The little-known birthplace of modern travel in North East England
The Stockton and Darlington Railway started a communication revolution akin to the internet – let’s celebrate its 200th birthday
18 April 2021 • 3:00pm
A walking and cycling path which runs parallel to the original working railway lines, between Stockton-on-Tees and the collieries at Shildon, to celebrate the Royal Assent
Credit: VisitBritain//Thomas Heaton
It’s a big-budget movie waiting to happen. Virile working men with gritty personalities are pitched against landed aristocrats resistant to change. An epoch-making vision of the future of the world is hatched in a windswept corner of northern England. Blood, sweat and blueprints. A huffing, puffing machine made with man’s bare hands is born. “The Invention of Railways” – starring British A-listers and a legion of extras from Co Durham. The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was granted Royal Assent 200 years ago on April 19. The line woul
I found a microcosm of China that most tourists never see aboard the country s slow trains
What the country’s slow trains lack in comfort, they certainly make up for in charm
13 April 2021 • 2:05pm
Sleepless Knight: a younger Gemma got used to the snores of fellow passengers.
Credit: Gemma Knight
Although China – powerhouse of industry that it is – might prefer the wider world to envisage only sleek metal beasts bolting through its vast countryside, the reality of rail travel in the Middle Kingdom is a world away from the reclining seats and digital displays of its swankier trains.
The truth is that the common man (or, in my case, the financially challenged expat) does not travel in style. True, they might find themselves occasionally riding the Shanghai maglev, the levitating silver bullet linking Pudong International Airport with central Shanghai, hurtling through the fields at 431km/h (268mph) for a few brief seconds, or the fast-expanding network of high-speed tra
Why this year trains will be the way to travel
Adrian Bridge rounds up all there is to look forward to in the glamorous world of train travel, in the UK and beyond
9 April 2021 • 4:00pm
Luxury train specialist Belmond is staging a series of summer outings from London Victoria southern England’s loveliest seaside resorts on board the British Pullman
Now where were we before life took such an unexpected turn? Ah yes, trains. In those innocent pre-Covid days, trains were all the rage. Greta Thunberg had made us all more aware of our carbon footprint, and increasingly it was being said that travel was about more than simply getting from A to B as quickly as possible: that there was a lot to be said for enjoying the journey itself. Trains were clearly moving into a new age prior to the pandemic, but the events of the past 12 months and more have accelerated that process. A new age for rail travel indeed dawns.
Michael Portillo’s 12th series of Great British Railway Journeys returns in spring
Credit: John Hall/BBC
While hundreds of largely empty trains run on Britain’s transport systems during the pandemic, our gorgeous heritage lines are shut by government order. The day they reopen – maybe alongside pubs and restaurants – will be an occasion for national celebration. Those antique railways offer so much that is good. They represent our history. They were restored by determined people offering up chunks of their precious time on earth so we could experience unforgettable moments of nostalgia, beauty and joy.
Dr Beeching may be reviled by rail enthusiasts for closing lines in the 1960s, but he opened up enormous opportunities for railway resurrectionists. The Bluebell Railway claims to have been the first preserved standard-gauge railway, running between Lewes and East Grinstead, along the route of the old London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. For those like me, who yearn t
All is not lost if you can’t fly this summer: Travel firms that normally take British travellers to exotic foreign lands have been working hard to find hidden gems in the UK
Riviera Travel is offering its first British trips, including a Royal Sandringham And The Broads tour of Norfolk
Art-lovers can enjoy a great British summer with Saga - it has launched a Liverpool’s Art Collections tour Exodus has new UK tours including a five-night Walking In Cornwall trip across wild beaches and Celtic sites