A Day Trip to York

We finally had our day trip to York. We were determined to do it while our son was on his summer school holiday, after all we'd been unable to take him anywhere else due to the ridiculous inflated cost of doing anything.
A week ago, we had decided to invest in a family railcard. My wife had been told by one of her customers that it would save as much as 50% on standard fares and that in a short time it would pay for itself. The railcard was £28 and it arrived in a couple of days. We booked the tickets on line and using the railcard, we did indeed manage to reduce our fare - two adults and one child, Peterborough to York return - from £145 to £68, a huge saving. We would never had been able to afford the full fare and to be quite honest, even if we had I would have struggled to pay it. So we booked our tickets and arranged for them to be collected from the machine at the station. I had done this before and it's very convenient.
We drove to Peterborough. Being a Sunday, there wasn't a great deal of traffic and in about 40 minutes, we were at the station. There is a large station car park adjacent to the station so we parked in there. They wanted £5.50 for all day parking which I thought to be quite reasonable. Now when I had parked there before, it was possible to exit the car park by a short path that led straight to the station entrance. For some idiotic reason, this had been closed by East Coast and we had to exit the car park by the main road and then walk back down the exit road to the station. Surely this is just a case of sour grapes on the part of East Coast who have their own car park the other end of the station. How utterly petty and ridiculous.

Car park owner Gary McArdle at the pedestrian access point blocked off by East Coast

It's been a while since I've been to Peterborough Station and I was quite shocked to find that it now resembles a flight terminal having received a complete makeover. It now looks clean and slick with barriers and a very attractive customer service desk with smartly dressed staff in attendance. I was very impressed. It looked professional, smart and clean.

We collected our tickets from a very modern looking terminal with a large touch screen interface and were greeted as we passed through the barrier onto the platform. The station and platforms still retain much of their original architecture which was comforting. Not everything had been given a smart clean modern look, but the platforms were nonetheless tidy and free from litter and cigarette butts.
Our train was on time, the 1015 Kings Cross - Edinburgh service calling at Retford and Doncaster before reaching York at 1133. The train was on time and like all trains on the East Coast mainline, it was busy. Luckily we'd had the foresight to reserve our seats which we found very easily in coach C. My wife and son sat together and had a table whereas I was a seat behind on the other side of the coach. They were joined by a grandfather and his granddaughter who were travelling north of Newcastle. The granddaughter was gorgeous, a little younger than my son and they soon became best friends exchanging names, pictures and the sort of information known only to children of that age. In the seats opposite were a party of four Chinese students and they were enthralled by the young girl. They very kindly offered sweets and one of them drew a very nice caricature for the girl and gave it to her as a gift. How nice it was to be on a train with such nice friendly people. So the whole journey was very pleasant. I could see my son and his companion from my seat and my wife was able to glance over to me. I was seated next to a father. His son and daughter sat in the seats opposite me and they were clearly wealthy and very much in tune with current technology. The daughter appeared to be of similar age to my son and she spent the journey glued to her iPad wearing Bose headphones and watching a film. Her brother sat playing a game and flicking through apps on his iPhone. Their father meanwhile played a game on his Nintendo DS whilst trying to rest his head using an inflatable cushion he had brought for the journey. I began to wish I had brought my Kindle along for the journey and I felt a little out of place simply leafing my way through my copy of the Sunday Express. I was struck by the amount of technology around about me. The welcome message via the speaker system from the 'train manager' was warm and inviting and even refered to power points being available at every seat for portable devices and laptops, and even free WIFI available throughout the train. How things have changed.
We soon reached York and saying our farewells to our temporary companions, we stayed on the platform to wave to them as the train departed to continue its journey north. I could see that my son was already overwhelmed. York is one of the largest stations in the country and he was struggling to take in all that was happening all around him.
We exited the station and decided to take the sightseeing bus for a trip around York. It was mild and sunny so the perfect weather to sit on the top deck. My son very excited and really enjoyed the experience. An audio commentary explained about what we were seeing and the bus made its way in and out of the historic wall, past the York castle and museum and onto the Terry's chocolate factory, closed for many years and now awaiting transformation into a shopping complex and hotel.
In just under an hour, we were back at the station and we decided to walk the short distance to the Railway Museum, for me the highlight of our visit. I have been a few times in the past, and on each visit, the museum has looked different. The latest changes have resulted in a large reference area and library and the addition of an outside area where train rides are provided and a family area has been created. It has certainly made the place more family-friendly which is a good thing. The ability to step outside and sit in a quiet grassed area was very welcome, particularly as it was a very warm humid sort of day. We had some lunch outside and my son and I enjoyed a ride on a miniature train and a short ride hauled by Stephenson's Rocket, one of the first steam locomotives ever built.

The Railway Museum is a place I can spend many hours in. There is so much to see and do. The workshop contained two of the country's most famous and most loved locomotives - Mallard and Flying Scotsman - both of which were being repainted. I tried explaining to my son the significance of these two beautiful engines but I think it was rather lost on him as he detoured to the next interactive exhibit. Maybe in a few years...

Being accompanied by my son and wife meant that I couldn't spend as long as I wanted at each exhibit. I held them up each time and felt compelled to keep up with them. The museum was certainly bigger and better than ever and I felt sure that I would return again.
On our way to the museum, my son had spotted the road train, a service run by the museum to York Minster. It was waiting to leave when we left the museum so we hopped on for the short trip to the magnificent cathedral. The bells were in full peel as we approached and tourists filled the area, eagerly photographing the architecture of the Minster as it towered above us glowing in the bright sunshine.

We had a short walk through the ancient streets with their quaint shops and street artists. Sweet enticing aromas drifted from the shop entrances as we passed and served to remind me that we were in a special place surrounded by many hundreds of years of history.

We decided a take another open top bus trip as our ticket entitled us to unlimited travel. This time we had a tour guide who sat at the front with a microphone providing an excellent narration as we twisted our way through the narrow roads and past the ancient buildings and monuments. It struck me as we made our way how much lower the old buildings are to the rest of the city. This we were told is due to the many years of demolishing and rebuilding resulting in most of the modern city sitting several feet higher than the old. Another feature of York are the black cats, many of which can be found in different positions on many of the buildings. No one knows the origin of these black cats and why they are there, but I soon found myself scanning each building to find them.

The bus stopped at the station and we checked the times for the trains back to Peterborough. The platform was busy, many people with cases or backpacks full to bursting. The display board showed there was a train due and another half an hour later. When the train did arrive, we could see it was very full and many of those boarding would have to stand, so we decided to wait for the next one. We weren't in a hurry after all, and I do enjoy sitting on platforms watching the trains come and go and the variety of different people. The next train arrived, but was running a little late. A problem with water meant it had to wait for a delivery to arrive and this train too was very full. We also discovered it wasn't stopping on its way to Kings Cross so we waited for the next one. As we had an open return ticket, we couldn't reserve our seats so when we boarded our train back to Peterborough, all the seats we found to be reserved so we had to perch in the vestibule at the end of the coach. After a while my legs began to tire so I sat on the floor for a while. Most uncomfortable. In hindsight, we should have reserved seats but this would have meant making sure we were at the station for a particular train. It's something we'll certainly do in future, as I know these trains are normally very full at the best of times.
We were back in Peterborough for about 6.30pm and stopped for something to eat on the way home.