FOR F*^K SAKE!!! GOODBYE… I’M GOING HOME!

Now for what did happen… 

I set off on the 0805 Northern service from Ulverston to take me to Wigan North Western. I had decided on a tight connection with a run across to Wigan Wallgate. The connection time was 6 minutes. When I planned this trip, I checked on Realtime Trains for the previous 5 days and noticed that this particular service had been on time or early every day which gave me the optimism to use the tight 6 minute connection. If there was ever a sign that luck was against me on this day was that for the first time in a week the service was 4 minutes late into Wigan North Western giving me 2 minutes to get across the road to Wigan Wallgate. There was only one hope left and that was to run! Even with running though I missed my connection, it pulled away from the platform as I was going down the stairs. That was my first disaster of the day. A quick reworking of my plan and I discovered things were not too bad. The day could be saved, and I’d only have to drop one station which I could pickup the next day with a nice leisurely trip up the Southport line with Merseyrail to get Meols Cop the next day.

With this plan in place I waited for the next service which would take me to Gathurst where I would have a half hour wait for the next service. I alighted; the train departed. I then looked up at the Passenger Information screen to see how long to wait for my next train only to see to my horror that the train was cancelled! So, there I was, yet again checking real time trains to rework my plan, for the second time within an hour! 

The new plan was done, which remarkably meant finishing at the same time without dropping anymore stations but did now include a fast walk along the canal. I now had half hour to wait so decided to have a look around the immediate area, not much to see really except a canal, which I would be back to later in the day. 

Back to the station to wait for the next train which would take me two stations down the line to Parbold. 

I arrived at Parbold and was bursting for the toilet. I noticed a sign on the station building saying toilet so headed over and went into the ticket hall, located the toilet which had a sign saying to ask for the key from the ticket office. I went over to the gentleman who said that do I have a radar key as the station doesn’t have one. I was quite annoyed at this but could see even if he did have the key, he wasn’t going to let me have it. After 14 years in retail I know the tricks of the trade, and decided to move on, not before dropping @NorthernAssist a quick message to ask them to either remove the toilet sign or get a new key. 

After the disaster in the ticket office I decided to head to the canal and take a walk towards my next station. While on the walk I was on the lookout for a decent size hedge to have a piss behind. I did and was then able to enjoy the rest of the walk. I was enjoying the walk so much I walked to far! Meaning I was now going to have to up my pace to make it to the next station in time for the train. 

I arrived at Hoscar dripping with sweat after having to break into a little jog to make sure I made my connection. After a quick look on Realtime Trains I noticed the train was now running 5 minutes late, not a problem for me, I had a two-hour connection at the next station. It was almost a case of the later this train was the better. Anyway, now I had more time I took a quick wander over to the east bound platform before crossing back across the level crossing to the west bound platform. I love a good staggered station. Something about them is quite endearing to me. Anyway, back on the west bound platform where I could see very quickly why this was the least used station in Lancashire. There was very little in the local area other than a few houses and farms scattered around.

I waited for the delayed service which would take me to Bescar Lane. The unit to arrive was the rather overcrowded 142011. It was so overcrowded I’m surprised the guard was actually letting more passengers on… I’d imagine if there was more than just me at Hoscar then he might have had a different idea. The journey down to Bescar Lane was very hot and very uncomfortable, I was stood with a dog laying at my feet and a pram against the back of my legs. Thankfully it wasn’t a long journey. 

After arriving at Bescar Lane, which I was delighted to arrive at for more reasons than one. It meant I was off that overcrowded uncomfortable pacer. But also, I was now only one station away from saying “Lancashire Tick”. On arrival at the station I noticed a gentleman who was attending to the flowers on the platform. Having seen me get off the train the gentleman said not many people get off there, so it was a rarity to see a passenger get off the train. He gave me some great information about which was the best way to walk to New Lane. He recommended the longer walk as it would also be the nicest walk. 

After a quick look around Bescar lane and a few photos taken it was time to head off on the recommended walk. The walk started quite sketchy as it was walking along a reasonably busy road with no pavement. After about 45 minutes of walking this road I was quite happy to see that the canal was ahead of me. Once on the canal, the walk became quite relaxing. I genuinely love walking alone canals, I tend to find them really relaxing. One of my dreams when I was younger was to have a holiday on a canal boat, to be honest it still is kind of a dream of mine. Anyway, back to my current walk. I was coming towards the end of the walk along the canal. There was a very inviting pub where the canal met the road, unfortunately I didn’t have enough time for a pint by the canal. I had to get to the station for the train. I arrived at my final station in Lancashire, New Lane. It was getting on towards mid afternoon and the thought that I had done only 5 stations was quite a disappointing one.

I had my usual walk around, another staggered platform, that bought a smile to my face anyway. It was at this point that it dawned on me that I had now completed another county, a total of 7 counties had now been completed. I waited for the next service which was to take me back towards Wigan. I was delighted to see it was a class 150. After last train journey on the pacer I was happy for it to be anything other than a pacer. 

I headed back to Wigan Wallgate Street and headed over to Wigan North Western where I was due to head off and visit the stations between Wigan and Huyton. Unfortunately, this went tits up with the next train I should have been getting to be cancelled and the next one after that showing delayed. I was quite annoyed at this now. This now took my tally to 5 trains being either delayed or cancelled. I had one chance for the day to be rescued. As there was a cancelled service and no one knowing what time the next service I asked in the Virgin trains office for them to contact Northern to see if they could do an additional stop at one of that stations I needed. They said no, what annoyed me was they didn’t even try and wouldn’t even call control. They just didn’t want to know. 

At this point I went and sat on a bench to consider my options. Given the amount of disruption I had endured on this day I was really struggling to focus on working out another plan. As it was my final move of the day was decided by the next train departure announcement. ‘The next train to depart from platform 5 will be the 1418 service to Barrow-In-Furness’. With that announcement the day was over… Homeward bound I went, in the corner at the back of the train miserable at how rubbish a day it had been.

This truly was the most challenging day I’ve had. But now a few months on I am pleased to report that I have not had another day like this. In fact, only a week after this I went back and completed Merseyside which went a long way to returning happiness to the challenge for me. 

Merseyside blog should be landing in the next week… I’m starting to force myself to make time in front of the damn computer to type these up. I hope to be sharing blogs with you all much more frequently 😊.

Until next time. 

Stu 😊