Following Dr Beeching’s Axe

In 1963 the political vandalism of the Beeching Report led to the abandonment of 4,500 miles of Britain’s rail track, the closure of 2,000 local stations and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. It isolated thousands of communities and leaving them without a rail link to the ‘outside world’ for the first time in a hundred years.

Most of these lost lines disappeared from the landscape, gobbled up as urban & industrial sprawl or sucked up by farming conglomerates – but not all of them vanished. Some have added to our invaluable network of footpaths & bridleways.

Exploring Britain’s lost railways (The Times, October 2013) is a new book by Julian Holland that details some of these abandoned routes. It explores 50 of Britain’s lost rail routes that can now be travelled on foot or by cycle.

The book is illustrated with up-to-date & nostalgic photographs plus Ordinance Survey maps detailing how to find these lost routes.

It’s an enjoyable fireside read but for the more active there are routes to follow from Plymouth to Lossiemouth.

The train to Budapest

Its a nice comfortable train that travelled at 100 to 160 kph through a rather uninteresting agricultural landscape. The rail operator is called RailJet, who I've never heard of. There was no discernable border between Austria & Hungary, the only evidence was a second ticket inspector wanting to stamp the ticket again.

About half an hour before Budapest we pass through rocky cliffs, wooded hillsides & we skirt the Danube.

Arriving in a new city in a new country & with no local currency (the forint) taxi's are a bit of a must until you suss out the local transport system. Budapest station taxi drivers are surly rip off merchants - they don't use a meter & charged 15 euro for a frightening 8 minute hurtle through the streets. 

Vienna to Budapest

It cost 10 euro for a taxi from Westbahnhof station to my hotel but going back to the station was free as my 24 hour Vienna card is still valid. The metro was twice as fast as the taxi & very easy to negotiate. If I'd bought a 48 hour metro/tram ticket on arrival I'd be 20 euro in pocket.

With an hour & quarter to wait at the station I really appreciate use of the club lounges which seem to be at all main stations. They come free with the modest extra premium for a first class ticket, unlike the UKs extortonate first class fares. With free WiFi, drinks, snacks & comfy chairs they could cover the extra cost - if you're greedy.

Vienna 4 - Sunday

As a rule I avoid museums - they're dead places full of artifacts ripped from any meaningful context & museum goers are basically train spotters wrapped up in a cultural blanket.

I enjoy art but bridle at the perposterous bogus sanctity of art galleries - but I was intrigued by Vienna's Museum of Art Fakes (Lowengasse 28). Fake art is nothing new, the earliest recorded example is apparently Michelangelo - as a student he was given an old master to practice his technique but he returned his copy instead of the original & no one noticed.

Artists like Tom Keating & Elmyr de Hory became disaffected with the profit driven motive of dealers & investment collectors & the lack of interest in their work so they set out to undermine the shallow, ignorant & phony art world by showing that they can paint just as well as dead painters whose works are valued in millions.

If 'experts' can't tell the difference between a fake & an original without recourse to X-Rays & scientific testing - then what is the difference?

A fascinating museum that is really thought provoking.

Vienna 3 - Sunday

Had a more enjoyable day as I bought a 24 hour Vienna public transport ticket for 6.70 euro  - which is a bargain as each trip costs 2 euro. Took the metro to Praterstern to see the famous ferris wheel depicted in The Third Man - a 1949 Carol Reed film from a Graham Greene short story immortalised by Orson Wells as Harry Lime in post war Vienna.

Its still in an old fashioned fun fair that looks to be dated from the 1940's - drear & awful but rather iconic for all that - & popular with old folks & parents of 5-7 years olds. In fairness they do have a newish ride that is the highest chair-o-plane ride that whirls around 117 metres in the air - why would anyone want to do that?

The Park was created in 1766 & after the ferris wheel was erecte in 1895 it evolved into a classic funfair.

The Danube is a few miles out of the city centre & the metro stops on a long island that is a popular leisure spot for the Vienenese. People were sunbathing, swimming, cruising in rental boats & parts were lined with alfreso riverside bars & restaurants. The river seems very clean (saw a terrpin) but it wasnt any 'bluer' than the Thames - less muddy brown maybe but couldnt see the Blue Danube.

It was a lovely spot with a delicious river breese & it was nice to find where the Viennese go when they abandon the city centre to the tourists.

Vienna 2 - Saturday

Got hot & bothered (30 degrees) walking all day saturday & became peeved with the emphasis on shopping - the same things you can buy in every other city. The Opera Hse, St Stephens cathedral, Imperial Palace & Spanish Riding School were impressive but the hoards of big tour groups was irritating.

The famous Viennese cafe culture is epitomised in the very grand Central Cafe, with its vaulted ceiling, columns & guilded chandeliers. Instead of the much trumpeted artists & intellectuals, like everywhere else, it was packed with tour groups & souless.

Ended the day at a surprising English enclave near my hotel - The Four Bells pub selling Newcastle Brown ale & Bobbies a shop specialising in English food imports!

So I saw some grand buildings but didnt feel I'd seen anything that summed up Vienna.

Vienna

My first impressions are disappointing, with wide busy roads & a lot less character than Cologne. Lots of unattractive post war buildings but there is some nice nineteenth stuff but you have to search it out.

All in all I wish I had stayed over in Cologne.