264 WAYFARING NOTIONS 



I often wonder why our railway companies do 

 not make a feature of slow — as slow as possible 

 — trains through the picturesque lands they 

 pervade. (Please understand that I am quite 

 aware of the nasty things to be said about certain 

 services and want of pace.) For instance, take 

 a journey to Plymouth by the Great Western and 

 back by the London and South-Western Railway 

 Company. As regards the earlier stages I am 

 blase, because I have done them so often. But 

 after the Great Western brings me to Exeter I 

 am so interested in the outlook from the carriage 

 window that I count as only a trivial set-off a bit 

 of coal in my eye from the engine's priming. For 

 more years than I care to count have I enjoyed 

 the view between Exeter and Plymouth. So far 

 as Exeter I take things as they come, not being 

 keen except to snatch a glimpse of my old friend 

 Father Thames, who has given me some of the 

 happiest days of my life. But after the Great 

 Western Railway slides away from the Thames 

 Valley, then as far as Exeter, the panorama 

 appeals to me vainly except in its cues. From 

 Didcot to Chippenham I pass stations that are 

 points from which I might preach many discursive 

 sermons. Take Didcot and Swindon, for instance. 

 Around those centres, with leave to wander on to 

 the training-grounds thereabouts, I might hold 

 forth ad infinitum. Chippenham — why, I could 

 talk for a month about the stables handy thereto 

 and the old-timers. I spent many jolly days 

 within those quarters. From Chippenham, you 

 know, you can easily get over to some of the most 

 celebrated stables in the Wiltshire list. 



I started, I believe, with a reference to the 

 other man, who called me ''a d d T.G." F'or 



