There’s a lot to be said for taking a break from the old routine.
And this week there’s been not one break, but two to report on!
The Old One Two
I’m not talking about holidays, you understand. No, that’s still to come for the Rankin household. No, the breaks in question have been in the form of days out in two reasonably close cities.
Days out that would have been so much harder this time last year.
The reason for this newfound freedom is the renovation of my local train station. To put this in context, myself and my always amazing wife, Tina live in Mirfield, a small town just outside Huddersfield in west Yorkshire. A town that has, for the ten years I’ve been living there, only offered me one-way train journeys.
The reason for this is the fact that the station in question straddles a road with access to one side of the tracks being accessed by a steep but manageable incline on one side and by a flight of dangerously steep steps on the other.
As I’m no friend of even the most gentle of steps, (going up in a wheelchair is impossible. Going down? Well, that’s almost doable but, um, hazardous, no matter how tempting it may be. I’d get to the bottom pretty quick alright, but possibly not with all my limbs intact) this has meant that my train journeys have been capped to one-way for so long I can’t even remember which way that was.
Take One
But those dreary days are done. Thanks to the installation of a lift and a walkway (wheelway?), both sides of the tracks are now accessible and this weekend I tried them out for the first time.
The occasion was my father’s birthday, an occasion that passed a couple of weeks ago but, for reasons, saw last Saturday as the first chance for the fam to get together to properly celebrate.
The festivities took the form of a bottomless brunch (although 3pm is a funny old time for a meal between breakfast and lunch), and was extremely enjoyable to say the least. The drinks flowed, the hours flew, and soon enough we were back on the train and, thanks to a lift from my amazing step-sis, Jen, back home. Trial one, passed with flying colours.
Take Two
The second day out, yesterday, was a trip to Manchester to visit my super step-daughter, Sarah, who currently lives in Chester. Once again we set off from home in plenty of time to meet our connection and once again the trip out was both comfortable and quick.
Northern Rail, the local train service, have dedicated spaces on their carriages for wheelchairs and those spaces are generous, meaning there was plenty of room and I never once felt in the way, something I was acutely aware of.
We arrived in Manc fully rested, completely unstressed and ready for what was a walk through the city and a lovely meal at a lovely pub by the canal.
And this is where things went wrong.
The return ticket was ‘open’, meaning we could leave when we wanted, but, as Sarah had prior engagements to attend it worked out we were at a loose end by 5pm.
This turned out to be the wrong time to catch a train.
Rush Job
By the time we got through the barriers, the train we needed, a Transpennine Express was full, and I’m talking sardine full. We were, however, assured another one that definitely hit our station would be with us in 15 minutes. Said train pulled up on time and I was assisted on using the fold-away ramp by a very helpful conductor type chap who asked where we were headed and assured us we were on the right train.
We were not on the right train.
It called at various stations in the locale. Huddersfield, Leeds, but it never called in at Mirfield. As the route was called out before departing, we realised this and tried to disembark, but, as the ramp would have been needed again and the conductor chap was nowhere in sight this proved impossible.
Off we set.
Taxi
After a brief panic and a ‘consultation’ with the on-board staff, a solution was devised. We would get off at Huddersfield and the very, very, very, sorry conductor would order us a free taxi from there.
It meant a little longer journey than we’d anticipated but, to make a long story ever-so-slightly shorter, we got home safe and sound.
Will this experience stop me using the train? No. will it make me plan journeys just a tad better and double-check information. Yes. After all, when getting on and getting off is that much slower and more difficult, it pays to be sure.
Until next time!
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Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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