Journal of a Day's Journey
A nine-hour journey from Frodsham, Cheshire, to Truro, Cornwall, sounded daunting when I booked my ticket a month ago while still in Canada. Recording my day kept me focused and certainly helped the time go faster.
9 am – Frodsham train station – I’m early and the train is late. There’s nothing to block the wind. The train arrives at 9:40.
10:20 – Train #2 from Chester to Newport, Wales. Lots of space, warm, and on time.
10:46 – I’m travelling south through the heart of Wales. Green fields, hedges, trees. A large factory as we enter Chirk. A woman is digging in the station flowerbed next to a statue of a sheep wearing a green sweater.
11:12 – You spot funny things from the train – a troupe of sheep suddenly kicking up their heels and running (where to?) or a large flock walking purposefully single file across a field.
11:15 – A group of 6 women get off the train in Shrewsbury. Are they going out for lunch or are they a book group visiting Shrewsbury Abbey? Speaking of which, we pass the Abbey as we leave town!
11:26 – Lovely lumpy green hills just outside of Church Stretton. Are there castle ruins on top of one of them? First course of lunch – a potato cake from the Devonshire Bakery in Frodsham.
11:40 – Castle ruins just outside of Craven Arms with two towers guarding the entranceway. Across the street from the castle is a medieval brick and wood beam house with the upper storey overhanging the road. Next a stream curls its way beside the train tracks, followed by a racetrack.
12:40 pm – A short nap works wonders. It had been an early start as I stripped the bed, fed the cats, and did a final clean-up where I’d been housesitting. Not long now until my final train change in Newport, Wales, which has been rated as the third ugliest building in the world.
1:20 – Train #3. I can now relax for the next 4 ½ hours. Time for some more lunch. Lots of empty seats and space for luggage. You never know what the situation will be when there are no reserved seats.
2:10 – Yatton and then Worle. Funny place names. A magazine article about a couple renewing their wedding vows, committing to “10 years of fun, come what may”.
2:50 – Another short nap and then a chocolate bar. We pass under an old brick bridge, moving slowly alongside a wide, shallow stream with short rapids and a walkpath. We’re now in Taunton, Devon. I’ve housesat on a number of occasions in Devon. I like the West Country – less populated, more rural, near the sea.
3:05 – Square church towers and small villages amid green fields. The Eurostar travelling from the UK to France passes through similar countryside in northern France, but there are church spires not towers.
3:30 – We reach the sea after Exeter and an amazing stretch of rail right beside the water. The water is calm today, but sometimes sea spray coats the train windows and the line shuts down in really bad weather. People are walking their dogs along the beach. One person is paddling barefoot as the waves break on the shore.
3:50 – What a kind train conductor to fetch water for a young woman who was thirsty and a had a long way still to go!
4:05 – The sun is low in the sky and I’m becoming impatient. 2 more hours.
4:27 – A calm stretch of tidal river with the skeleton of an abandoned ship as we approach Plymouth.
4:56 – A high bridge over the Tamar River built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. We’re now in Cornwall. Boats are moored on both sides of the estuary. The entire façade of a riverside pub in Saltash is emblazoned with the Union Jack.
5:36 – We pass through Lostwithiel in the dark – what a magical-sounding name!
6:01 – Truro and a taxi into town from the train station. I’ll sleep well tonight.
(My apologies for the poor quality of the photographs – taking pictures through the window of a moving train isn’t ideal.)