10:45.

After a long day exploring Southport yesterday I’m on the move again today, this time I’m bound for Banbury as a positioning move to be ready for the opening event of community rail week which starts tomorrow.

Walking to Southport station’s a lot easier than back at home as the town’s flat. The only hill I encounter is a railway bridge! Even so, I’ve already clocked up over 6000 steps.

Right now I’m on a Merseyrail Class 777 to Liverpool. From a passenger’s perspective they’re not bad trains. They’ve level boarding, a/c, power points and plenty of space. From an operators point of view they’re a bit of a nightmare due to ongoing technical issues with various bits of kit – including the passenger information system. Still, this one should get me to Liverpool OK.

The line to Liverpool’s changed enormously since the days of my youth. The freight lines that dominated the docks have almost all disappered, along with the coal yards and sand traffic.