2 minute read
The Cheshireman
Saturday 3rd September 2022
Join us on this tour that provides an excellent opportunity to travel across the country from east to west, visiting the historic city of Chester. Apart from its cultural attractions, including the Cathedral, Castle and the Medieval Rows, Chester is a well-established shopping mecca. Our steam hauled train will be pulled by 46233 Duchess of Sutherland from Norwich to Chester and as far at Peterborough on the return.
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Our journey commences at Norwich around 07:00 where we take the line heading towards Ely, which we bypass to call at March and Peterborough to collect further passengers. We now follow the cross country line through Stamford, a town of outstanding architectural and historic interest that is of national importance. The town has over 600 listed buildings, more than half of the total for the County of Lincolnshire We continue westwards and pass Rutland Water towards Oakham, in the small county of Rutland. Entering Leicestershire, we run through Melton Mowbray, famous for its pork pies, and head for Leicester, our final pick up station. We follow the main line to London St Pancras for a while as far as Wigston Junction, where we branch off on the Nuneaton and Birmingham line.
Our route now takes us westwards through Hinkley to Nuneaton, where we join the West Coast main line. Heading northwards, our steam locomotive can now get up to top speed as we head for Tamworth and Lichfield. Lines split at Colwich Junction and here we follow the WCML through Shugborough Park to round Queensville Curve at Stafford. The four tracks continue northwards through rural Staffordshire, with our steam locomotive working hard as it tackles the long climb to Whitmore Summit. After a few more miles, we slow down and approach the major railway junction of Crewe. Our final part of the journey takes us across the Cheshire Plain through Beeston Castle, with its lofty 13th Century castle overlooking the railway and the Shropshire Union Canal. In no time at all, we arrive at Chester, where there will be a break of around four hours for passengers to visit the city with all its attractions. We then return from Chester at around 17:20 for the steam hauled run back as far as Peterborough, where our steam locomotive leaves the train and from where we return to Norwich, diesel hauled, retracing our outward route and stopping at March, Brandon, Thetford, Attleborough and Wymondham to drop off passengers enroute. Approximate Timings Outward Return Norwich 07:00 23:55 Wymondham ------- 23:35 Attleborough ------- 23:25 Thetford ------- 23:05 Brandon ------- 22:50 March 09:00 22:10 Peterborough 09:20 21:40 Leicester 10:20 20:05 Chester 14:30 17:20
There are three classes available:
Premier Dining includes a full English breakfast and four course dinner served at your seat. First Class includes morning tea or coffee with a bacon/breakfast roll and a muffin and an afternoon service of tea or coffee with a savoury of the day followed by a scone with butter and jam. Standard Class includes a reserved seat usually at a table for four.
Tables for two can be guaranteed in Premier Dining and First Class for a supplement of £30 per person (subject to availability). A buffet car is available and serves tea, coffee, snacks and light refreshments.
