Rambling, Coventry area

Hi Midland Red, It was superb. It stopped for water twice, at Appleby & then just after Settle, but maintained its schedule throughout. I tell you, I am still fizzing from the event. 60009 & Owl I have commented on YouTube about this recording from a previous week. It has an owl for Mayjan. Neither Pam or our friends are steam nuts like me, but they were thrilled with the whole day for £64 each. We only had the plain travel tickets, not the wine & dine, but I can't remember wine & dine as a trainspotter. My 'highlight' as a boy was dinner on the train with my parents, but trainspotting required a door-step sandwich. So, Pam served door-step cheese, tomato & cress sandwiches which were much more true to form for our steam trip. What a pip! I explained to a couple commenting on our lunch that it is the only known cure for any outbreak of trainspots. It was a lovely day out. PS. For my friend Midland Red, It was so atmospheric being aboard a steamer, as afternoon turned to dusk & then to dark. The eerie sound of the A4 chime whistle as we ventured off the fells into more normal civilisation. We even had a discount for booking four tickets.

A wonderful memory for you and Pam Philip and one you really enjoyed obviously. Oh, the owl, fantastic.

What a wonderful day out Phil. I'm so glad you, Pam and your friends enjoyed it. The sandwiches sounded fantastic - well done Pam.

Hi all Thank you for your lovely comments about our Saturday trip. The A4 class locos were alien to our area here in Coventry. I can't ever remember seeing one in Coventry. I had to travel to Grantham to watch them in action. The joy of being pulled by one of these masterpieces of British Engineering from 1934, that is eighty years ago, & that they can still pull over five hundred tons over Shap, keeping pace with motorway traffic on the M6 (please watch it on the video clip), takes my breath away. Our nearest steep motorway climb is our M6, between junc 3 & 5 where there is a crawler lane for the heavy lorries in both directions. Many of those are fetched to below 30mph & that climb is not as steep as Shap. It makes me proud to be a 'Brit', so please let us give a big cheer to our local Universities & Colleges, warts & all, who are training our future engineers now, in the hope that they bring us out of these present hard times. The A4s were built in 1934, in the same kind of economic climate as we have now. Look at what they achieved! Forty years of British Engineering Exports. The North British Loco Company alone had full order books until the late sixties. Best wishes to you all.

Hi scrutiny That is bril!. Sorry that you have been out of sorts. Best wishes to you.

For those who are not aware, sister A4 loco 4468 (or 60022) "Mallard" still holds the world speed record for steam locomotives set at 125.88mph in 1938

Hi to you too Midland Red, We are in coach J second from last

Hi all Another YouTube recording has been loaded. Pam & I have just made out each other at Carlisle. DayOut

Hi all, Following our forum breakfast meet today, a couple of us decided to make good use of both the sunshine & our bus-pass. Not even sure where to go, we boarded a X17 en route to Warwick. We got off near to Abbey Fields in Kenilworth. The delights of some fresh air & blue skies, along with remains of the Abbey, all easily reached on bus. In the distance is Kenilworth Castle After a period of photo recording, we walked into the pub (the famous Virgins & Castle), where we enjoyed a light lunch washed down with draught scrumpy. It was lovely. So much so that we decided (or it forced us) to ease away any further strenuous rambling ambitions, by walking to the nearest bus stop & enjoy a ride home aboard the No11, which travels via Warwick University. All together, a most enjoyable day, with good company throughout, good grub & lovely scrumpy. I wonder where next! (Glug) Kenilworth Abbey

Wonderful photos Philip thank you for sharing your day out with us, it's lovely and peaceful there isn't it, as if you're in a completely different world I feel when I visited my siblings. I recall when my nephews were little ones them sledging down that hill in the snow in the park.

Hi Philip, How nice the pictures were and those lovely daffs on the grassy bank. Lovely little place Kenilworth. I have a relative there. Thank you for sending them in. Hope this is a nice day for you.

Yes, it was a wonderful walk in "summer" weather, and in the best of company - thank you Philip! Although it's "non-Cov" I've put together two collections of photos from our ramble in Kenilworth yesterday : 'In and around Abbey Fields' and 'A walk along High Street' [hit the thumbnails for fuller descriptions and larger images!] Enjoy!

Just read this post from start to finish. Brilliant stuff. Having grown up in Sewall Highway in the 40's and 50's, (not far from Philip, incidentally), I'm sure that we knew the piece of ground that is being talked about as "The Black Pad". Weren't we lucky from that time, we could, and did, walk for miles as kids. We played out all day, fortunately living very near fields, we built dens, made fires. In the early days, before they built up from the Devon behind our part of Sewall Highway, we had a large bomb crater. Magical, happy, carefree days. Then moving on to another theme of the post, we've just had a few days in York, and obviously did the Railway Museum. Amazing place I reckon. Whilst walking around, and admiring all the exhibits, one can't help but feel sad, on reflecting how good we once were at these things, heavy engineering etc.

Hi to you both & Hi all Thank you for your comments Slash1, and also your pictures Midland Red. We have our forum calendar pictures (Kenilworth edition). I do hope that none of our members are unhappy about a loose interpretation on what is or isn't Coventry related. For example---: I have visited the Planetarium in London a few times, but I would not dream of putting a specific article up about it on our Coventry related site, unless there was a specific link between it & Coventry that was relevant to the thread. Part of my theme for "Rambling" is not just the nice place that Kenilworth might be, or even Bedworth, or Rugby. The theme is the fact of how easy it is using Coventry as strategic starting point, particularly using public transport & the advantages of using public transport. That is what makes it relevant to our Coventry related threads. It is also a huge recommendation for anyone wanting to stay in the Midlands area, to do so in Coventry. On Tuesday this coming week, I am meeting a friend in Coventry who is coming from Birmingham. On his journey, he will be travelling nearly three quarters of an hour, before he leaves Birmingham. Most journeys out of Coventry, we are often brushing the sticks aside in quarter of an hour or less. Ok, so why not stay in Kenilworth? If you are using public transport, which is what I try to put over as very friendly usage & an easy way to get out & about, sadly from Kenilworth, you are restricted to just travelling in basically a straight line. Contrast that with Coventry, where we have as many radiating routes as you will find spokes on a bicycle, that for me is one heck of a good reason for visitors to stay in Coventry. There are a few routes in Coventry which remain built-up, which includes travelling say between Coventry & Nuneaton, which may be the worst case. If you know your bus routes, that can be avoided. The fastest bus route from Coventry to Nuneaton is the No 48. If however you have plenty of time, try the No 16 or the No 55 via Keresley. When eventually you get to Bedworth, swop to the No 56, & continue via Bulkington. By the time you have reached Nuneaton & providing you still have your sanity, you will be almost knocking sticks out of your shoes. This is no joke. This is how good it is here in Coventry at present. I want to make the most of it whilst I have my bus-pass & reasonable health & then come home & tell you all about it, particularly for those who cannot get out & about or no longer live here. Memories are made of this. So, please relax & click on the links to the pics recorded yesterday by Midland Red, set to slide-show & enjoy your day out with us.