Great Railway Journeys – serie

Great Railway Journeys: The Flying Scotsman Route to Edinburgh is the fifth in Roger Mason’s Great Railway Journeys series. It is a captivating record of what can be seen from trains running from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh.The forty-one chapters feature statues and monuments, including those paying tribute to the footballer Jackie Milburn and the Prime Minister 2nd Earl Grey. There are cathedrals, castles, viaducts and so much more. These are accompanied by fascinating stories, including how the heroine Grace Darling rowed through a storm to rescue shipwrecked sailors. Another tells of Scotland’s worst-ever fishing disaster in which 189 people lost their lives. There is an account of the 1895 railway races from London to Scotland, which cannot fail to enthral, and nor can the tale of how, in 1926, striking miners derailed the Flying Scotsman train.In a follow-up to the highly successful London to Oxford and London to Cambridge, this is a must-read for anybody who knows and uses this route.

Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield features a series of fascinating sites that can be seen from the window of a train travelling to Sheffield from St Pancras Station in London. Some, like Wembley Stadium and St Albans Cathedral, will be familiar. Others will probably come as a delightful surprise, like St Katherine’s Church in Irchester – the spire of which was erected not long after King John sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede.Among the gems in these pages are the two giant Cardington Hangars, where the ill-fated R101 airship was built. The train passes through what a religious community once believed was the actual site of the biblical Garden of Eden, and the story of this community and its beliefs is told. Also included is the story of the events leading to the burning down of Luton town hall in a riot on Peace Day in 1919. Whether or not you make the journey you will discover much that is interesting and enjoyable.

Great Railway Journeys: The Chiltern Line to Birmingham is a record of forty fascinating sites that can be seen from the window of a train travelling from Marylebone Station in London to Moor Street Station in Birmingham. Some will be familiar, like Wembley Stadium. Others will probably come as a delightful surprise, including historic monuments and village churches. The history of the Dashwood Mausoleum and the notorious Hellfire Caves is particularly interesting.The train passes the structure that contains more bricks than any other in Britain. This is the retaining wall at High Wycombe Station and there are just under 7 million of them. Among the sites featured is the Tesco store in Gerrards Cross. This was built despite much opposition from local people and in 2005 the partly built construction collapsed onto the railway line. A catastrophe was only narrowly averted and the line was closed for some time.This book is a follow-up to the highly successful Great Railway Journeys: London to Birmingham and Great Railway Journeys: London to Sheffield. It is a must-read for anyone who would like to know more about this wonderful line.