A short test piece to re-establish my connection to Blogger

This isn’t a new blog post, although it is a sightly re-jigged one, and my prime purpose in publishing it is to check that my numerous attempts to access my Blogger Dashboard have been successful. In effect it’s a test post, based on a Word document I produced last summer, relating to the Beer & Pubs Forum visit to the Hampshire town of Farnham. As it’s a test piece, I make no apologies if some of it looks familiar, but by using this part-written post as a “base”, so to speak, I want to confirm one way or the other, that my numerous attempts to log on to Blogger, have been successful.

I had previously been to Farnham, having passed through en route to Southampton for a cruise. On that occasion, we stayed overnight, and I spent part of the day near Winchester.  On this occasion I would be seeing Farnham in a different light, but first before talking about the pubs, I want to continue the travel theme and describe the journey I undertook to get there, from my home in Tonbridge.  

I travelled across country using the Tonbridge-Redhill line, before switching onto the North Downs Line at Redhill. This then took me to Guildford, where a further change of trains took me through Farnham and then on to Alton.  The Tonbridge-Redhill line acts as a useful diversionary route for London bound trains, when the tracks north of Tonbridge are blocked by engineering works. This probably explains why it was kept open despite the infamous Beeching cuts of the 1960’s and early 70’s, but it wasn’t until 1994 that the line was finally electrified.

Electrification continues as far as Reigate (the next stop after Redhill), but really the whole line should have been electrified, as today this stretch of the North Downs Line is operated by a fleet of noisy and diesel multiple units. Despite the noise, and the rattling of the rolling stock, travelling back along this line brought back fond memories, from three or four years ago. This was when I was walking the North Downs Way between Redhill and Guildford, and where intermediate stations, such as Betchworth, Gomshall and Chilworth, served as useful staging posts. On each occasion it meant a steep climb after leaving the station, before reaching the top of the escarpment, to pick up the trail. Happy days, and with much of that stretch of the North Downs covered by beechwoods, pleasant memories as well.