Ecclesbourne Valley Railway

This morning we were joined by my old school friend, who drove up from Leicestershire to meet us at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway at Wirksworth.

We had time for coffee in the station cafe and a wander round the town before catching the 13.20h departure for a trip down towards Duffield, taking a light picnic to eat during the two-hour journey there-and-back.

Along the way we stopped twice to open level crossing gates, here's the guard performing the task. Apparently a landslip near to Duffield rendered the line unsafe and we simply stopped and the driver went to the other end of the train to drive back.

It was a pleasant journey through green fields, a couple with oilseed rape, several of sheep with lambs and one with three herons talking to an egret, a scene we don't see every day!

Then we all drove to our holiday residence to show her round - she knows the general area well and I am confident that she found her way home with ease.