BOOK REVIEW: Britain from the Rails – A Window Gazer’s Guide by Benedict Le Vay (Bradt Travel Guides (£15.99).

ARRIVING shortly before the festive period got into full swing this cracking paperback was like having a most welcome additional Christmas present and it’s provided plenty of pleasure since.

It’s proving entertaining to dip into any of its 300-plus pages whenever there is a spare moment and now into the new year the surprises continue to be delightfully unearthed.

A little bit bigger than a pocket-sized guide it’s a gem for any rail enthusiast and anyone with the merest hint of enjoying rail travel and seeing for themselves the immeasurable delights there are to be had in all four corners of this island.

Le Vay takes us off the beaten track as well as travelling the well-worn ones.

The cover tantalisingly offers some of ‘the nation’s best kept secret railways’ and along with these are some of the most offbeat stories. Some people may cock a snook at railway historians and train-spotters, but there’s a lot more to our railways than meets the eye.

The ‘secret railways’ features three in Wales, and also the Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield Line and London’s new Orbital Railway - each put forward by readers of his first edition who told him he must come and check out their particular lines as they felt they were ‘one of Britain’s best-kept secrets.’

Down in the Welsh Valleys our author has traversed several routes around Merthyr and its branches where incredible changes have occurred to the landscape as slagheaps have given way to grassed over slopes and tree planting programmes in this once thriving coal mining area.

It’s an opportunity for a glimpse of the area’s dramatic and even violent industrial history – but this is balanced by what is described as ‘constantly varying scenic treats.’

The Midlands get a few mentions such as Great Malvern, Worcester, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cotswold Line. Of the station at Great Malvern Le Vay recalls – ‘you will not find prettier Victorian ironwork anywhere, nor a better station cafe.’

On the subject of food I do like the tale about Swindon, once one of Britain’s major rail towns.

Apparently in the 19th century the railway passengers hated the place. It seems a deal had been made with caterers that all trains had to stop there for 10 minutes – buffet bars hadn’t been thought of yet. The food though was awful.

Charles Dickens, according to the book, said of it: ‘The tea is indistinguishable from the soup, the soup is indistinguishable from the tea, and the sandwiches seem to be filled with sawdust.’ No wonder the place was nicknamed ‘Swindlem’.

Eventually the rail company had to buy the caterers out.

No need to worry about food on another railway line - such as the railway where you could only travel one way. That was the London Necropolis Line and if you wanted to travel on board this service you needed to be in a coffin!

This service began running in 1854 to Bronkwood on the Southampton line and it was exclusive in that you travelled only once, and then only in one direction.

Le Vay recounts: ‘The service was run for just one type of passenger: the dead. Coffin Tickets, issued right up to the 1950s, were not available as returns.’

It seems the service was seen as ‘a radical solution to the capital’s literally bulging graveyards.’

As for this second edition of railway detail it isn’t just packed, it too is bulging with facts, figures, photos and fun, would provide an ideal present for family or friend at any time of the year, or simply as the perfect personal treat.