I've been up and down the country a bit this week.
I spent Monday and Tuesday in a cold and wintery Newcastle, catching up with the team for a planning meeting, making the acquaintance of our latest team member for the first time, going for our "Christmas" do on Monday night. It was our first opportunity to all get together. Many of the others do a lot of charging about the country like me!
Anyway we went to Oldfields, specialising in locally produced food with a predominantly English menu - sometimes I get quite nostalgic for the Christmas Curries we used to have! I started with crispy duck with a beet coleslaw and then had belly pork on a bed of celeriac mash that was totally scrummy.
On Tuesday I caught the train down to London Kings Cross, after the meeting finished and just had time to spruce up a bit (it doesn't make a lot of difference...) and grab a quick bite to eat before meeting up with a good friend, actress Caroline Munro. We spent the evening chatting in the hotel bar, catching up with the latest gossip about her film work and my band and swapping news about mutual friends.
Yesterday I was at City University for a meeting of the Inter-University Project Management Group which turned out to be a very interesting day.
I couldn't believe my luck when I got to Euston to find that the next train north was an express to Glasgow, only stopping at Preston - where I was heading - and Glasgow. It took just two hours from London to Preston - and then another 30 minutes to do the twenty miles to Blackpool! But that was much better than the tedious journey it used to be up the West Coast line. It has improved no end. If only Virgin could make the trains comfortable to sit in...
Smaller windows make carriages more stable and safe in a crash, but that combined with the narrower profile of tilting coaches means if you are sitting against a wall rather than a window, your shoulder has to be where your head would be in a comfortable pose. The seats are not exactly generously wide to begin with... and I'm afraid I am...!
Sorry! All old photos again, despite the New Year's resolution to use the camera more!
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