I moved to the 'new Cotswolds' after nearly 40 years in the city. But I can't help feeling bitter about losing my old life... this is the brutal truth about rural living: KATE SPICER
I felt a sort of grief leaving the North Kensington neighbourhood I had spent 35 years getting to know and moving to Somerset 100 miles west.
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Wales Online
6 hours ago
- Wales Online
Man takes sleeper train to Cornwall but price is 'insane'
Man takes sleeper train to Cornwall but price is 'insane' George Kimm, a UK travel and food content creator, took the Great Western Railway (GWR) Night Riviera from London Paddington to Penzance and shared his experience on Instagram A Great Western Railway (GWR) Hitachi train waits at Penzance station (Image: Greg Martin / Cornwall Live) Cornwall, with its sandy beaches, stunning coastline, ample surfing opportunities and dramatic cliffs, is widely recognised as the UK's most beautiful county. Not only do locals adore this South West paradise, but it also attracts visitors from across the country. One such tourist is George Kimm, a UK travel and food content creator. George journeyed from London to Cornwall on an overnight sleeper train, documenting his experience on Instagram. He boarded the Great Western Railway (GWR) Night Riviera, which departs from London Paddington and arrives in Penzance the following morning, with the total journey taking just over eight hours. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here The travel enthusiast shared his candid review of the experience. However, one detail that caught his Instagram followers off guard was the cost. George booked a "very cosy" solo cabin on the train, equipped with a single bed, a table that doubled as a sink, a wardrobe, and under-bed storage, which he found "very useful". GWR also provided some amenities, including soap, reports Cornwall Live. Article continues below George pointed out that the toilets are located outside the cabins. But aside from that, he felt the train company "really had thought of everything else". The London-based content creator added: "Before we left London Paddington I had a look in the onboard bar where you can sit down, relax. "They also provide free tea and coffee with biscuits and when it comes to going to sleep, I actually had a really good experience." After getting settled and having a look around, George watched the train depart from the station before heading to bed. He revealed that he loved the sounds and motion of the train, as they lulled him to sleep. A man shared his experience travelling on an overnight sleeper train from London to Cornwall (stock photo) (Image: Greg Martin/Cornwall Live) When George awoke the following morning, he had breakfast, which came included with his cabin. He chose a cup of tea and a sausage bap, commenting that it was "very delicious". The travel enthusiast added: "And it was so lovely to have my breakfast whilst watching the countryside whizz by." He concluded his Instagram reel by disclosing the cost of his journey and cabin, stating: "My ticket cost £119 and an additional £149 for the cabin." George believed it was "such a cool experience" falling asleep in London and awakening in Cornwall. He felt that it was "honestly so worth it" and something that he would certainly do again. The Instagram post has amassed an incredible one million views, thousands of likes and more than 400 comments. One user observed: "£75 return to Paris, just saying." George responded: "Totally get it. This was a bucket list trip." Another commented: "Looks fun but the price is insane." A third astonished viewer questioned: "Omg... how much?". Someone else even branded the price as "criminal." Despite the steep price, some viewers found positives, with one remarking: "This looks like a great experience but it's very costly for a return journey. I guess the benefit is both journeys are during the night so you aren't losing out on any holiday time." Another chimed in: "Would love to do this! ! Honestly would see the cost as part of the holiday, so special." Passengers on the Great Western Railway Night Riviera can secure an airline-style seat at no additional cost when they book a train ticket, and prices for a single cabin start from £49 per customer. Article continues below
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The incredible honour I received after travelling with the same train company since 1999
When British rail travel fan Steve Calladine got the call to say that his decades of criss-crossing the globe via rail had earned him an unusual accolade, he assumed it was a scam. The 67-year-old Liverpudlian, who now lives in Teignmouth, Devon, is digital booking platform Trainline's most faithful customer - having made his first trip with the company in 1999, 'when you had to ring up and tickets were sent in the post'. After enduring a spate of frustrating junk emails, he assumed the news that he'd had a room named after him at the company's London HQ - thanks to booking thousands of trips over 26 years - was a wind-up. He explained to the Daily Mail: 'I'd had a whole series of scam emails. When this one came in, I just assumed it was another. And then I thought, "hang on, I have been with them a long time, there might be something in this!"' The travel brand certainly wasn't pulling the retired business studies teacher's leg though. In a bid to put passengers front and centre of the business, Trainline decided that Steve's name should take pride of place in a meeting room. It's an honour he's worthy of. In his most prolific Trainline era, Steve, who travels with his wife Shirley, booked 400 rail tickets - including some more pedestrian journeys - in 2002. He could certainly persuade anyone who's fed up with airport stress that trains are the superior transport mode, having tried-and-tested almost every kind of holiday by rail - from Japan 's 200mph Shinkansen bullet train to the London to Edinburgh sleeper and Swiss connections that marry efficiency with scenic drama. The latter, Switzerland, has ended up being one of his favourite rail destinations - he says he's often in awe of the landscapes flicking past the window. 'The first time I travelled through the Alps, I went from Basel across Switzerland and then I found myself in Innsbruck, in Austria, and then I went all the way through to Vienna. That was a stunning journey.' Has he had any major disasters? He's never missed a connection in Europe, he says proudly, but he did almost watch his leg almost embark on a journey without him, after his lower limb got stuck in the door en route to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. 'I lifted my case on, stepped on - and the doors closed. I managed to pull my case out but my ankle was still trapped. 'I was left thinking "This is going to move off any second". People were trying to alert the guard - thankfully, eventually the doors opened.' He concedes that sometimes things go wrong - he once got stuck on a train, without a seat, for 24 hours, in Serbia, which sounds hellish, and might have pushed less resilient travellers over the he's never strayed from the idea that a journey is just as exciting as an arrival. How does he pass the hours? 'You have conversations, you talk about things that you've seen. You read a book, you have a snooze, something to about relishing the journey.' There's fun too, he says, in plotting trips; he loves working out connections and price cuts - including how fare prices can be shaved via some canny split ticketing. And Steve says he's always surprised by how far you can get in just one day of rail travel, saying the idea that he can step off the platform in Devon in the morning and be somewhere in the balmy South of France at the day's end never gets old. His passion for rail travel stems back to his childhood in Liverpool he says - 'I'm old enough to remember steam trains', which was then further cemented with trips across the Pennines while he was a student in Sheffield. The avid rail passenger, who travels with his wife, Shirley says booking three months in advance to get the cheapest deals is his top tip (Pictured at his local station in Devon) Say my name! The newly minted Steve Calladine room at Trainline's HQ in London He remembers the night too in 2014, when the railway tracks in Dawlish, 12 miles south of Exeter, were hit by violent storms, leaving a section suspended in mid-air. Huge waves whipped up by high winds smashed a 100ft section of the sea wall causing the collapse of the main coastal railway line linking London and Cornwall. He says: 'I went through that in the morning by train but I had to come home on the bus - and then the following morning the rail wasn't there at all.' Who makes the worst passengers? He's pretty tolerant of his fellow carriage-sharers but admits he's wished for ear plugs at times. 'I'm a family guy but wailing babies on trains aren't great. When you're traveling, it can sometimes be annoying, particularly when they're not yours...' When it comes to his top tips for saving money on rail fares, he says his mantra is 'book early'. 'If I can book three months in advance, that's what I prefer to do. And I accept that sometimes, if we want to go at the nicest times of day, you do have to pay more for it.' It still beats airport travel hands down when it comes to stress, he maintains, saying: 'I just walk down the road to my local station and the holiday starts there.' Where's next? 'Next year, we're hoping to travel up to Scandinavia on the train.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
A fictional UK train route that featured in a TV show could soon become real
BACK in the 1970s and 80, a TV series called 'End of Part One' featured a tube station that existed in Lewisham, alongside tube stops in Ladywell, Catford and one called the 'Edge of the World.' There has never been a tube station in Lewisham - the train station only serves the DLR and National Rail, but fiction could soon become reality with Bakerloo Line extension plans stretching to the London borough. 3 Win one of 8 incredible holidays to the Caribbean, Mexico and Greece by voting in The Sun's Travel Awards - enter to win here An extension of London's Bakerloo Line has been considered since 2014, but a lack of government funding has prevented it from taking place. But now th extension could actually happen thanks to a newly submitted planning permission, alongside several other new tube stations in South London. Burgess Park and Old Kent Road would be built from scratch, and New Cross Gate and Lewisham - which both currently don't have a Underground station - would each have one added. While the project has not fully been given the go ahead, the route has been planned, and it was safeguarded by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in February. According to Time Out, if the extension went ahead, it would allow 27 trains to run per hour on the line, which would mean a train every two minutes. The project is costly and a lack of funding is preventing it from getting under way, but TfL and the Mayor of London are in discussions about how to fund it. According to TfL, the plans include extending the Bakerloo Line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham and building a new Bakerloo line ticket hall at Elephant & Castle. The route would then run from Elephant & Castle along the Old Kent Road and at New Cross Gate. If the plans were approved, TfL has projected that work could begin in 2030 and be complete by 2040. European sleeper train with private cabins 3 The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway originally opened in 1906 but was quickly renamed after a journalist nicknamed it the Bakerloo Line and the name stuck. There have already been a number of extensions to the line over the decades, including at Elephant & Castle, Queen's Park and Watford Junction. Today, the line is often known for its 1972 Mark Two tube trains that feature brown and grey retro interiors. If the extension was built, then it could connect Lewisham to central London in 15 minutes. Three scenic train journeys you can take in the UK Cornish Coast - One trip that rail enthusiasts seem to love is along a stretch of the Cornish coast and takes just 10 minutes to complete. The route from St Erth to St Ives only stops at Carbis Bay en route to its final destination, but the views out the window for the whole journey are pretty spectacular. Another highlight of the journey is that St Ives station is situated right next to Porthminster beach, meaning the sand and sea can be accessed almost immediately. Meanwhile, the station is less than a ten minute walk into town, where the harbour, shops, galleries and pubs can be explored. Durham to Edinburgh - Another train route that people in the UK love is the East Coast train line between Durham and Edinburgh, with coastal views and city landscapes among the sights that can be seen out the window. Newcastle, Berwick, Lindisfarne and Durham Cathedral are all among the highlights on that route. Scotland's West Highland Line - While Scotland is home to plenty of famous landmarks and top attractions, it also has one of the most breathtaking train routes in the world. Scotland's West Highland Line has previously been dubbed the best rail journey in the world by Wanderlust - and it's easy to see why. The journey from Glasgow to Fort William is one of my favourite train routes - and I've interrailed through mainland Europe. With mountain landscapes, serene lochs, wistful moors, and wildlife all visible through the train window, it's certainly a route all holidaymakers should consider doing at least once. Next month, there is also the chance to hop onboard a London Underground vintage train on a secret railway line that isn't on tube maps. Plus, this is the incredible train journey that'll 'ruin every other railway trip you take'. 3
