London.

 

[scotsman]

The 1108 ex-Liskeard is a cracker if you can get it. Non stop all the way along, 1 min turnaround then non-stop all the way back! Catch the 1227 to Plymouth, catch the surf-ex to Newquay and straight back to London!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Don't spend any time in Wick. It's an awful place. I realise you have to go to scratch the line, but come straight back as quickly as you can. At least it's not as bad as when I did it and the train used to split at Georgemas Jn. To get both Thurso and Wick I had to go Inverness > Thurso > Helmsdale > Wick > Inverness, which took all day and I still had over a two hour fester in Wick, which is two hours too long. Still, I got 3 different 37s out of it for haulage

Seconded re: Wick, I had about 90 mins there a couple of summer's back line-bashing: it wasn't horrible, just tediously dull. Nice enough landscape there and back though, just not the greatest of destinations. Huntly, on the other hand... very nice place - pie shop!!!!!

Looe is a very nice place, beautiful stretch of line between the town and Coombe Jn Halt, shame it is just a little bit too far from the new station to the town, but it is one of the gems of the Westcountry...

Enjoy it; wherever you end up, just make sure you contemplate 4SRKT and my warnings!

 

[Max]

Personally, I would use the opportunity to explore attractions and sights rather than just bashing the track. I'm certain you will feel like you've got more out of it. What period of history are you most interested in? Saltaire, a town built by the great philanthropist Titus Salt, is a World Heritage Site and great place to visit for half a day. Port Sunlight on the Wirral is another interesting 'model' settlement. There are an abundance of great castles and manor houses in the UK. Edinburgh Castle for example is well worth a visit. There are some good ones in Wales too. If you're looking for history in terms of 'typical' properties, Mr Straw's House in Worksop is absolutely fascinating. You could also look around churches such as Ely Cathedral or York Minster, or even the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. Just a few ideas there!

 

[4SRKT]

Whereas I OTOH would just bash the track (and any available decent traction), read up about the interesting places I could have visited, and then have a different version of events to relate to cranks or normals