By: Blonde Two
That tide has been doing it again; it has been splashing all over place; including the train tracks at Dawlish. Down here in South Devon, we know how to make a journey exciting (we also know how to cancel it!)
It has to be said that the train journey along the coast between Exeter and Teignmouth is absolutely stunning. You can tell who the locals are because they all sit on the view side of the train; sometimes I wonder if the train will tip over because of the imbalance.
I have an urge to one day try the sleeper train up to Scotland. Do you think you go to sleep after a supper of roast beef and wake up to a haggis breakfast? Goodness only knows what I would do without a car when I got there, it would take me days even to find a shop!
We Blondes (plus our lovely brunette) did a train thing last Sunday (always a risky day for trains). For the start of our Torquay to Totnes walk (a different kind of TT), we met at Torquay train station. Blonde One arrived by train from her home town. As her train pulled in, I tried to take a photo of her dismounting. It was interesting to note that she appeared, as if from nowhere, at the front of the train. I suspect that she had insisted on driving!
Upon completing our walk to Totnes, we all got on the train and went back to Torquay again. It was remarkably easy; we (by dint of most excellent planning and speed control) arrived just as the train was heading home.
We often see walkers with full back-packs on our trains. They are usually doing sections of the South West coast path. What a great way to do it!
I used to love my daily commute from Teignmouth to Exter College in the 1980’s. I love the idea of walking from Torquay to Totnes, then taking the train back. I am now in East Anglia and sometimes find it difficult to plan linear walks, due to poor transport links.
We are lucky that we are near to train stations for routes along the SW Coast Path. Trying to get to Dartmoor on public transport is possible but would be a bit tedious I think.
I used to go by bus from Plymouth to Yelverton and access the moor from there quite regularly. I wonder if the buses still go there! When I was walking the Southern Upland Way, I discovered that Scotland has a much better bus service than England. Hopefully they still have it, because in England bus services are terrible. Last time I tried to catch one on Exmoor (along with several other people) the driver saw us waiting and drove off without stopping. Up in the Lakes two years ago, the driver of a bus refused to take a couple with a dog because he said the dog was too wet. He left them stranded miles from the campsite, up on the Honister Pass, with miles extra to walk at the end of a long day in the hills. English buses are totally unreliable, in my view. They should bring back the bus stop, advertise their routes clearly and display timetables – and stick to them. There. I’ve had my say!
I am surprised a dog can be ‘too wet’ in the Lake District, surely a dry dog would look strange? The bus to Yelverton does still run, although I have never used it, I have written about it once for a London Walks website.
Hee – well mine had 3 objectives this year:
1. To drink Derwent Water dry.
2. To drink Ullswater dry.
3. To completely empty Lake Coniston.
All three seemed to have one side effect – to get him wet!