To Lancaster

God, the state of the trains. 

They have been in a steady, Tory-induced decline for years, but still, somehow, I retain an optimism about the railway as a method of getting about. 

This evening I was going up to Lancaster to meet an electronic musician called Dave Shooter about the possibility of us putting out a podcast next year. Perfect, I thought, I can take the train up from Salford Crescent, have a couple of beers and then come back.

Well, it did work out in the end but what a bloody stress. The train that arrived at Salford Crescent, bound for Clitheroe, was only three coaches long and already packed. It turns out that I am one of those people who shouts at everyone to move further down the coach! At least it worked and thankfully I was only on that train for one stop.

The change at Bolton was nearly derailed* by the fact that the train was waiting on a different platform from the one it was supposed to be on, and that in turn enjoyed an unexpected ten minute delay, sat just outside Lancaster.

Anyway, in the end I was only fifteen minutes late in meeting Dave and his wife for a quick Chinese meal, before he and I headed off to the pub to talk podcasts, electronic music, and, alarmingly, the possibility of me doing a live set at one of his regular Hymns For Robots evenings. Yikes. 

But we had an enjoyable evening and I'm excited for what we might get up to next year. 

And the journey back to Salford was a lot more straightforward, I'm pleased to say. 

*sorry