Petworth

I don't know what it is about disused railway lines but I've always loved them. Maybe it's the surrealism of having all of the artefacts that go with a railway line - the bridges and buildings, cuttings and culverts - without any actual line being there. That's definitely part of it. Like a negative space in a picture.

Petworth station, which you can see here, has been restored and four old Pullman carriages installed on the remnants of the tracks, and converted into hotel rooms. The Minx and I are staying in one of them tonight and tomorrow. Frankly, as soon as I found out about the place, I knew we'd have to come here.

I drove into London for the first time in a good while, this afternoon, to pick her up from Euston station, and then we had a lovely - albeit slow - drive through Knightsbridge, over Putney Bridge, down the A3 and off through Oxshott. (Sometimes I think these drives together are my favourite part of our trips away.) 

When we arrived the at the (ex) station it completely matched my hopes, plus there was the bonus of a good pub serving great food just two minutes walk away (with an intriguing collection of erotic art on the walls in the tiny room where we ate).