Ilkley To Carlisle, In Stages

I  – ILKLEY TO LEEDS

The fare was ninety pence.  I gave the conductor a one pound coin and he gave me change in one and twp pence pieces with a certain vindictive pleasure.  I am sometimes tempted to say that people who do this can keep their troublesome coins, but I think they’d see this as profit rather than protest.

II – LEEDS TO SKIPTON

I buy my onward ticket with a fifty pound note.  The man at the ticket office holds it up to the light, the says ‘I wouldn’t know a forgery if I saw one. ‘ I admire his humour and his humanity.

III  – SKIPTON TO CARLISLE

This includes the Settle to Carlisle journey, reputedly the most striking scenic railway route in the country, and the reason for my circuitous journey.  Unfortunately the visibility is thirty feet.