Being me, travelling directly (or at least as directly as possible) to Worcester was not really an option so my outbound journey saw me travel to Oxford and then after a 40 minute wait I travelled on the First Great Western service to Worcester Foregate Street via the 'Cotswold Line'. This railway runs from Oxford to Worcester via Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham and it is a pleasant journey to make. Arriving in Worcester I first visited Greyfriars, a National Trust ...

With just seven days until I start working again I fancied a trip to the coast, especially given the fabulous weather forecast - summer is finally arriving in the UK! I chose Dartmouth because it is years (probably 20+ years) since I have been on the Paignton and Dartmouth Railway, I also got the chance to travel to Newton Abbot on a High Speed Train (far more preferable than a Voyager), I quite fancied fish and chips by the sea (admittedly it is really the estua...

A night away in Carlisle was my birthday gift from Mrs Holt, but with me given a free reign of how to get to the border city it saw us up bright and early to catch the 0640 from Derby to Crewe and then after a ten minute wait (more than enough time to spend in Crewe?) we continued to Preston on a Virgin Trains service. With a 45 minute connection before we headed to Barrow-in-Furness with First TransPennine Express there was enough time for a quick breakfast too!...

Having the Peak District National Park pretty much on the doorstep is a great bonus. It is just a shame that even though it is close getting a chance to enjoy the wide open space is not always easy to fit into a busy lifestyle and also get a glorious weather day too. That said, with a good forecast and a a spare day it seemed opportune to catch the train and explore at least part of the Hope Valley on foot. The Hope Valley line (trains running between Sheffield ...

I do like a whirlwind trip and with just ninety minutes in Edinburgh it was going to be a tall order to do it justice - but I did try! Having travelled from Derby on the 0713 CrossCountry service to York I then had just over a five minute connection onto the 0855 Virgin East Coast service to Edinburgh. This had me arriving a couple of minutes early at 1120 in the scottish capital giving me a whole 91 minutes before I headed south via the West Coast Main Line to C...