13:00.

Humble apologies for my long absence. This has been down to a catalogue of circumstances which is too long to detail.

But now I’m back, and I intend to stay back..

Right now I’m back on the rails, heading for Southport and time with some of my family on what’s a glorious day, weather-wise. I caught a train from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester through the Calder valley which looked simply stunning. There’s blossom aplenty. Plus a plethora of shades of green as the trees renew their leaves for another year. The only downside has been a steady wind which has reduced temperatures to bordering on chilly.

My train into Victoria gave me a few anxious moments as it was late and I only had a 6 minute connection. Fortunately, this was a cross-platform connection and the Southport train was late too.

Now I’m enjoying the journey to the coast via Bolton in the former 1st Class section of a bi-mode Class 769.