Since Celia and I had never been to England and since we have developed an interest in railroads because of Eurail and GermanRail travel in Europe, we decided to join the Elderhostel Program this Spring on 200 Years of Railroads in Britain.
Thursday, May 26: Carl took us to the airport so we had plenty of time to get through security check and find our departure gate. After a 30 minute weather-related hold, we left for Chicago. Our Boeing 767 for Manchester, England left Chicago on time.
Friday, May 27: Upon arrival in Manchester after going through customs, we found our Elderhostel tour guide, Peter, in the arrival hall. After six other Elderhostel folk had showed up as well, we boarded the chartered Elderhostel bus, picked up 5 additional folk at the two other airport terminals. Then Peter had the bus driver drop him off at another terminal and sent him to drop us off at the airport hotel where we were to spend the night. Unfortunately, there are three hotels with the same name, Britannia, and we were dropped off at the wrong one. A good bit of phone calling transpired before the bus driver returned and took us to the right hotel.
The rest of the day was uneventful, with a light lunch provided at the hotel at noon and at supper/orientation in the evening where we met the Program coordinator Prof. Alan Earnshaw.
Saturday, May 28:
Our first stop, after checking out of the airport hotel was the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It was a large complex of buildings. We attended a lecture in the conference center there, then spent time browsing in the Power Hall. The next stop, which included the distribution and consumption of box lunches that had been brought along, was the Standedge Canal and tunnels, a geographic location where pack horse routes, canal routes, and train route had "come together" over the years. We had a ride on an under ground canal boat while hearing a talk about their uses in early British history. Spent much of the afternoon crossing the Pennines, a range of hills (the tops of which- with scrubby brush- are referred to by locals as "moors") separating the northern part of the country from the southern part. These hills historically created problems in the efficient transportation of goods in the last two centuries. We stopped for an hour a a small town, Marsden, giving us a chance to stretch, browse and/or shop.
After checking into the Monkbar Hotel in York and having supper, we saw the video, "Taming the Iron Monster", with explanatory comments by Alan.
Sunday, May 29: After breakfast, we saw a video, with commentary, about the effects of the railroad on World War II, and vice versa, including railroad men working in total darkness to avoid German bombs. Then we traveled by bus to Haworth where we had a substantial and filling lunch at the White Lion Pub. After a time browsing in the neighborhood of very narrow streets and St. Michael's and All Saints Church, and watching a street artisan singing for coins, we were transported by bus to another part of Haworth where we boarded the North Valley Railroad Train, a steam-powered train maintained by railroad preservationists. A brief trip on the train brought us to Oxenthorpe, where we disembarked, for a few minutes, then boarded it again for the ride to Keightly. Then a two hour trip on our bus brought us back to our hotel in York for supper and a free evening; after a busy day Celia and I enjoyed watching TV including the news about the French vote on the "European" constitution.
Monday, May 30: After leaving the hotel, we were given a lecture on the bus dealing with the development of the early railroads. Then we stopped at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. The display included the first locomotive used to haul passengers. We had a chance to hear a reenactment involving three persons of that time, viz:, a watchman who had a connection to a suicide , a "famous actress", and the head of the railway company George Stevenson. Our next stop was the railway museum in Schilden. We were served a delightful lunch at the Dog Inn (a pub) in Schilden. After leaving Schilden, we stopped along the highway in open country and walked a few hundred feet to the opening to the oldest railway tunnel in the world, now abandoned, near Weardale. We also stopped the bus at another spot on the highway and all walked to the ridge of land nearby to experience the wind and harshness of the climate that railroad construction workers had been subjected to.
Tuesday, May 31: We traveled with our bus to Whitby, an interesting small city on Robinhood Bay of the North Sea. After exploring a museum there, with some time for shopping, we had a great lunch of fish and chips(french fries) at Robertsons Restaurant in Whitby. At Grossmont we had a chance to walk through the first railroad tunnel used for passenger travel. We boarded the steam train, operated by North York Moors Railway and traveled to Pickering, including a momentary stop a Goathland, where some of the scenes for Harry Potter were filmed. We returned to our hotel by 6 p.m. for supper and an after/supper talk by the person who ha been in charge of planning a major event commemorating 200 years of railroads in Britain.
Wednesday, June 1: Woke up to a modest rain for the first time on our trip. From 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. we had a guided tour of the neighborhood around the hotel (Swallow Best Western) followed by an hour tour of the York Munster. Since this was a non-included lunch on our trip, Celia and I opted to try our hotel but found it served lunch only in the bar. We didn't want to eat in a smoky atmosphere so we had soup of the day (leek & potato) and french fries served to us at a table outside the bar in an alcove off the hallway.
We finished lunch just in time to board the bus and travel to the National Railway Museum in York where we explored until 5 p.m. It claims to be the world's largest railway museum - and I can believe that.
At one point during the afternoon, Celia had a good experience of using her "teacher" and "caring" skills. One young boy (2-3 years old) was walking along in the huge crowd in the expansive building, crying. Celia persuaded him to share his problem - he couldn't find his daddy! Celia led him to a cashier of the cafeteria area and explained his plight. The cashier led him away into another room, indicating she would page the dad. Sure enough, some moments later Charlie and his dad came walking by where we were sitting -- Charlie had a smile for Celia. We returned to our hotel in time for supper, being more tired than any day so far.
Thursday, June 2:
Today was the day to "move" to a new hotel so we were packed before breakfast Then after breakfast boarded the bus for the long ride to the Conway Castle in Wales, including a talk on the bus entitled, "Trains in Trouble". At the castle we had the chance to explore the King's Tower, the Chapel Tower, Kitchen Tower, and Prison Tower, to name a few. A brief stop in the gift shop and we were on our way to Anna's Tea Room by 12:30 in the town of Conway where, on the second floor was a tea room that served us carrot-orange soup, a variety of small sandwiches and desserts (Celia chose lemon meringue pie, while I chose Lumpy Bumpy Chocolate cake).
Then on to the Wales State Museum where we saw the tools and equipment used in olden times for mining slate. Saw an excellent hour-long presentation by a very talented and knowledgeable craftsman showing us how to split, trim and finish slate products of different sizes by hand.
We arrived at the Royal Oak Hotel in Betws-y-Coed in time for supper.
On the bus to Snowdonia, where we took a cog railway up to the summit of the tallest mountain in Wales on the Snowdonia Mountain Railway. After coming down from that, we were taken by bus to the castle at Rhyd DDu. After lunch on our own (found a very small restaurant where Celia had vegetable soup and I had baked potato with chili), we had a 50 minute ride on the Welch Highland Railway. Then a bus ride back to Betws-y-Coed in time for supper by 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 4: After breakfast, we had an illustrated lecture by Alan Earnshaw summarizing 200 years of British Railway history. Then, onto our bus (or, as they say, "coach") to travel to Blaenau Ffestiniog to begin our ride on the narrow gauge Festiniog Railway., the first passenger train to run on narrow gauge. We were provided with a packed lunch - more than sufficient, which we consumed during our ride in the hilly/mountainous country. After traveling back to Betws-y-Coed by coach we had the rest of the afternoon at our leisure.
Sunday, June 5: Checked out of the Royal Oak Hotel in Betws-y-Coed, got on the bus, and headed for Llangollen. There, shortly before lunch, we boarded the Llan Gollen Railway, pulled by a steam locomotive similar to the one we saw in the movie running to Hogwarts School) for a round-trip ride through some neighboring towns, including Glyndyfrdwy, Carrog and Berwyn. At one of these stops where we had a 30 minute wait we saw a young man walking by with an owl on his shoulder. After a round-trip by train, we got a ride on a boat seating about 60 people in a canal pulled by a horse walking on the edge of the canal.
After supper back at the Buckatree Hall Hotel we heard a lecture on the development of the Industrial Revolution.
Monday, June 6:
Before leaving the Buckatree Hall Hotel this morning we had two lectures: one on Steam for Sale and one on Railway Preservation. Then we traveled by bus to Ironbridge, a bridge of cast iron with a span of over 100 feet, built in the 1790's. Had a chance to explore the museum there as well as walk to the bridge. then a brief bus ride to BlistsHill Victorian Town, an open air museum with working factories, shops and cottages on 50 acres that demonstrates how life was lived in the Victorian times. After eating our packed lunch, we explored the grounds, including seeing the Trevithick Locomotive be fired up and operated.
Tuesday, June 7: Boarded the bus at 9 a.m. and headed for Coalbrookdale and Coalport for more exhibits in the area around Ironbridge. We had lunch at the Swan Restaurant before traveling to Kiddemunster to board the Severn Valley Railway. After traveling on that train to the end of that line at Bridgnorth, we again boarded our bus and arrived at our hotel minutes before suppertime. After supper we viewed the movie, "The Titfield Thunderbolt".
Wednesday, June 8: Packed our luggage and were on our bus by 9 a.m. and headed for London. We stopped and spent some time at the Great Western Railway Museum in Swindon, where we had lunch. Then on to London where we checked into the Heathrow Thistle Hotel. After our final supper with the group we retired for the evening.
Thursday, June 9: A day returning home: breakfast, shuttle bus to the airport, flight from London to Chicago and then to St. Louis. Carl and Elaine came to pick us up. It was a great trip, but it was good to be home.
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