Not that there's otherwise much to write about! As the lockdown restrictions are relaxed bit by bit, so normal life returns. But the temporary novelty of that doesn't offer much material for a post. I suppose I could mention that I've now booked a total of fifty-five nights away in the caravan, starting on 12th July for fifteen nights, with the rest in September, October and November. With both car and caravan serviced and ready to hit the road, I'm eager to get back to the touring life. I'm relying on the government giving the go-ahead for holiday travel, but that's all I want. Being self-sufficient, I can do proper social distancing on any caravan site. But until I actually do get away, there's little more I can say on that subject. Besides, I'm fully aware that plenty of people will be made redundant as the summer progresses, possibly getting into deep financial trouble; they won't want to read about a fortunate lady who can afford several carefree weeks away from home, when they can't.
I do follow current affairs, and it's been tempting to say something about such things as the Black Lives Matter protests, and connected topics like statue removal. But the plight of non-white people is too serious a thing for a casual post. And I can't help feeling that no matter how thoughtful and positive my views are, if I wrote about them I would merely make myself a target for attack. I very well remember commenting on a news story about a certain newspaper cartoon some years ago, and ended up being verbally assaulted by an American with strong Jewish connections who objected to how I had expressed myself, and branded me anti-Semitic. That person was also a gun-owner, and you can imagine how nervous I felt. Who knows, they might have friends this side of the Atlantic! It was the same even further back, years ago now, when my blog came to the attention of some extreme feminist/lesbian activists. That was no fun either.
I hadn't realised just how toxic some subjects are. I have not made that mistake again.
So for an anodyne Sunday-morning post, here's one on two Scottish railway stations I visited last year on 20th April: Golf Street and Barry Links. Both are among the least-used stations in the UK. They are next to each other on the same length of line between Dundee and Arbroath, on the western side of Carnoustie. Here be maps.
Carnoustie is one of those Scottish places inextricably linked with golf. And Golf Street station is within easy walking distance of the world-class Carnoustie Golf Club. It's also highly convenient for suburban residents, as the lowermost map makes obvious. It isn't at all clear why Golf Street station isn't heavily used. Very few trains call there, and yet - with commuters to Dundee and beyond in mind - there must be scope for a regular stopping service. I can only think that it's considered to be too close to Carnoustie station in the centre of town.
Well, let's have a look at Golf Street.
This is the view from the footbridge slightly west of the station platforms, looking eastwards towards Carnoustie station, not much more than half a mile ahead:
Off to the right, on the seaward side of the station, the grand white-painted clubhouse of the Carnoustie Golf Club:
Turning round clockwise, there's the golf course on the left of the line. The right hand side is all built up.
Still on the footbridge, and facing east again, these are the suburbs right next to the station on the landward side:
At ground level now.
Not much in the way of facilities, but all is immaculately maintained. Perfect for local shopping mums and office workers, I'd have thought. Pretty convenient too for golfers who don't want to use a car. So why does the station get such a sparse service - two early-morning trains and two early-evening trains on weekdays? No service for most of the daytime. Clearly this stops people making much use of it. Only 280 people did for the whole of 2018/19. Less than one a day.
I had to have souvenir shots of my visit, the top one courtesy of Coline:
So to Barry Links station, just down the line to the west. Now this one, I will admit, is much more out in open countryside. But not on lonely moorland. Barry Links station is a more substantial proposition compared with Golf Street. Proper station buildings. With light and sound effects too, as the level crossing is constantly flashing and bleeping so that Carnoustie- and Dundee-bound trains can thunder through, as they do at frequent intervals.
Barry Links is well-placed for any housing development that might take place on the landward side of the line. I suppose they keep it in a semi-mothballed condition, just in case. For the present it has the same sparse train service as Golf Street, and even fewer passengers used the station in 2018/19: just 122 for the entire year. Well, of course, there's not the same number of nearby local residents; and most of the land on the seaward side is a military training area, and therefore out of bounds to leisure-minded civvies.
I was of course delighted (Coline was very indulgent) to tick two more stations off my list of Famously Little-Used UK Railway Stations That I Absolutely Must Visit And Blitz With My Camera. It's a growing list of successes:
1983, 2010 Coombe Junction
1998, 2017 Havenhouse
2018 Shippea Hill
2019 Golf Street
2019 Barry Links
The race to the bottom (in terms of passenger usage) is a remarkably fierce contest. Some of these stations have become rather famous, and actually attract visitors - which then makes them temporarily more popular, and gives other stations a chance to be the least-used in the country. 'Least-used' generally means that an average of less than one person a day uses them. But really any station used only by a handful of people daily is a station I'd like to visit and tick off. So I should also mention these others that I've visited, even if they will never be serious contenders for any national 'least-used' prize:
1984, 2016 Combe
2010 South Bank
2011 Chapelton
2013 Portsmouth Arms
2014 Broome
2016 Finstock
2017 Acklington
2017 Chathill
2017 Sugar Loaf
2017 Springfield
2017 Barrow Haven
2017 New Holland
2017 Thornton Abbey
2018 Arram
2018 Rauceby
2018 Swineshead
2019 Scotscalder
For some reason, eastern England is a particularly fruitful area for little-used stations!
I could list quite a lot more, if I go on to include all stations set in majestically wild or remote places, even if their annual passenger-use is well over 1,000.
Station-visiting - with a camera to record what I find - has definitely become a feature of all my holidays.
Is it an odd thing to do? Well, I still feel rather idiotic, turning up at an apparently empty station when no trains are expected for hours, only to encounter a squad of Network Rail's Orange Army doing maintenance work there. You feel like an intruder. And if there are ever any genuine passengers waiting for a train, that tends to make me garrulous about why I am there myself, and why I'm taking pictures when I'm not in fact a die-hard railway enthusiast. (I prefer to get my shots and go, and not have to explain) I shouldn't get so embarrassed. Really it's not very different from visiting country churches, or holy wells, or old windmills, or prehistoric monuments, or anything of tourist interest shown on a map. It's harmless, and it gets me out and about in very attractive scenery.
