The Train from Leicester to Manchester but…

…there is no train from Leicester to Manchester. 

The track is there but it ceased to be in service way back in the 1960s. The only way to get to Manchester by train these days is a tortuous challenge of timetable checks and clashes. 

We took on this very challenge last week to visit our lovely granddaughter and family. We declined the Birmingham option because it takes about an hour longer and we declined the Sheffield option which involves the Trans-Pennine Express as it is anything but express. We opted for Nuneaton but our connection was almost an hour late and the waiting room had an ‘Out of Order’ sign on the locked door. How can a waiting room be out of order? It was cold on that platform. There was an evil wind whipping at my ears no matter which part of the platform I paced along.  What a shame they haven't yet developed the technology so I could be like Captain Kirk in Star-Trek and cry, “Beam me up, Scotty!”

The Manchester train departs from platform 3 but platform 3 is the route taken by an almost continual barrage of non-stop bullet-like trains. The woman over the loudspeaker kept warning us to stand well clear and to hold onto bags and pushchairs. She wasn’t kidding. I could almost feel my hair tugging at the roots. How do they avoid daily or even hourly fatalities? There should be protective screens. They have them on the new London Underground lines... at least I think they do... but there was not a screen in sight at Nuneaton.

I tried to take photos of one of the offending high speed monsters but my phone couldn't cope wih the velocity so I've created a cartoon instead. 

Getting to Manchester by train was stressful but perhaps marginally better than the stress of me driving, Mind you, the sight of our granddaughter and husband waiting on the platform for us when we arrived made it all worth while.

My London Grip Poem...

...and some editing notes

London Grip New Poetry has been publishing a quarterly online magazine of new poetry for over ten years. It was last month that I heard from the editor to say that they would be publishing my poem, 'Driving Home from Work' in their Winter 2025 issue. A few of you messaged me to ask for the link on publication. I've attached the link below. 

It is a packed magazine and I'm sure you'll enjoy having a read through some of the other poems, but if you want to jump to mine first then click on my name in the list at the top of the site.

I had the idea for this poem a few years ago. I was driving home through Leicester when the traffic slowed near a small Tesco food store. The O in the Tesco sign was flashing... annoyingly flashing, yet no one else seemed to notice it. I reflected on my irritation. Maybe I'm obsessive compulsive, I thought. I mulled over what else irritated me. The poem emerged from those ruminations, but it was only recently that I retrieved it from the pending file, tightened it up and reworked a more satisfying conclusion. Writing is like that sometimes. It needs to sit in a computer file and settle before it can be completed.

I hope you enjoy reading it at London Grip New Poetry.

My Top 5 Motoring Moans...

...an excuse for a good grumble!

1 Too many cars: Is this simply because there are more people in the world and they all want to drive a car or is it caused by all the delivery vans cruising the streets with parcels or boxes of food? I don't know the answer.

2 Rush hour: Not so long ago there was a rush hour in the morning and another at teatime as people went to and from work. Now it feels as if we have a constant daily rush hour and yet since Covid there are many people who continue to work from home at least a few days a week. Makes no sense.

3 Roadworks and potholes: In our City it seems as if every other road has cones and barriers and copious diversion signs and yet there are still many potholes that threaten our cars' suspension systems. What are all the workmen doing?

4 Parking: When I was young Dad would park his car beside any kerb, even in the centre of town. Now street parking is almost impossible and paying to park is becoming more expensive by the month, or so it seems. It now costs £5 for three hours in the multi-storey car park in town and the local shopping areas have all put a charge on parking. No wonder local shops are struggling to survive. 

5 Delivery bikes and scooters: Only yesterday a young food delivery driver cut in front of me and several other cars on his bike as we were moving at a steady speed along a main road in town. Is delivering a pizza to someone more important than his life? And this doesn't only happen on the roads. I've almost been swept off my feet by electric scooter drivers while walking along the pavement. That's just plain rude!

End of grumble, but if you have any motoring moans that I haven't mentioned do please share.