Awry

East Midlands Railway crest a Derby Station

Some days one's plans go awry and that is how it was for me today.

I wanted a little adventure that would include a six mile walk in the Staffordshire countryside west of Derby. My initial target was a small market town called Uttoxeter - somewhere I had never been before. Rather than driving down there, I decided to travel by train and booked a return ticket last night. It would involve changing trains at Derby.

I arrived in Derby at the scheduled time but then heard an announcement over the tannoy: "The 11.26 train to Crewe via Uttoxeter has been cancelled". I walked out of Derby railway station and headed for the bus station but as luck would have it I had just missed the bus to Uttoxeter so headed back to the railway station, intending to catch the 12.26 train.

Derby ram sculpture by Michael Pegler

I sat by platform 4A reading a novel and was so engrossed that when my train pulled up I was in a slight panic. I put the novel in my backpack and jumped on the train. Halfway to Uttoxeter I realised I had left my camera in its case next to where I had been sitting. During my little walk around Derby I had taken a handful of photographs and they accompany this writing.

St Peter's Church, Derby

Upon reaching Uttoxeter, I decided to postpone the walk I had planned but I did manage to visit the town's little museum and the parish church. Back at the station, I was disgruntled to see that the 14.14 train back to Derby had been cancelled and I would have to wait for the 15.14. By the way, it was a very hot day - the kind of day where you seek the cool of shadows and of course internally I kept berating myself for stupidly mislaying my Panasonic Lumix.

Anyway, I finally made it back to Derby and was directed to the station supervisor. He made a call to the Platform 4 supervisor and joy-upon-joy - my lost camera had been found. I tried to give the platform supervisor a small financial reward but he was having none of it, saying it would be against East Midlands Railway policy. However, I insisted and said if he didn't want to buy himself a pint of beer with the money  he could stick it in a charity box. 

"The Station Inn", Derby

Then I prepared to catch the 16.26 train back to Sheffield and it was also when I entered a mindblowing "bing bong" maze.

"Bing bong  - The 16.26 train to Sheffield has been delayed by ten minutes. It will now leave at 16.36."

"Bing bong - The 16.26 train to Sheffield has been delayed by a further seven  minutes. It will now leave at 16.43."

"Bing bong - Following an incident at Spondon the 16.26 train to Sheffield has now been cancelled. Passengers should instead prepare to board the 17.11 train to Sheffield via Chesterfield."

"Bing  bong - The 17.11 train to Sheffield will now leave at 17.32. Passengers should proceed to Platform 1"

"Bing bong - The 17.11 train to Sheffield has now been cancelled. Passengers should return to Platform 5"

And so the bing bongs continued. It was hard to keep track of it all but at 17.45, I managed to board a crowded train back to Sheffield and what is more - I bagged a seat! Hurrah! Not all passengers enjoyed that luxury.

Box-Tree Moth on a brass memorial plaque in Derby Station. 

This invader was first seen in Great Britain in 2008

And then on Arundel Gate here in Sheffield, I had to wait ages for a bus home. Apparently, there had been a road accident a few hundred yards back along the route . I am not a taxi kind of guy but with two people I know - Bob and Glenda I shared an Uber back to our area and I was dropped outside our house.

This was not how my Uttoxeter day was meant to turn out but much to my relief, I still have my camera. I hope to return to Uttoxeter before too long. To use film director jargon, it will be "Take Two!" 

Urban oasis at Midland Place