Another Great Railway Journey

[whole diary]

[trainer]

Somewhere between the Glacier Express in Switzerland and the Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town line in England comes the must-see TransWilts.  As a loyal member of this forum and indeed of the TW group, it was my delight yesterday to experience the journey from Trowbridge to Chippenham through the wayside town of Melksham in deepest Wiltshire, a County second only in beauty and historical significance to the one you were born in. (If you were born in Wilts then it's second to none.)

Boarding at 11:56 with 8 others we were a band of 12 setting off onto the rural paradise that I've so often read about and never experienced.  The Tin Rocket (153) whisked us past the expansive suburbs of Trowbridge and out to the verdant pastures of rural England basking in its summer glory.  Very soon we were braking for the wayside halt of sleepy Melksham where 4 people were waiting as 3 stood to alight. One of those getting off was an elderly gentleman with a walking stick who stepped down to the platform into the arms of two equally elderly ladies who were delighted to see him.  Only two got on.

Then onward, past fields of lavender blue crops (could it have been lavender?) and views that stretched outwards across England's finest.

At Thingley we swung off the TW link and returned (too soon in my opinion) onto the GW^» (Great Western - used as an abbreviation for the area / lines under the Great Western franchise, as opposed to FGW which includes "First", the company operating them too. For tickets - about) mainline and after a period of wrong line running we were gradually let down from our rustic euphoria and into the arms of the the metropolis which is Chippenham.

Another part of the railway map could be coloured in.

PS I was accompanied by another member of the forum who might not be chuffed to be mentioned.

[chuffed]

There is another reason why Trainer was so smitten with the sylvan swards of weeping Wisterial Wiltshire ....

I paid his fare ! He was champing at the bit so much that he nearly got on the Great Malvern train that pulled in a couple of minutes before the Melksham Mallard.

He was so taken with the charms of cosmopolitan Chippenham that he couldn't wait for the 1553 return. We actually came back to Trowbridge on the 1500 Faresaver Flyer using our wrinkly bus passes !

[grahame]

I paid his fare !

To be fair, it's a very fair fare from Trowbridge to Chippenham - ^3.30 return with a senior railcard

He was champing at the bit so much that he nearly got on the Great Malvern train that pulled in a couple of minutes before the Melksham Mallard.

I know that Trowbridge has a bit of a reputation, but it's not that bad ...

He was so taken with the charms of cosmopolitan Chippenham that he couldn't wait for the 1553 return. We actually came back to Trowbridge on the 1500 Faresaver Flyer using our wrinkly bus passes !

Now that's interesting ... the 15:53 is the Melksham time; it leaves Chippenham Station at 15:39.   And the 15:00 is the bus station time; it's 15:08 from Chippenham Railway Station.

Now the interesting thing about the 15:08 bus and the 15:39 train is that they BOTH arrive at Trowbridge Station at 16:02, thus demonstrating how commercial competition often encourages a clumping of services.   Faresaver have a particular reputation for this, leaving just ahead of the First bus or train,  net result being a combined service that isn't optimum for travellers on the route.  Hope you enjoyed your 54 minutes on the bus  which actually shows you places you wouldn't see from the train such as Notton, Lacock, Semington and the 'burbs of Trowbridge.

[chuffed]

As we got off at Holy Trinity (thought that was Trowbridge. Melksham and Chippenham combined  ) we both commented isn't that the Melksham train We felt like prodigal sons returning.....