When I was young, going on holiday always involved trains. Not that we always travelled to our destination on one, but we did, almost invariably see some steam locomotives. Sometimes this would be a mountain railway or a rebuilt section of the old network, sometimes it was in a museum. I have long known that Mallard set the steam speed record at 126mph as her sleek lines were to be seen in York Railway Museum and at university, I was briefly to be found trainspotting in Waverley Station when I wasn’t off on a trip somewhere with a club of train enthusiasts.

So when I was asked, last Sunday evening, what we should do the next morning, I already had my answer ready. We were going to visit Locomotion museum in Shildon. There were trains galore and also a cafe, so something for everyone! It’s a big site and we didn’t get all the way round, but we did explore both the original building, which was filled with old passenger trains and the new one, which was dedicated to industry and freight, as well as vehicles for mending and maintaining the tracks in all weathers.

There is some beautiful rolling stock, from an old horse drawn rail carriage to a former Royal train, and from Stephenson’s Rocket (which won a competition, in 1829, to run on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway – the world’s first inter-city passenger railway line) to the Flying Scotsman, which 100 years later, ran from London to Edinburgh and is officially, the first locomotive to reach 100mph.

What struck me most was the quality and workmanship that used to go into building those trains. The shiny paint and intricate shapes are so much more attractive than the modern, soulless units that run around the network nowadays.

The second shed was all about practicality. Early wooden coal trucks and massive snow ploughs stood alongside freight containers for everything from cattle to wartime tanks.

On Tuesday we went to Wynyard Hall Gardens. Famous for its roses, it wasn’t the best time of year for a visit. Nonetheless, there were still some lovely blooms and a few autumn leaves were clinging to the trees in the landscaped grounds.

And I’m going to leave it there for now. Sadly we have to leave the lovely farm cottage that’s been home for the past week at 10am, so breakfast and packing will have to take precedence, but I’ll leave you with a lovely encounter at the window on Tuesday afternoon. As always, thanks for reading.