Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 16hThe old thing turned extremely faulty on Friday, the day before its tenth birthday. It's driveable, just (and extremely noisy in 1st-3rd gear because the gearbox is about to collapse), but its next journey is me taking it to be scrapped. To repair it costs substantially more than what it's valued. 100
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 02/10/2026Of course, being a champion of the Tiswas side of things, I can confidently say that B1 2JP would definitely never be home to any racism whatsoever. None at all. No sirree. 120
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 25/09/2026It's never a good sign when BC turns his back on your vegan retrogaming cafe. 020
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 23/09/2026A German rally of Ayran supremacists in 1938. Or "anti-migrant activists", as modern BBC News would say. 010
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 16/09/2026"But the demands of the billionaire venue owner are far more important than those dead children..." 020
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 11/09/2026Ha, stopped using it nearly a decade ago. That'll teach them to cease airing David Diddy Hamilton's soothing tones. 010
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 08/09/2026That said, I've done a good job. Recorded in around 3K resolution, shot on a new DJI Pocket 3 and properly safe-area captioned for social media. And yes, Baird era television was portrait. Which was one of many reasons why it was shit. 251
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 08/09/2026I was going to buy the Fame Academy Bubble Gum or the How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? pork scratchings, but no, this wins the day for me. 020
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Also, if you are ever at Wellingborough railway station, the cute micropub nearby might feel like a nice stop to visit, but it is run by a racist woman, in a partnership with a man who was the town's first (and thankfully only) BNP candidate. Avoid it. It was only good under the previous two owners. 311
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026The train pulls in at the final stop at 17:55, almost nine hours after stepping on that first train in Queensferry. There. My longest rail experience is over. And hopefully the tail end of privatised rail in the UK. It's been disappointing. 130
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Now on the final stretch. Can I down this on the last eight miles? 100
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Kettering railway station has been redesigned by an absolute tossweasel who has decided no seating for platform 1. You have to go back through the ticket barriers to the ticket office for some limited seating. In December, EMR's service may become nationalised. 110
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Now some disruption. The train that should be taking me home here from Kettering has been cancelled, so the next one is 30 minutes later. This does at least allow me to buy a cheap beer from the nearby corner shop. 120
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Now at Market Harborough, world famous for being the birthplace of my comedy night promoting career, which began at Beerhouse. Apart from that, there is nothing the town is notable for. 211
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Another changeover. I'm here at Leicester's bland railway station. Elephant Man aside, nothing has really happened here. All the cool people are down Firebug. 110
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026The one thing keeping peace between rivals Derby and Nottingham? The cooling towers. 110
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026It's adios to CrossCuntery as I change at Derby for the East Midlands Railway service. It's a rather bland featureless station but it does have a Greggs, meaning I have now eaten for the first time since 10am. 230
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Sheffield, home of the famous band, Bring Me The 17 Def Human Monkeys' Pulp. I first visited the city to meet a guy off of Paramount Comedy's cult teletext letters page, Mailbox and got a personal tour. 130
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026This is Wakefield Westgate railway station. I have never properly visited Wakefield. However, I'm sure it's the surname of a dodgy sports teacher at my old school. Which one? Well, they were all dodgy. 210
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026We now come to the Rolls Royce of railway stations in northern England. This is York. (I've been to Crewe, but, hmm, just outshined by York.) 130
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026I have never properly visited Darlington. Yes, I know the most famous legend about it. I believe there is now a tribute band there to Bobbie Gillespie's outfit. They're called Primate Scream. No, you shut up. 310
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026This dilapidated train station belongs to Durham. I've driven up there, it's quite a nice historic city with good pubs and a thriving quirky indoor market. 210
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026That's taken so long that I have already entered and left Durham and Darlington. In Newcastle/Gateshead, I've run every pedestrian-accessible bridge. Obviously not the one this train is on. 110
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026I reach Alnmouth, a place I've never visited before but I have been to Alnwick, where I once drank gold (yes, actual gold) with vodka. 120
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Anyway, I am now officially in England, as we've hit Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is a bit of Schroedinger for its Anglo/Scot status. On my only visit there (a mere half hour), a crowd of kilted bagpipers all in tartan walked on to the beach where we and played. Incredibly stereotypical. 150
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026I had doubts about whether I could squeeze in a Fringe show in the 90 mins I had spare in Edinburgh Old Town. I did! Alex Prescot's loosely retrogame-themed show Cellars And Serpents started at 10. Very good, like a camp musical nod to John Robinson's Dark Room. Also, bumped into comedian Mark Row! 230
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 30/08/2026Dolly Parton sang about working nine to five. But can our railway network work from 09:05 to 17:26 as I head from the southern banks of the River Forth down into Northamptonshire? Join me here as I angle for a gig on U&Yesterday or 5Select or something, about a long railway journey. 2151
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 27/08/2026A tourist cliché for anyone visiting Ireland, but what the hell, it's genuinely good unlike Scotland's Irn Bru, England's Carling or Wales's Brains. (An exception to my snark for Liberation Ale from Jersey, superb stuff. I have not been to Guernsey or Isle of Man. Yet.) 010
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 27/08/2026I'm in Tullamore, an Irish Midlands town with a population of around 16,000 and I walked past the local newspaper office which was like a small semi-detached house in terms of office space. The newspaper is 64 pages and is actually produced DAILY. No fluff either. Puts my local to shame. 030
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 26/08/2026Earlier today I met Ireland's harp. Yes, that one. The one used for their passports, their Euro coins and of course, adapted by Guinness as a logo. Really chatty and very down to earth. He signed all my merchandise and we even swapped numbers. 250
Pete Prodge @peteprodge.com · 26/08/2026When Geri left the Spice Girls, which of the remaining four was your favourite? 131