UK TV programmes to watch this week : 14/03/2020

Britain by Barge - 20-03-2020 - YouView appRace Across the World (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 15th March 2020)

The teams head out of Copan Ruinas in Western Honduras to their next checkpoint – Panama City. The journey sees them travel across vast swathes of Central America, passing through El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and finally Panama. Mother and son Jo and Sam are the first to set off, and having raced hard in the previous leg, they’re keen to experience more this time round. Working at a hostel in El Salvador offers some respite from the race, and gives the pair the chance to help with a turtle conservation project.

Britain’s Train Hell – Dispatches (Channel 4 | 8:30pm to 9:00pm | Monday 16th March 2020)

Despite rising fares, millions of rail commuters suffer daily from delays and overcrowding. The Government wants to spend billions on new infrastructure, particularly in the north of England with HS2, but the new high-speed supertrain won’t arrive until 2040. In the meantime, Liam Halligan asks how the rail network can be fixed.

The Station: Trouble On The Tracks (itv/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 19th March 2020)

Euston is evacuated during Friday rush hour – leaving passengers there and in Birmingham New Street station stranded, confused and angry. Driver Andy reveals just how close his train came to disaster on the tracks and train dispatcher and former bank manager David imparts his worldly wisdom to a new recruit on his first shift. A train runs a red signal at Birmingham, so engineers have to work through the night to move the stranded locomotive, investigate the cause and get things back up and running before the morning rush.

The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 20th March 2020)

One of the biggest events on the NYMR timetable is the annual War Weekend. The event, which sees the whole railway transformed into a nostalgic snapshot of wartime Britain, is hugely popular with steam enthusiasts, war re-enactors and others fascinated by days gone by. Coming towards the end of the railway’s season the event is vital to bring in much-needed funds to see it through the quiet winter months. For its 20th year, the railway has brought in a new attraction – a huge Second World War artillery gun. However, getting the monster gun into position proves a mission in itself.

Britain by Barge (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Friday 20th March 2020)

Bill Oddie, Jennie Bond, Anne Diamond and Pete Waterman learn how canals evolved into places of leisure. Pete revisit one of his childhood haunts, Braunston Marina, to meet the owner who turned around its fortunes, while Jennie discovers canal camping, an activity holiday popular with children since the 1960s. The foursome head off from Braunston taking the Oxford canal towards Banbury, discovering that the Oxford is a very different canal to those experienced earlier. Built by James Brindley to be as cheap as possible, it slowly carries them south through farmland and past sleepy villages.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Now done 24% of #walk1000miles – 2020

walk1000miles - 2020That’s me now done 24% of #walk1000miles. So 246.43 miles down and 753.57 miles left to go!

Keep up-to-date with all my cycling and walking adventures over at www.strava.com/athletes/gsvalentine

Most steps in a week now stands at 147,328

That’s me just set a record on the Garmin Connect website. I’ve now set a new most steps in a week.

The new total stands at 147,328, for the week from the 2 March to 8 March 2020.

WOW! Had so much fun in Wales, did 38 railway stations

Myself at Cardiff Central railway stationHere is a list of new railway stations, that I did during my trip to Wales! Got the title wrong turns out, I did 39!

1st March 2020 (5)

2nd March 2020 (12)

  • Dinas Rhondda
  • Llwynypia
  • Merthyr Tydfil
  • Pontypridd
  • Porth
  • Ton Pentre
  • Tonypandy
  • Trehafod
  • Treherbert
  • Treorchy
  • Ynyswen
  • Ystrad Rhondda

3rd March 2020 (12)

  • Barry Island
  • Barry
  • Barry Docks
  • Birchgrove
  • Danescourt
  • Dinas Powys
  • Heath High Level
  • Heath Low Level
  • Llandaf
  • Radyr
  • Taffs Well
  • Ty Glas

4th March 2020 (2)

5th March 2020 (5)

  • Carmarthen
  • Pembroke
  • Pembroke Dock
  • Penally
  • Tenby

6th March 2020 (2)

7th March 2020 (1)

Newport railway station, tick

I can now tick off, Newport railway station. My last new railway station in Wales before, crossing back into England.

Newport railway station
Myself at Newport railway station
Newport railway station

More photos from this set can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/railway-stations/newport/

UK TV programmes to watch this week : 07/01/2020

The Station: Trouble On The Tracks - 12-03-2020 - YouView appRace Across the World (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 8th March 2020)

Five pairs of competitors journey around the globe, carrying only limited cash and unable to get on a plane or use mobile phones and credit cards. In the first edition, the teams set off from Mexico City, hoping to reach the first of seven checkpoints – Copan Ruinas in Honduras. Each team adopts a different strategy, with married couple Jen and Rob quickly deciding on a route via Belize, but confusion on the Metro leads to a delay.

The Station: Trouble On The Tracks (itv/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 12th March 2020)

Documentary following the staff of Network Rail, which operates the country’s railway tracks, focusing on Birmingham New Street station. Engineers battle the elements after extensive flooding, while beleaguered staff deal with stranded passengers demanding answers. Graffiti artist Banksy leaves Birmingham rail engineers a gift spray-painted on to one of the walls – all done under his usual veil of secrecy – and train manager Adam is faced with a passenger without a ticket.

The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 13th March 2020)

The August bank holiday coincides with a heatwave and in the old carriage kitchen, Sammie swelters with 100 meals to prepare and serve, while on the loco footplates the boiler kicks out an extra 1,000 degrees of heat. A trackside wall collapse threatens to stop the railway in its tracks, though a curious group of volunteers called the Wombles comes to the rescue, working through the night to get it fixed. Elsewhere, Piglet comes up with a money-spinner by sending one of the locos, little Engine 29, to another railway.

Britain by Barge (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:20pm | Friday 13th March 2020)

Bill Oddie, Jennie Bond, Anne Diamond and Pete Waterman head to Northamptonshire to navigate the mighty Grand Union Canal, at one time the busiest waterway on the network and the vital transport link between Birmingham and London. Travelling from north of Milton Keynes to the old canal port of Braunston, they celebrate the `boat people”, who once lived and worked on Britain’s canals, keen to uncover the secrets of this lost community. Travelling through a notoriously dark and deadly tunnel at Weedon Bec, they also visit a once secret arms store.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.

Cardiff Queen Street railway station, tick

I can now tick off, Cardiff Queen Street railway station. My second station in Wales!!! 🙂

Cardiff Queen Street railway station
Myself at Cardiff Queen Street railway station
Cardiff Queen Street railway station

More photos from this set can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/railway-stations/cardiff-queen-street/