For almost two months it was impossible to cross the Clyde here. In December the force of the river undermined the pier supports of the Lamington viaduct to collapse and so causing massive disruption to trains between Scotland and Carlisle. Until last week buses had to convey rail passengers from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Carlisle but now the track is reopened so I was hopeful that I would have a quicker journey than the one I made in January. No such luck. My train was held up for two hours due to a broken down train just outside Edinburgh which blocked the line. Subsequently it was even later in getting to Preston where I had to change for a further two trains. From door to door a journey which had taken just over 4 hours driving time last month took over 8 hours today. Fortunately much of that time had been spent sitting on a warm comfortable train (till the 'cattle trucks' from Preston) and it was a journey through attractive countryside. However not so good considering that I then had very little time to see my parents.
The photo was taken a few metres from that of January 19th last year.