Tamworth; Sunday, 06 July, 2025

I had another long lie in and a slightly damp trip to breakfast as the restaurant isn’t actually connected to the hotel, it’s a good 60 second dash across the carpark when it’s drizzling heavy.

I waited out the worst of the weather in my room before packing and checking out just after 11am as the weather had finally cleared up. I walked into town and over to the main bus stops to pick up the bus out to the National Memorial Arboretum.

The Arboretum was first imagined in the mid 1990’s as a place to hold memorials not just to armed forces but also to other deserving causes, such as the emergency services, volunteer services and organisations that have helped the country. The first trees were planted in 1997 and the site opened in 2001.

The site is now about 150 acres and 24 years on from opening is covered in lots of mature trees making it a very pleasant place to wander around, whilst taking in the different memorials.

I spent quite several hours wandering around the site before it was time to start heading back into Tamworth to start my journey home. I caught the bus back from the memorial to the train station to see what the state of the trains was.

I’d already been informed that the train I was booked on would be delayed into London and was going to be only 4 cars rather than 8, so I was looking at options, which included getting a return ticket further up the line in the hope of picking up the train earlier and getting a seat, but at the station it became obvious that there were major problems as all the trains heading up the line towards Crewe, including the one I was booked on later, were either delayed or cancelled, so I decided I couldn’t be bothered hanging around and instead abandoned that route home.

Thankfully, as I checked on Uber there was a taxi just dropping off at the station so I was able to hop into that and head over to New Street Station in Birmingham, where I was able to get a last minute advanced ticket on the next train to London which was still quite a bit cheaper than the full walk-up fare, so in the end my journey back to London was quicker and much more comfortable, and earlier, that originally planned.