To Embra and back. No applause from the students on this occasion but at least no snores either. No applause for GNER either. Good going. Early in fact which is becoming a habit with the new generously timed schedules. But coming back the boycott of Berwick on Tweed apparently continues. We were firmly told at Dunbar by an announcement from the Guard that the next 'station stop' was Newcastle upon Tyne. In some alarm I asked a member of the 'Train Crew' what had happened to the timetabled stop at Berwick. 'We will stop there' I was told 'Its on the list' But why the announcement? 'He has the wrong list! ' I was not altogether convinced -what if the driver had the wrong list too? Burnt supper and a long trek back from the Tyne.
The train duly stopped ,if a bit abruptly as if the driver only got his instructions at the last moment. The guard stayed silent-none of the usual 'Berwick is your next station stop, take care to remove all your belongings and those of your wife etc and mind the step' No announcement was made. The train stopped. We got off and the 5-30 pm stations south rolled on relentlessly.
I later wondered if it was all a ruse to stop the caterers escaping prematurely (see a previous post). But as it happened there was a partial crew change as a lot of uniformed people disembarked from First Class.But the Guard stayed on board. Perhaps he had bad breath and his colleagues made their escape as he snoozed on to Newcastle. Once again we may never know.
