Category: Travel

Forth Bridge given World Heritage Site status!!

The Forth Bridge has become the sixth Scottish landmark to be awarded Unesco World Heritage Site status. About time!! Makes me so Proud to be Scottish! Yes, I just said Scottish, when most of the time, I call myself British! 😀

Forth Bridge



UK railway stations list : updated 08-May-2015

I can now add Aberdeen, Aviemore and Elgin to the list of UK railway stations that I’ve used!

Check out the full list at www.gordon-valentine.com/travel/railways/uk-national-rail-network/.

Aberdeen railway station
Aberdeen railway station

Aviemore railway station
 Aviemore railway station

Elgin railway station
Elgin railway station

Updated National Cycle Network section : 24/04/2015

I have just updated the National Cycle Network sub section of my website. By adding a new section for NCR 71.

I took these photos while on holiday, in Lake District.





More photos from this set can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/days-out/07-04-2015/

Lake District Tour April 2015 : Day 3

Just can’t believe, what a great time, I had in the Lake District. The weather could not have been better! Even got sun burnt, which is not a good thing. That just shows how warm it was!

So here are some photos from day 3 (last day) in the Lake District.

The first three are some around the village we stayed in…

The next ones are from the Keswick Railway Path, which runs from Keswick to Threlkeld. If you are ever in the area, I would recommend it! Check out www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/thingstodo/walking/mileswithoutstiles/mws37 for more information :).

The full set of these photo’s can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/days-out/07-04-2015/

Lake District Tour April 2015 : Day 1

Here are some photos from day 1 of the mini tour of the Lake District.

On the way up, stopped at the Eden Valley Railway, which is just off the A66. Driven past it so many times. This is the first time, I’ve ever stopped at it! Right now the line, has only got one station which is Warcop Station. It’s only a short line, at approximately 2.2 miles. Still, if you are driving past or in that area, I would check it out!

Eden Valley Railway

Eden Valley Railway

Eden Valley Railway

Once we had checked at Coledale Inn, in Braithwaite, Nr.Keswick. Our base for the next number of days. We set off on a great walk with the dog! We followed a walk in the “Dog Friendly Pub Walks: Lake District” book. Which is where, we also found the place he picked to stay it.

More photos can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/days-out/05-04-2015/

RIP East Coast Trains 2009 – 2015!

RIP East Coast Trains 2009 – 2015. You were the best railway franchise in the UK. It’s all down hill from now on. Since Virgin have taken over running of the ECML. It will be like National Express all over again!

So from today, the trains will start turning Virgin Red. We’re going to lose the great colour of East Coast Trains. See some photos below!





Don’t get me started on Virgin Trains East Coast!

Many of you, may or not know. That Virgin Trains East Coast (90% owned by Stagecoach, and 10% by Virgin), takes over from East Coast Trains (publicly owned) on 1st March 2015. They have not even started and they’re already off to a very bad start!

They are stopping the current East Coast Rewards club, in favour of a Nectar points scheme. Right now rewards customers spending £255 on train tickets accrue enough points for a free standard single-class ticket. In but in contrast, a £255 spend under the Nectar scheme will only earn enough points to buy a sandwich – with passengers having to spend thousands of pounds before they qualify for free travel.

If you ask them via @askVirginEC why they are doing this. They don’t get back to you!

askVirginEC staff guidance

They keep saying they surveyed around 2,000 East Coast passengers. They say the results demonstrated that Nectar was by far the most popular loyalty scheme amongst those people who took part in the research. But they will not make the results of the survey public or even what questions they asked.

Also I, have not found a single person, they asked!!

Want to learn more about this? Then follow @SaveECRewards!!

Berwick-upon-Tweed holiday : Feb 2015 : Day 4

Here are some photo from the last day of our holiday in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

Berwick-upon-Tweed railway station

The full set can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/railway-stations/berwick-upon-tweed/

Berwick-upon-Tweed holiday : Feb 2015 : Day 3

Here are some photo from the third day of my holiday in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The full set of these photo’s can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/zenphoto/days-out/10-02-2015/