other coast

Liverpool had the distinction of being the most populous settlement in the UK that I hadn't yet visited, as correctly guessed when one of those internet question things went round a few years ago. I hadn't visited Manchester very much, but had not visited it very much twice, had passed briefly through Birmingham a couple of times (and have since been there slightly more) and went through Preston today for the fourth time today to change trains, having previously changed buses there. The original intended onward train had been cancelled at some point during the first part of the journey, and the Preston station branch of the Pasty Shop appeared to no longer be there, but at least it was the middle of summer rather than the middle of winter, when fifty extra minutes' grimy exposure would have been less entertaining.