Stations on the scenic route

Today I went by train to see a friend who lives in Stratford-upon-Avon. An Oxford crow can get there in 32 miles, a car in 39. The quickest train journey takes 1 hour 20 minutes while the longest takes 2 hours 48 minutes. Guess which one I had to take to get home! The scheduled route included this walk through central Birmingham (if you don't know English geography, don't look at a map - you'll weep; if you do know, you're already weeping).

Bonus extra was that I looked up from my book at one point to find we'd stopped at Danzey station (a request stop) which promptly zoomed up my favourite-station ratings to take second place. Unbeaten in first place is Middlewood which, as the name implies, is in the middle of a wood. It's accessed by forest paths and the nearest road with vehicles is 800 metres away. When my job used to involve working in Manchester I stayed with friends near Middlewood. Such a great way to get to work (though coming back after dark in the winter was less fun).