Bill and Jason's Excellent UK Adventure

[rapidotrains]

Hi all,

 

Bill and I are now in the UK.  The flight was just luuuuuvly.  Seven hours of turbulence so bad that once Bill forgot to put on his seatbelt and ended up on in a lady's coffee four rows ahead.  My plan was to get a lot of work done on the plane, and now my proudest achievement for the flight is not being sick the entire time.

 

Air Canada now lands at Terminal 2, which I am convinced is actually in Croydon. After walking underground from Croydon, we caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington. We then boarded a lovely HST to Reading...

 

 

Bill loves HSTs as much as I do, but I could hear him muttering something about blue and yellow being the only proper colours. We stayed at a musty, stuffy little hotel that is supposedly one of the best hotels in Reading. Well, there are a lot of nicer hotels in Reading but this was the top hotel that we could afford. Why are Reading hotels so expensive? What fancy people are staying in Reading? 

 

We headed back to the station and discovered that it had been eaten by a footbridge. Here is the footbridge that ate Reading:

 

 

It seems that every time I am in the UK, I end up on a lot of Voyagers. Maybe that's because I always go to Birmingham, and if you are going to Birmingham from anywhere other than London there is a decent chance you will be on a Voyager. I love Voyagers. I know I'm in the minority here, but I think they are neat trains and I love the raw feeling of power as they accelerate under your bum. 

 

I do tend to travel first class, because being from Canada I can afford it. We get this thing called a BritRail pass, which is about £300 for an eight-day first class rover anywhere in the UK. If you are from the UK, you can't get it. Hard luck. A BritRail pass is one of the many benefits of being from Canadia...

 

 

Our destination was Shrewsbury, but of course a stop in Birmingham necessitated some serious foaming at the mouth. There are few stations as amazing as New Street when it comes to trainspotting, and if you are thinking a lot about the Pendolino (as we are these days) then it really is a good place to be. http://www.rapidotrains.com/pendolino.html

 

 

Shrewsbury is a stunning town. Let's get the railfanning out of the way first - here's a view of the eastern approach to the station taken from Shrewsbury Castle. All of the people that I have told over the years to make their track plans more realistic can now tell me to go stuff it. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I would have believed it was completely made up.

 

 

But the real reason for coming to Shrewsbury was to step back in time. I am a huge fan of the Brother Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters. Peters brings 12th-century Shrewsbury to life and I felt like I already knew the town well as we wandered around the familiar streets. One or two things have changed in the 900 years since the Cadfael stories... The skirts are definitely shorter. Holy Moses - what's with scantily-clad young women standing around outside clubs in the UK? Don't these girls get cold standing out there in their tiny skirts? Do they not realize they should be judged by what is in their brains and not by their bodies? What ever happened to women's lib? But I digress..

 

(You realize I brought that up just so I could show you this photo. Those girls in tiny skirts should probably stay well away...)

 

 

Shropshire Council offers guided tours of Shrewsbury for Cadfael nuts like me. Our tour guide was the lovely Marina Trivedi, an expert on the history of Shrewsbury and the entire region. She took us to many of the places frequented by Cadfael in the novels and firmly placed the fictional stories within the context of local history. You can book your own tour here: 

 

http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/guided-tours-of-shrewsbury/in-the-footsteps-of-brother-cadfael/

 

 

 

Ellis Peters was a historian as well as an author and her depiction of 12th-century Shrewsbury was spot on. There really was an Abbot Radulfus at the Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul in Shrewsbury in 1140, and the civil war between the Empress Maude and King Stephen happened just as it is depicted in the novels. Many of the supporting characters are also based on real people alive at the time - it's hard to fathom the amount of research needed to weave such a flawless web of historical fact and fiction from an era so many centuries past. If you haven't read the Cadfael mysteries and your interest is piqued by my description, give them a try. Don't just watch the TV show - it's a bit rubbish.

 

 

One of the greatest things about this trip to Shrewsbury - and the UK in general - is the sense of history in just about everything. In Canada, if something was built before about 1920 it's considered positively ancient. We have hardly any buildings remaining from the 18th and 19th centuries because we have a colonial mentality - if it's old it's in the way of progress so we should tear it down and build something new and better. Our historical designations are so full of loopholes that many significant structures from Canadian architectural history end up being torn down even after they are deemed important enough to save.

 

I know many Brits feel that progress in this country can be constrained by the desire to preserve the past, but as a history buff and railfan I am extremely envious of how the United Kingdom respects its heritage and invests significantly in preserving that heritage for future generations. You guys don't know how good you have it.

 

EDIT: Part two is here:             #13            

 

EDIT: Part three is here:             #24            

 

EDIT: Final instalment is here:             #51            

[Revolution Mike]

The Cadfael TV shows may be rubbish, but they have the excellent (Sir) Derek Jacobi in!

[rapidotrains]

It's not that they are rubbish in and of themselves, but if you've read the books they are absolutely nothing like the originals.

 

Of course Sir Derek Jacobi's crowning achievement was as The Master on Doctor Who. I wish he'd stuck around instead of being replaced by another pretty young man.

 

-Jason

[darrel]

"A BritRail pass is one of the many benefits of being from Canada...."

 

Is that not the only benefit? Apart from not being American or English? The downside is you gave us Justin Bieber. Aye cheers what did we ever do to you to deserve that?

[eastwestdivide]

On Grope Lane: the one in York got "prettified" to Grape Lane. If you're interested, search the web for the even-less-suitable-for-work earlier names.

[Stu from EGDL]

Hi Gang,

 

Continuing the downside, there is Celene Dion too, although Sarah McLachlan more than compensates there.

One of my favourite nights out worldwide is Halifax, Nova Scotia.....the Lower Decks with live music sees my patronage every time I am there.

And who can not be failed to be impressed by George St in St Johns......and yes I have been screeched in!!!

A walk up to Signal Hill sorted that hangover out!!

 

Watching the Pendolino Kickstarter with interest....and will try and get a word with you/Ben/Mike on Sunday at Warley.

 

Larger,

Stu from EGDL.

[4630]

Hi Gang,

 

One of my favourite nights out worldwide is Halifax, Nova Scotia....

Stu from EGDL.

A night out in Halifax, West Yorkshire can be pretty lively event too.

[fender]

I like (and agree with) your affinity for preserving old buildings, which makes it funny that you didn't take any pictures of the castle, but did go up into it in order to take pictures of trains.

[gelboy45]

Grope Lane? My favourite is 'Lewd Lane' in Smarden, Kent!

Gerry

[roundhouse]

I like (and agree with) your affinity for preserving old buildings, which makes it funny that you didn't take any pictures of the castle, but did go up into it in order to take pictures of trains.

I don't have any photos of the castle either but plenty of the station and box!!!

[Pugsley]

One of my favourite nights out worldwide is Halifax, Nova Scotia.....the Lower Decks with live music sees my patronage every time I am there.

Me too - I love Halifax and can't wait to get back there. I've not been in the Lower Decks yet, but will give it a go next time I'm there - Stayner's Wharf is also worth checking out for live music.

[Southernman46]

Pssst - have a look at the prototype HST power car while you're here - make a great model.........................

[rapidotrains]

The second full day of our UK adventure started at Shrewsbury station. Bill and I have been amazed at how many young people live, work or study in Shrewsbury. There are young people everywhere, and approaching the station at 08:30 this morning we were truly and properly fighting a crowd made up mostly of young people. 

 

I'm also amazed at how these young people take such care in how they look - all made up and in such artful outfits. When I was that age? I would pick up a shirt from the floor in the morning and if it wasn't stained and it didn't smell, it was good.

 

 

Shrewsbury - a mid-size town in Shropshire - has a railway station that is almost the equivalent of the majestic Windsor Station in Montreal, birthplace of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Britain's railway history is astounding. The fact that the station is a hub of activity today is evidence of the success of Britain's passenger rail services. Do you know that there were 1.6 billion trips on Britain's railways in the last year? In Canada that number is probably closer to 60 million, the vast majority on Toronto-area commuter trains.

 

 

There is always something to see at Shrewsbury station, especially if you like DMUs and the plumes of blue smoke and stink that come from them. (I really do, actually.) Here a 170 from Birmingham engulfs a waiting 150 in blue smelly stuff. Yum! 

 

 

Our train to Crewe was running late because it was behind this freight. The Class 66 is a bittersweet engine for me. I think it's a great locomotive and I am proud that most of them were built in London, Ontario. But the latest locomotives delivered for GB Railfreight (and the last of the class to be built) were constructed in Muncie, Indiana. 

 

I read Rail magazine every month, but I just couldn't bring myself to read Stefanie Browne's congratulatory feature on the Caterpillar factory in Muncie. The General Motors plant in London was producing locomotives since 1949. It was sold to American private equity firms in 2005 but continued to build locomotives for the world, enjoying millions of dollars in Canadian government tax breaks to do so. 

 

Then Caterpillar bought the company and within two years shut the plant down, put 500 hard-working people out of work, and moved all of its locomotive production to Muncie, Indiana. Why? Because the Ontario workers were unionized and Caterpillar wanted to give them a 55% pay cut. Muncie was happy to have Caterpillar come to town and pay $12 to $14.50 an hour for its people to build locomotives - even though Caterpillar was making a sizeable profit building the locomotives with unionized labour. That's the key issue here - they were already profitable.

 

This is lowest-common-denominator capitalism and states like Indiana are complicit in the impoverishment of their inhabitants. Caterpillar is hugely profitable because it could not give a toss about people's livelihoods. If you are the CEO of Caterpillar and you are reading this, get stuffed.

 

Back to the trip...

 

 

We met with our friend, Terry Wynne, at Crewe station and promptly boarded a Voyager for Wales.Terry worked for British Rail for 40 years and was responsible for the printing of the national timetable. Terry thus knows everything about everything. He is very useful to have around when writing a blog post like this one. If there are any factual errors here it's because I didn't ask Terry first. 

 

 

The north Welsh coast, like so much of Wales, is stunning. Of course, I was busy designing a Pendolino advert so I missed most of it. But I'm told it's quite nice... Our destination was Bangor.

 

 

Strangely, nobody shouted "GO HABS!" at my Montreal Canadiens sweater the entire time I was on the train or in Wales. "Habs" is the nickname for the Montreal ice hockey team. I was under the impression that there were fans of the Montreal Canadiens in every connurbation around the globe. 

 

Now, if anyone in the UK wants to become a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, I can arrange it. Just send me £1000 in unmarked bills and I will send you an exclusive Montreal Canadiens fan pack comprising seven hockey cards, a replica hockey puck, and a serviette that someone told me was once used by star defenceman P.K. Subban.

 

 

Actually, Bangor station makes such an excellent layout that for a while we were convinced that it wasn't real and that we had been shrunk to 4mm scale. It's got totally unrealistic tunnels at both ends with a pretty station and some points in the middle. The Virgin Voyagers arrive from Birmingham, drive into the fiddle yard hidden in the tunnel, and then return to the station. It really is most unrealistic. I mean, what real place works like that?

 

 

We had to hire a car in Bangor as the train doesn't yet reach the Nant Ffrancon pass. Bill and Terry had to endure my driving again - it was OK except for the bits where we were on the wrong side of the road or trying to climb a 1 in 3 gradient in fifth gear. Did I mention I usually drive an automatic?

 

On our way to Nant Ffrancon we stopped for some photos. I took this one of Bill before the wind blew him down the valley. We spent four hours looking for him.

 

 

After recovering Bill we headed up the pass and had a picnic. This was great, except that the wind kept blowing the food out of our hands before it reached our mouths. Chasing around the mountainside trying to catch airborne potato crisps ensured that we all got our exercise for the week.

 

Now why go to the Nant Ffrancon pass of all places? Of course, because Doctor Who was filmed there in 1967. It's Tibet.

 

 

Nant Ffrancon stood in for Tibet in Doctor Who and The Abominable Snowmen, one of my favourite stories of which, sadly, only one episode still exists. Norman Jones makes an excellent warrior monk even if he doesn't look or sound remotely Tibetan.

 

After lunch Bill and I were strolling when we discovered that one of the Yeti had been left behind and this one was very much alive!

 

 

When I lived in the UK (cough) years ago, once a month my friend and I would travel to a different place where they filmed Doctor Who. This is an excellent way to see the British countryside as they filmed Doctor Who just about everywhere. We ended up at Ironbridge, the Cheddar Caves, the Rollright Stones, East Hagbourne - all the classic WHO locations. Sometimes you could still find Doctor Who memorabilia lying around, like TARDISes or Skarasens or whatever...

 

 

Or sometimes it's only a model.

 

If you live in the UK and you have never been to Tibet, I highly recommend it. Nant Ffrancon is only a 20-minute drive from Bangor and makes a great day out. Remember - we're from North America. UK distances mean nothing to us. Nant Ffrancon would make a great day trip from Basingstoke.

 

Before leaving Tibet, Bill caught this incredible photo. His phone has a setting called "take better pictures than Jason." I kept tossing his phone out the car window but he caught it from the back window every time. Git.

 

 

Just south of Tibet are the Swallow Falls. We paused for a selfie - Terry was sleeping at the time. 

 

 

Before leaving the Swallow Falls I noticed a small plaque discreetly placed beside a bench on one of the lookouts. Every place in the UK is filled with stories, and sometimes those stories are brought very clearly into focus as this was for me. 

 

 

The Swallow Falls were just another scenic spot for us, but for one mum and wife, this place held a special meaning. Obviously she is very much missed by her family and, tears welling up, I had to call my wife. My wife, Sidura, who had just finished trying to get the three kids to school on frozen and slippery roads. Sidura, who had to singlehandedly wrap the mattress in plastic that Sears wrongly delivered or they wouldn't pick it up to deliver the correct one. Sidura, whose car door had frozen in the sudden chill that's gripped Toronto and who had to climb in through the passenger side door. Sidura, who is dealing with all of this while her husband traipses around the UK taking pictures of TARDISes. She told me to go jump in the falls. 

 

 

We continued south to Betws-Y-Coed, one of many Welsh place names I will never learn to pronounce correctly. I kept getting caught on "Tussey," which is a North American word for bum. There is a sort-of-a railway museum there with a great miniature train ride. And the only passengers were three grown men making fools of themselves.

 

 

The museum looked like it had been assembled with great care in 1978 and not touched since. The displays were peeling off the walls and the model trains had mostly derailed and were covered in dust and cobwebs. The model shop is nice and the miniature train is worth riding, though. You can do that and then go spend money on tat in the tourist traps across the tracks. £16 for a seven-inch Charlie Brown plush? You've got to be kidding.

 

 

Wales is filled with little gems such as this small family chapel hidden up the hill and in the woods. We would have driven right past it except that it is Terry's family chapel! That's neat. He can trace his family back hundreds of years. 

 

Me? I can trace my family back to 1909, when my great grandfather arrived on a boat in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "What's your name?" the immigration officer asked him. "Mordechai Torkelovitch," he answered. "OK. Now you're Max Herman. M-A-X H-E-R-M-A-N. Welcome to Canada."

 

On that note, it's time to turn in. Didn't we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor? There was some guy named Jack looking for a cuddle on the Class 175 back to Shrewsbury but we kept well away from him.

 

What a long day this was. Tomorrow? The Welsh Whisky.

[loickebros]

 

What a long day this was. Tomorrow? The Welsh Whisky.

 

Oooh penderyn you are in for a treat!!!

[toboldlygo]

 

 

Air Canada now lands at Terminal 2, which I am convinced is actually in Croydon. After walking underground from Croydon, we caught the Heathrow Express to Paddington. We then boarded a lovely HST to Reading...

 

 

 

If you'd actually seen the amount of earth that came out of the ground when they were digging the foundations for Terminal 2, you may have walked part way to Australia

[dibber25]

Hard to believe but when I used Terminal 2 in September I actually thought it was BETTER than I remembered it but I did remember it as being TERRIBLE. It was after the shoe bomber and you had to take your shoes off and stand on a truly filthy carpet. Anyway, anything is better than the Air Transat check-in at Gatwick. In future I will 'do' Toronto via Heathrow-New York and not direct from Gatwick.

CHRIS LEIGH

[Fenman]

... In future I will 'do' Toronto via Heathrow-New York and not direct from Gatwick. ...

 

Really? I try to avoid US immigration unless I'm actually going to a US destination - although in fairness to them, they have got better over the last few years.

 

Paul

[Fat Controller]

On Grope Lane: the one in York got "prettified" to Grape Lane. If you're interested, search the web for the even-less-suitable-for-work earlier names.

It had already been Bowlderised; there's a word missing 'twixt 'grope' and 'lane'. The one in Banbury has the full version on a second sign that's positioned too high to read unless you're on someone's shoulders...

[Neil]

.... The General Motors plant in London was producing locomotives since 1949. It was sold to American private equity firms in 2005 but continued to build locomotives for the world, enjoying millions of dollars in Canadian government tax breaks to do so. 

 

Then Caterpillar bought the company and within two years shut the plant down, put 500 hard-working people out of work, and moved all of its locomotive production to Muncie, Indiana. Why? Because the Ontario workers were unionized and Caterpillar wanted to give them a 55% pay cut. Muncie was happy to have Caterpillar come to town and pay $12 to $14.50 an hour for its people to build locomotives - even though Caterpillar was making a sizeable profit building the locomotives with unionized labour. That's the key issue here - they were already profitable.

 

This is lowest-common-denominator capitalism and states like Indiana are complicit in the impoverishment of their inhabitants. Caterpillar is hugely profitable because it could not give a toss about people's livelihoods. If you are the CEO of Caterpillar and you are reading this, get stuffed. ...

 

Good man, well said.

[roundhouse]

Hard to believe but when I used Terminal 2 in September I actually thought it was BETTER than I remembered it but I did remember it as being TERRIBLE. It was after the shoe bomber and you had to take your shoes off and stand on a truly filthy carpet. Anyway, anything is better than the Air Transat check-in at Gatwick. In future I will 'do' Toronto via Heathrow-New York and not direct from Gatwick.

CHRIS LEIGH

Watch out for the new Air Canada (and other airlines) new Boeing 777W planes. They gave squeezed another lineof seatin in Economy so there is basically no leg room under the fornt seats let alone trying ot put a bag in there plus the extra peopel in the extra seats all vying for space in the overhead lockers. I got bashed so many times by the air crew as the aisels are also narrower.

 

I iwll avoid thesep lanes like the plague from now on.

 

Rest of Air Canada fleet is fine

[Fenman]

It had already been Bowlderised; there's a word missing 'twixt 'grope' and 'lane'. The one in Banbury has the full version on a second sign that's positioned too high to read unless you're on someone's shoulders...

 

There's lots of Bowdlerisation around; pretty much anything with "Puddle" in the name would originally have been "Piddle". On a similar theme, there's a pleasant enough Victorian alley in London's Smithfield that is now called Pass Alley.

 

My favourite old placename is from the Fens; a small settlement with the evocative name of Whoresnest Ferry. Not called that anymore (similarly named places tended to be renamed Horseferry, or some such).

 

Paul

[Jagboi]

Watch out for the new Air Canada (and other airlines) new Boeing 777W planes. They gave squeezed another lineof seatin in Economy

 It's more than an "extra row" These are called the high denstity planes, Air Canada fits them with 458 seats. British Airways uses the same plane and has 299 seats. You don't need much imagination to guess which is more comfortable.

 

Jason: As a fellow Canadian, certified train nut and avation geek, please don't fly Air Canada to the UK. Go British Airways, it's much nicer. Also, for about $250 more go "world traveller plus", i.e. premium economy. Much more comfortable, for not a lot more money.

 

We now return to the updated version of Whickers World, Jason's most excellent adventure...

[The Stationmaster]

On Grope Lane: the one in York got "prettified" to Grape Lane. If you're interested, search the web for the even-less-suitable-for-work earlier names.

And once upon a time had an even more comprehensive name  (but probably not on a nameplate or sign ).

 

I remain very puzzled as to why anyone would want to spend the night at a hotel in Reading when far, far better ones - or even fancy B&B establishments, or B&B in a good pub, are available but a short train (or taxi) ride away - but then visitors from abroad do get caught out sometimes I suppose so commiserations on that one chaps.

[rapidotrains]

(Prince Rupert Hotel photo)

 

We're staying at a wonderful hotel in Shrewsbury called the Prince Rupert Hotel. Our rooms are in the old part of the hotel, and date from pretty close to Brother Cadfael's time - so had Cadfael been a real person he could have stayed at somewhere like the Prince Rupert. I bet he made good use of the wi-fi.

 

There are exposed beams in the ceiling and walls, and - most importantly - the bathroom is more 2012 than 12th century - so it's a great place to stay. A full English breakfast is included with your room. Not much use to me but much enjoyed by Bill, the omnivore.

 

 

When Sidura and I were newly married we went to Gibraltar for the wedding of a couple of friends of ours. Everyone stayed at a lovely hotel called the Elliot. We stayed above a pub, with no air conditioning, no outside window (it opened to an inner courtyard), no working fan, and the AC unit from the pub blowing hot air into our room. It was the middle of summer. Being able to stay at the Prince Rupert feels like I've finally learned how the other half lives.

 

 

Our third day began, much like the last one, at Shrewsbury station. I love Voyagers, but I can't seem to avoid Class 175s. If there was ever a DMU that I would describe as unremarkable, it would be the 175. At least the 170 has some neat, futuristic curves. The 175 takes those curves away and leaves the face looking like what can best be described as a backwards shovel.

 

But if you are exploring Wales, chances are you will end up on a 175.

 

 

The only redeeming feature about 175s is that, if you squint and don't look at the ends of the car, they do actually look like loco-hauled stock. OK - that's pushing it. Bill was in such a deep sleep on the 175 that some highly attractive 20-something dancing girls sat all around him and he didn't notice. Sorry, Bill, did I forget to mention that?

 

 

Cardiff is a Great Western station through and through. Apart from the rather obvious GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY emblazoned in stone above the entrance, the little details throughout the station scream GWR and BR Western Region. Once again, riding Britain's railways is a journey through history.

 

We boarded our train to Aberdare - and experienced first hand why these 143s and 142s are called Nodding Donkeys.

 

 

In contrast to what a lot of people say, I had no complaints about the ride quality. It was certainly better than the 150 we took later on. 

 

The train was headed for Aberdare in the Welsh valleys. I associate the Welsh valleys with coal mining. I kept looking for a twee village called Llanfairfach with a visible pit shaft, wheels turning as the elevator went up and down, and some guy named Dai Evans or Cliff Jones waving to me from the pavement and calling me Boyo. 

 

(Wales Online photo)

 

Instead I saw a lot of young mums with piercings. And I mean a LOT of piercings. This was not the 1970s Doctor Who episode I was expecting (The Green Death). Rather it was Invasion of the Body Scratchers.

 

Two young mums boarded the Class 143 at different stations and ended up across from each other. They were properly young - couldn't have been more than 21. One was on her own with her newborn in the pram, and the newborn started to cry. She hushed it and gave it some milk, which seemed to do the job. But I wanted to shout, "The kid is crying because you have four million piercings and you look like something rejected from the cast of Nightmare on Elm Street for being too scary!" 

 

Actually, I give her credit for being very attentive and a very good mother, talking to her little one all the time. She knew what her newborn wanted immediately when it started crying. I was the one who was scared as I have a magnet somewhere in my bag and I thought the whole bag would fly across the train and attach itself to her face.

 

Another mum came on with boyfriend/husband and two year old - with the same weird piercings under her mouth that the other mum had. I guess I am old fashioned in thinking someone coming on the train packing that much metal would be an awful parent. I was completely wrong. She was also very attentive to her boy, as was her partner. 

 

I learned two very important lessons today: never judge a mum by her scary body art and I am not living in a 1973 Doctor Who episode, however much I believe I am.

 

 

The service ended at Aberdare, in the Welsh valleys. Now here's the weird thing. There are a lot of Welsh people in the valleys. But there didn't seem to be any Welsh people in northern Wales. I think more of the people from the valleys should move to Bangor to even things out. I'll start a campaign.

 

The real reason we were in this part of Wales was Welsh Gold, otherwise known as Penderyn whisky:

 

 

http://www.welsh-whisky.co.uk

 

The people at Penderyn were very surprised that I came all the way from Canada just to visit their distillery. Actually, I think they were more surprised that we'd come all the way from Shrewsbury. "Shrewsbury? Such a long way? Let me get you a cup of tea!" And someone from the office - probably the vice president or something - went and made me a cup of tea.

 

 

I've been to numerous distilleries around Scotland, and I have to say that Penderyn was the best of the lot. It wasn't contrived; it wasn't kitschy; it didn't shove its pedigree down your throat; it wasn't filled with tourists just doing it because that's "what you do." It is a small company with only 28 employees, one mash tun and four stills. And they make really, really good whisky.

 

The tour was intimate and informative. Mia, our tour guide, also runs the shop. She probably does the bookkeeping and designs the labels too, for all I know! She sat down with us while we were enjoying our whisky tasting and pretty soon a couple of other people who work at Penderyn had joined us to shoot the breeze. 

 

 

Going to Penderyn, for me, would be like a Birmingham City fan being invited to visit the dressing room and chat with the whole team. I think the people at the distillery were surprised that they have such a huge fan. I resisted the urge to start asking for autographs. I mentioned that I had bought 12 bottles of the Portwood and still had four left. They told me that I had more than they did, as they sold out and everyone agreed it was their best whisky yet!

 

Their peated cask whisky is to die for, as is their new Dylan Thomas commemorative edition. I strongly recommend you give Penderyn a try. It doesn't taste like Scotch. It has a taste all its own. People who stick up their noses at Welsh whisky - like that toff at the duty free shop in Terminal 2 last June - should be chopped up without sedation and fed to an Aridian Mire Beast.

 

Of course, tasting so much whisky in the middle of the afternoon on an empty stomach meant that I was bit loopy afterward. In the taxi back to Aberdare, I started jumping up and down (as much as you can jump when belted into a taxi) because I finally found what I'd been looking for all day... a SLAG HEAP!

 

 

The taxi driver, Victoria, informed us that she still heats her house with coal. And she also informed us that she's been with her boyfriend for seven years and he's very shy so he won't propose because he doesn't want to make a fuss and her oldest guy friend has been in love with her since they were in school and he got into a fight with her at the Turkish kebab place because she didn't want to be his girlfriend and now he's engaged but he told her he still loves her and not his fiancee and she feels totally awkward around him and she and her boyfriend are trying for a baby and maybe when they're 30 they'll finally get married and.... it was an interesting drive back to Aberdare. 

 

By now we've been travelling pretty much nonstop since the weekend, and we're running out of steam. I caught about three minutes of shuteye on our Class 150 back to Cardiff...

 

 

...and as I am writing this Bill is unconscious across the aisle on our CrossCountry 170 to Birmingham. I'm sitting right above the horn and the driver thinks he's in North America. He's been tooting freely the whole way from Cardiff, pretending we have to blow the whistle for level crossings, and my feet have lost all feeling! You haven't lived until you've had a VERY LOUD HORN blown a couple of feet under your toes. Who thought it would be a good idea to put the horn down there? Someone who levitates, obviously.

 

(If it isn't under your feet, it certainly feels like it.)

 

 

Quite late in the day my phone informed me that today, 20 November, is Bill's birthday. And he chose to spend it traipsing around the UK with me in DMUs and tasting whisky. Happy birthday, Bill, and thanks for being a great travelling companion. 

 

Tomorrow we head for Birmingham (again) and the NEC. Please visit us at the Locomotion booth E22, though my apologies in advance if one of us is asleep under the table. I'll upload the show report and the final instalment of our journey next week.

 

[The Stationmaster]

Glad to see you stayed in a decent hotel in Salop  (even if you did call it Shewsbury, or was it Shroseberry?), apparently some people can tell where you went to school according to how you pronounce it.