Well, my last attempt failed miserably. But I'm a trier, so Easter will hopefully find me realising two ambitions - going onna sleeper train (while I still can) and possibly riding m'bike in scotland, a bit.
My plan is vague and fuzzy, but will probably involve a train down the the ECML to That London, in order to catch a sleeper train up the WCML. Then, probably, a couple of nights of either B&B or cheap chain hotelry, before catching either a train back to york or a sleeper to That London and then a train to York. I'm studiously avoiding the thought that this will involve taking m'bike to That London and taking solace in the fact that I believe that the stations I'll need to get between aren't too far apart.
If taking the bike feels too complicated, I might save that ambition for another day. Maybe. But I want to keep it as a possibility, so will prob book bike spaces.
First question - where in scotland shall I go? I'd quite like to not have the stress of having to move my bike around guard vans at dark o'clock when the train splits. It would be nice to land up somewhere that I have a reasonable chance of a cheapish hotel with some decent bike riding nearby. I'm not a big city lover, in particular. But I haven't been north of the border since I was a nipper, so am very open to suggestions.
Any thoughts?
(btw, this is partly as a bit of a recce run prior to possibly repeating the adventure later in the year without bikes but with cubs, who I suspect would love sleeping on a train!)
