This may be a dramatic title, but it's true: I was going to a town called Hope, and there were problems every step of the way. It all worked out in the end – so hope, or indeed Hope, never failed me.
When I was planning this trip I knew that the week in Morecambe and then finally the show itself would be intense. I wanted to find an out-of-the-way place where I could hide out alone afterwards to recharge. While looking through some maps I found the evocatively titled “Peak District” and further research showed it would be perfect, with ample opportunities for hiking in the countryside, or if the weather was damp, at least sitting by the fire with a pint and a good book. I found an ideal-looking inn in a village called “Hope” and booked myself a train trip there from Morecambe on the Sunday after the performance.
The itinerary seemed straightforward: ride the cute little two-car commuter train from Morecambe to Lancaster station, then take an express to Manchester Piccadilly station with a short layover before a final train to Hope, along the Sheffield line. Total travel time about two and a half hours.
Things were already going wrong as soon as I got to Morecambe’s tiny train station. Construction on the tracks meant that the train to Lancaster was going to be a bus instead. There was no notice of when it might show up, or even where it was going to park. The station itself was locked up, so I had to shelter from the rain under a small awning.
But the bus came on the same schedule, was nearly empty, and had comfier seats than the train would have. So hope had not failed me yet.
We got to the Lancaster station and I discovered that my train to Manchester had for some unknown reason been cancelled! In my part of Canada, a cancelled trip can mean complicated contingencies and sometimes days of delay. Trains in the UK aren’t like that. When I anxiously checked in at an information booth the bored person there said another train to Manchester was coming shortly on the next track.
The new train, unfortunately, wasn't an express like my original booking, so after a tour of various industrial towns in the North-West, I arrived in Manchester just after my booked train to Hope had already left. But hope was not lost. These Sheffield line trains leave frequently, so I only had to kill 90 minutes in Manchester Piccadilly station.
It was a rainy day so I decided against wandering around the town. Instead I looked for some food. Large parts of the station were under construction and the restaurants didn’t seem to be in good shape, so I ended up at a Marks & Spencers and grabbed what I soon discovered to be an exceptionally bland cheddar-and-apple sandwich. I tried to find a place to sit and eat my sad sandwich, but the only spot available was in a urine-smelling windowless lounge, next to an unkempt muttering man who had decided to hide out from the rain by working through a six-pack of beer and leering at passing girls.
So as soon as the platform number for my next train was announced I headed out and braved the windy cold platform instead of spending any more time indoors. I watched the bustle on the neighbouring platforms.
The train to Hope arrived on time and we had a pleasant ride through some of the most British-sounding stations that have ever Britished:
Reddish North - Brinnington - Bredbury - Romily - Marple - Strines - New Mills Central - Chinley - Edale
This is so British that a sign at the Marple station points out that it was the inspiration for the name of the Agatha Christie character.
As we neared the Hope station the already grey skies got surprisingly dark. It turned out that daylight saving time had shifted on the night of the show and now the sun was going down at 4:30pm. As I was finally nearing Hope, I had found myself wrapped in a damp and misty darkness.
The allegories write themselves, really.
But now Hope was in sight. After a 15-minute walk from the station I saw the end of my journey, standing warm and cozy before me.
I got myself a pint of Old Peculiar and settled near the fireplace in the cozy pub. Hope had prevailed.