“The only way of catching a train I have ever discovered is to miss the train before.”
― G.K. Chesterton

“The train bore me away, through the monstrous scenery of slag-heaps, chimneys, piled scrap-iron, foul canals, paths of cindery mud criss-crossed by the prints of clogs.”
― George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier

“Yes. I remember Adlestrop—
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.”
– Edward Thomas, Adlestrop

“The aristocrats, if such they could be called, generally hated the whole concept of the train on the basis that it would encourage the lower classes to move about and not always be available.”
― Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam

“I had my own compartment – plenty of space, plenty of provisions, the grapes, cookies, chocolates and tea that made being on the Trans-Siberian like a luxurious form of convalescence.”
― Paul Theroux, Riding the Iron Rooster

“Was it worth keeping the Halt open,
We thought as we looked at the sky
Red through the spread of the cedar-tree,
With the evening train gone by?”
– John Betjeman, Dilton Marsh Halt

“Railways, like Daleks, have difficulties in getting up hills.”
― Ian Marchant, Parallel Lines: Or, Journeys on the Railway of Dreams

“This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.”
– WH Auden, Night Mail

“Pardon Me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?”
― Mack Gordon, Chattanooga Choo Choo

“For many country folk, the railway was Paris.”
– Catherine Hewitt, Renoir’s Dancer: The Secret Life of Suzanne Valadon

“Lord, that Hollywood train, forever coming round the bend!”
― James Baldwin, The Devil Finds Work:

Gaily into Ruislip Gardens
Runs the red electric train,
With a thousand Ta’s and Pardon’s
Daintily alights Elaine
– John Betjeman, Middlesex

2025 Railway 200 – the 200th anniversary of the modern railway

Let’s Dance

For whom The Midnight Bell tolls

Posted in Let's Dance, The Play's the Thing on 18 May, 2025.

MATTHEW Bourne, the inspired creator of the all-male Swan Lake, and many other dance theatre pieces, scored another hit and won more awards with his 2021 production, The Midnight Bell, which comes to the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th May, as part of a countrywide tour. His company, New Adventures, makes…

The power of friendship in a plastic world

Posted in Let's Dance on 15 October, 2024.

PAVILION Dance South West comes to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 26th October and Pound Arts at Corsham on Friday 27th with Plastic Paradiso, Claire Benson’s environmental inspired performance which aims to engage children and families in the importance of saving the oceans and the value of recycling. There was once a wide, windswept place,…

You are invited to the ball …

Posted in Miscellany, Let's Dance on 10 June, 2024.

TURN the clock in your head back to the time of Jane Austen and imagine you have been invited to a ball at Bath’s most fashionable venue, the Assembly Rooms. Then move forwards in time and here it is – an invitation to a ‘Fancy Ball’ on Saturday 15th June, from 6.30pm, at the elegant…

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The Fine Times Recorder

Let’s Dance

For whom The Midnight Bell tolls

The power of friendship in a plastic world

You are invited to the ball …