Mentioned by me in a fairly- recent "Railtours & Preservation" thread: an undertaking called the LNER Society (if I am right, nothing to do with the pre-1948 London & North Eastern Railway though seemingly there is another outfit of the same name, whose purpose is to study this constituent of the Big Four !); which flourished some two / three decades ago, and ran numerous day tours, essentially rail-based, which many people found to be marvellous value. Their headquarters were quite near London, and the tours were basically London-centred. They ran an annual tour programme chiefly, if I recall rightly, in the more summer-y part of the year.
Their ventures which I at any rate found for the times, remarkably reasonably-priced involved a day-excursion special train, loco + coaches (most usually, if memory serves me rightly, on a Saturday or Sunday) running from a London terminus, to an area outside of London sometimes spectacularly long distances, and sometimes by unusual routes. At whatever centre at the other end, there were several options usually IIRC, some four or five for excursions (by rail, or road coach, depending on circumstances) from said centre, to places of interest within striking distance from it. (Sometimes including an option actually in that urban centre.) Normally a couple of the excursions were rail-related in one way or another; the rest, were to venues of more general interest. Everything was admirably well-organised and -orchestrated.
Some thirty years ago, when I was living in London, I and the then lady in my life travelled on a fair number of these LNER Society day ventures; by (amicable) mutual agreement, for the excursion at the other end we sometimes opted for a rail, and sometimes a non-rail one. Time passing, and personal ageing, have a negative effect on the memory I now recall for sure, only three of our LNER trips: one to North Wales, including a for-once-affordable journey on the Snowdon Mountain Railway of which we took advantage. Destination centres for the other two were Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Glasgow: from which we took non-rail-oriented (nonetheless very enjoyable !) excursions, accomplished by coach. We did a good deal more with the LNER Society; but detailed memory concerning same, fails me.
For whatever reasons may have obtained at the time, the LNER Society appears to have ceased to be. Id think that very possibly, present-day conditions on the national rail system would make doing what they did back in the late 20th century, not practicable. Be that as it may -- I feel rather sad that the LNER Soc. are now a thing of the past; and wonder whether others also have pleasant memories of journeys with them.
Their ventures which I at any rate found for the times, remarkably reasonably-priced involved a day-excursion special train, loco + coaches (most usually, if memory serves me rightly, on a Saturday or Sunday) running from a London terminus, to an area outside of London sometimes spectacularly long distances, and sometimes by unusual routes. At whatever centre at the other end, there were several options usually IIRC, some four or five for excursions (by rail, or road coach, depending on circumstances) from said centre, to places of interest within striking distance from it. (Sometimes including an option actually in that urban centre.) Normally a couple of the excursions were rail-related in one way or another; the rest, were to venues of more general interest. Everything was admirably well-organised and -orchestrated.
Some thirty years ago, when I was living in London, I and the then lady in my life travelled on a fair number of these LNER Society day ventures; by (amicable) mutual agreement, for the excursion at the other end we sometimes opted for a rail, and sometimes a non-rail one. Time passing, and personal ageing, have a negative effect on the memory I now recall for sure, only three of our LNER trips: one to North Wales, including a for-once-affordable journey on the Snowdon Mountain Railway of which we took advantage. Destination centres for the other two were Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Glasgow: from which we took non-rail-oriented (nonetheless very enjoyable !) excursions, accomplished by coach. We did a good deal more with the LNER Society; but detailed memory concerning same, fails me.
For whatever reasons may have obtained at the time, the LNER Society appears to have ceased to be. Id think that very possibly, present-day conditions on the national rail system would make doing what they did back in the late 20th century, not practicable. Be that as it may -- I feel rather sad that the LNER Soc. are now a thing of the past; and wonder whether others also have pleasant memories of journeys with them.
