UK TV programmes to watch this week : 21/03/2020

Around the World by Train with Tony Robinson - 27-03-2020 - YouView appMarvel’s Avengers Assemble (BBC 1/HD | 7:00pm to 9:15pm | Saturday 21st March 2020)

A mystical artefact is stolen from a top-secret military base by Thor’s brother Loki, who plans to use it to bring about an alien invasion. Spymaster Nick Fury brings together a team of superheroes, including Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, to defend Earth from the impending attack. Action adventure uniting the Marvel comic-book characters, starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L Jackson.

Race Across the World (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 22nd March 2020)

The teams set off from Panama City across the Caribbean Sea, but they face an unplanned obstacle when a state of emergency is declared in Quito, Ecuador – the destination of their next checkpoint. The teams are forced to change route in mid-race and head into the remote Colombian desert. Rob and Jen make use of night buses to get ahead, Emon and Jamiul raise some money by teaching scuba diving, and Sam struggles with the pressure and needs a break.

The Station: Trouble On The Tracks (itv/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 26th March 2020)

The rail mobile detection team discovers a high-tech home – complete with electricity, running water and TV – illegally erected under an arch beside one of the country’s busiest areas of track. At Euston, Transport Police officers are called upon when tempers flare – and deal with an unusual Royal request. Meanwhile, a strike hits Birmingham’s New Street Station and the rail network on one of the busiest days of the year. With industrial action on West Midlands Trains, many passengers are left high and dry, and it’s down to Network Rail to deliver the bad news.

Around the World by Train with Tony Robinson (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 27th March 2020)

The actor begins another global adventure, setting off from London’s St Pancras station on a quest to explore southern Europe in a whole new way. His first stop in France is the Camargue in the country’s south, where he helps ranchers herd bulls across vast fields, then heads to Spain’s Costa Brava and visits Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium.

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

Getting outside, while we still can!

Here in the UK, we have still to start a lockdown, but do have a feeling we will have one in the next number of weeks! So best to get outdoors and have fun, while I still can!

2XU P:1 Propel wetsuit

2XU P:1 Propel wetsuit

pup hood

2XU P:1 Propel wetsuit + pup hoo

Now done 27% of #walk1000miles – 2020

That’s me now done 27% of #walk1000miles. So 270 miles down and 730 miles left to go!

walk1000miles - 2020

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

Visited 79 railway stations so far in 2020

That’s me, visited 79 railway stations for the very first time in 2020! My total now stands at 338. But still got a long, long way to go!

Myself at Newport railway station

Here is the list of the ones, I’ve done so far in 2020…

  • Aberdour
  • Bamford
  • Barnetby
  • Barry
  • Barry Docks
  • Barry Island
  • Bickley
  • Birchgrove
  • Bolton on Dearne
  • Boston
  • Brading
  • Bristol Parkway
  • Bromley South
  • Cardiff Bay
  • Cardiff Central
  • Cardiff Queen Street
  • Carmarthen
  • Chinley
  • Cleethorpes
  • Coleshill Parkway
  • Conisbrough
  • Dalgety Bay
  • Danescourt
  • Dinas Powys
  • Dinas Rhondda
  • Dore & Totley
  • Dunbar
  • Edale
  • Ferryside
  • Folkestone Central
  • Folkestone West
  • Goldthorpe
  • Grindleford
  • Habrough
  • Heath High Level
  • Heath Low Level
  • Hope
  • Kidwelly
  • Lake
  • Llandaf
  • Llanelli
  • Llwynypia
  • London Victoria
  • Merthyr Tydfil
  • Merthyr Vale
  • Mexborough
  • Newport
  • Orpington
  • Pembroke
  • Pembroke Dock
  • Penally
  • Petts Wood
  • Pontypridd
  • Porth
  • Portsmouth & Southsea
  • Portsmouth Harbour
  • Radyr
  • Ramsgate
  • Rotherham Central
  • Ryde Esplanade
  • Ryde Pier Head
  • Ryde St John’s Road
  • Sandown
  • Scunthorpe
  • Sevenoaks
  • Shanklin
  • Swansea
  • Swinton
  • Taffs Well
  • Tenby
  • Thurnscoe
  • Ton Pentre
  • Tonypandy
  • Trehafod
  • Treherbert
  • Treorchy
  • Ty Glas
  • Ynyswen
  • Ystrad Rhondda

The full list can be found at www.gordon-valentine.com/travel/railways/railway-stations/

Cleethorpes railway station, tick

I can now tick off, Cleethorpes railway station.

Cleethorpes railway station

Cleethorpes railway station

Myself at Cleethorpes railway station

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

Scunthorpe railway station, tick

I can now tick off, Scunthorpe railway station.

Scunthorpe railway station

Scunthorpe railway statio

Myself at Scunthorpe railway station

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

Middle of March 2020 most popular photos

Below are the top three most looked at photos on this website during March 2020.

Number 1 (50 views) : Wetsuit cycling
Wetsuit cycling

Number 2 (43 views) : Wetsuit cycling
Wetsuit cycling

Number 3 (40 views) : Spider-Man Homecoming Morphsuit
Spider-Man Homecoming Morphsuit

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.