The Limping Welshman
Yesterday I finished reading Matthew Engel's book Eleven Minutes Late , (Pan Macmillan, 2009) which I can heartily recommend to anyone with an interest in the rail industry, social history, or travelling in the UK. Mr Engel's book cleverly weaves these three strands together, following his journeys along the main lines and branch lines of this small island. He meets a host people who work or travel on the trains, and chronicles the random development of the railway network over two centuries. The book ends with him back on his home turf, travelling to his local station at Newport (Gwent), as the rail companies call it these days. I thought I'd share some of his observations with you. He started his journey at Holyhead – almost – as this extract explains: [T]he 1635 back to Cardiff, now operated by Arriva Trains Wales, did its best to go nowhere near Holyhead either, starting out 300 yards away from the buffers and the ticket halls, as though holding its nose. Holyhead is al