The first big trip....

After coming up with the idea for GirlonRails, I had a few weeks to wait before I could get out on the trains again due to uni commitments and exams, but in June I did 3 days within the space of a week travelling around the East Midlands on a 3 in 7 day Rover ticket. The way Nottingham University's terms work is that we have 2 weeks between the end of our summer exams and the end of term, where there are various award and celebration events taking place, so whilst I couldn't physically go home until the end of this period I had plenty of time free to be able to travel. I'd hoped to do the same this year but coronavirus happened.

So, to day 1 - 6th June 2020. This was the Nottingham-Bedford-Bletchley-Coventry-Leicester-Sheffield-Worksop-Nottingham day. It was a long day. A very long day. I left home at 8.30am to make my way to Nottingham station, via a quick stop at Greggs to buy breakfast and lunch for the day. I then bought my ticket and made my way onto the first train of the day, which was bound for London St Pancras. I couldn't actually go that far though due to my rover ticket only being valid as far as Bedford, and that is where I alighted, having ticket off a number of the stations on the Midland Main Line.

I had been keen to do the Bedford-Bletchley Marston Vale line for a while at this point and the new trains (the class 230 D trains, formerly London Underground District line D78 stock) had entered service a few weeks before this trip so I was particularly excited for my next train, even though I had a 25 minute wait at Bedford for it to arrive. Before long, I was on the move again and heading for Bletchley on the D-train. It was quite strange to see the transformation of the D78 stock, which I had used in London just before they were replaced, but I did like the class 230 and think similar transformations are a good way to re-use these trains. I know this is what is meant to be happening on the Isle of Wight and, once the new service has been introduced, I will be planning on going over to the island to check the new rolling stock out.

At Bletchley, I changed onto another train for the single stop up to Milton Keynes central. My plan had been to change here and then at Northampton, but I found a single train which stopped at all stations between Milton Keynes and Coventry, so took this instead. At Coventry, I changed for a train towards Nuneaton, where I boarded a CrossCountry service to Leicester via Hinckley. I had debated going in towards Birmingham itself, but the validity of my rover ticket prohibited this. I even had time to buy a drink at Starbucks in Coventry station, on which they nearly spelled my name correctly.....

At Leicester, I boarded a East Midlands Trains (now EMR) Meridian up to Sheffield, calling at Derby on the way. I'd never actually travelled in Standard Class on a Meridian (with the only trip I'd made on one being on an extremely cheap first class fare) and I was pleasantly surprised. I often use EMR to travel between Nottingham and London but by booking advance fares can often get a first class ticket at around lunchtime for less than £20, which by the time I've had a couple of drinks and a snack, is well worth the slightly more expensive ticket. It also saves me from having to carry a bottled drink with me when I have loads of luggage on the way home from/back to uni, which means my lunch can fit in my laptop case and handbag.


By the time I arrived in Sheffield, It was approaching 5pm and I decided to grab myself some dinner before I continued my journey, so headed for the station's trusty Burger King restaurant.

I then headed back onto the platforms to get back on the trains, this time with Worksop being my destination. I was very disappointed on my arrival at the platform to find that a pacer was in, not because I hate them, but because the pacer was not my train. I'd always wanted to have a ride on them because, being  a southerner I'd simply never had the opportunity. Alas, when my train arrived it was not a pacer, but I still boarded it, vowing to ensure that I rode a pacer when I returned to Sheffield later that week. Unfortunately for me, the connection to the Nottingham train gave me a 40 minute wait at Worksop station, although there are certainly less pretty stations to wait at.

From there, I boarded the train down the Robin Hood Line to Nottingham, where I headed home for the night. As we left Worksop there was even an Elizabeth Line (Crossrail) unit in a siding!

Stations Visited: Aspley Guise, Bedford (Midland), Bedford St John's, Bedworth, Bermuda Park, Bletchley, Bow Brickhill, Bulwell, Coventry, Coventry Arena, Creswell (Derbyshire), Derby, Fenny Stratford, Hinckley, Hucknall, Kempston Hardwick, Kettering, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Langwith, Lidlington, Long Buckby, Mansfield Town, Mansfield Woodhouse, Millbrook (Bedfordshire), Narborough, Newstead, Northampton, Nuneaton, Ridgmont, Rugby, Shirebrook, Stewartby, Sutton Parkway, Wellingborough, Whitwell, Woburn Sands and Worksop.

Station count: 154

I think I'll leave this here, but over the next couple of posts I'll be telling you about the rest of my travels over that summer.