I've cleared the Preston-Ormskirk, Ormskirk-Kirkdale and West Coast from Wigan-Preston lines today on a combination of a Preston-Liverpool return and the last day of my North Country Rover
And while you were doing that, I was in Tyneside & Wearside
Above: My first day started with a ride on a bus driven by a forum member. Yes, I know, buses are unfashionable and all that, but there are some villages the bus passes through which are near me, and I've never seen them! The bus was a couple of minutes late, which was just as well for this odd-looking 'set down only' service, which seemed to have got a bit lost!
Above: a panorama of my route along the coast, having departed Berwick. At this point I realised I only had less than 4 hours to do over 30 miles and, although the scenery was great, the quality of the surface meant I wasn't going to be making rapid progress for a while!
Above: Bamborough castle. I now had over 70 minutes before the train, with only 7-8 miles to go, so was able to relax a bit more!
Above: just beyond the castle, I noticed this opening to the left of the road, and decided I had time to go and explore...
Above: ... and took this panorama shot of a rather hidden, vast, and rather deserted picturesque beach.
Above: After 35 miles of cycling, I had somehow ended up at... Ilkley?!
I wasn't the only one on this train, but I was the only one to alight at Newcastle!
Above: On another occasion I cycled from Burnley to Skipton, part of which was on the disused alignment of the now-closed Colne to Skipton section. The canal section was, to be honest, more interesting though.
Above: And on another day, we cycled from Stalybridge (after an argument with some pompous people who wouldn't let an older gentleman alight from the train first - as if they thought I was gonna let them get away with that!) over the Pennines, we actually cycled all the way to Barnsley via Worsbrough
except with getting the train between Lockwood & Penistone, so about 30 miles in all. The driver driver of our train turned out to be someone else who's involved with Retro!
Above: I visited the graveyard just outside Heworth station, looking for the grave of an old relative of mine, who was born over 200 years ago, and successfully found it, amazingly complete with flowers. I cannot imagine how things were back in those days... getting shifts down from 18 hours to 12, and ensuring people were actually paid rather than be given vouchers... you just can't imagine it.
Above: On our cycle ride towards Barnsley, this almost fooled me. Which way to Silkstone Common? From a distance, I only saw the left arrow. But get closer, and it's actually
right!
