“Revolting! That’s what it is!” There’s nowhere to hide on this train, so I must pretend Loudly Loquacious Friend isn’t with me. She’s referring to an event in a town to which we are travelling, but I think she’s wrong. We have just left a city and are heading west along an estuary’s southern shore. Fifteen minutes after departure, the line crosses the river to reach a small town. Road traffic must travel a mile upstream and use a five-arch bridge built in 1814 by a well-known engineer. The town, meanwhile, was where an author (born 1874) spent his final days. Works include Dead Letters. River bridged, the train veers northwest to the town’s station. Here I receive a lecture on the nearby 13th-century priory. A lot of people seem to be fleeing the carriage; I hope they mean to alight here.
Soon we are on our way again, but only for six minutes, until we reach a large village. Cue a loud recitation about another engineer, born 1913, who lived here. He founded a regional airline in 1962. Two stops later, we reach a railway-junction town; our train then takes the northeasterly route, along the shores of a sea inlet. To our right lies a disused airfield used by the navy and RAF; it closed in 1947. Or so I am loudly informed, as I hand friend a bag of sticky toffees.
Two stations from the railway junction, we alight, at another small town. In 1931, it was the scene of a mutiny, drily reported as “complaints about hardship due to the reductions in naval pay”. The sailors were not, I remind friend, “revolting”. Which merely prompts a reply something along the lines of, “Mumphle. Urphle. Glurb.” Wonderful things, sticky toffees.
— Chris Fautley
The prize
The winner and a guest will enjoy a private Real Exotic Marigold Hotel Rajasthan tour for two in India, with the adventure-travel specialist Wild Frontiers. The tour follows in the cinematic footsteps of the film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, mixing its most memorable locations with places such as Jaipur, Delhi and the Taj Mahal. The winner will stay in four- and five-star hotels, on a B&B basis: one of the highlights is a night at the charming Ravla Khempur, a former stud farm that featured as the Marigold Hotel in the movie.
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Return flights from London are included, as well as a private car, driver and guide. The prize must be taken before December 20, 2017, excluding public holidays and subject to availability.
For more details about Wild Frontiers’ worldwide programme of adventure travel, or to book, call 020 8741 7390 or visit wildfrontierstravel.com.
Last week’s prize
The answers are Spurn National Nature Reserve and Bull Sand Fort. John Castle of Market Bosworth wins a three-night break in Austria, with the Ritzenhof Hotel und Spa am See.