If somewhere looks good in the rain and the place makes you think that it is worth a return visit even if you are clutching an umbrella dodging the puddles then it must be alright. As I was stopping in London over night I thought a cheeky evening trip to Winchester, which took just an hour by train from Waterloo, would make a change to trudging the streets of the 'big smoke'. I am very glad that I made the trip as I would like to explore the city, its historic ...

Norwich is, if honest, a little isolated. There seems to be no quick way to get to the city either by road or rail and the journey just seems far longer than it really should (some of the scenery en-route is not that inspiring either) however when you do get there what a delightful city it is! We were met by our good friends Tim, Georgie and Tom at Norwich station at 11.15 (after leaving Derby at 07.53) to go dragon hunting. There are in total 84 GoGoDragons dot...

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!...