Back in the 90s I set out to walk the K & A in a series of stretches, usually around 12 miles. Living in Maiden Newton I set out using the train. The stages I embarked on were Bath to Bradford; Trowbridge to Avoncliff ( for the Cross Guns); Trowbridge to Devizes for bus to Bath; Pewsey to Devizes for bus to Bath; Pewsey to Great Bedwyn; Bedwyn to Hungerford; Hungerford to Kintbury. I never got round to the last section.
The walks were helped by there being an hostelry every four miles or so.
In addition these guides were very useful.

Three photos I took at the time. I will look for the Cl 31 I took from the top of the chimney that day

The Starcross pumping house was once a museum to show the Atmospheric Railway system, opened in 1982. You could access the roof for a panoramic view of the estuary, good for photographing the Cl 31 which passed while I was there.

Found myself in Penryn earlier this month, accompanying grandson for his University interview. It was his first long train journey.

The day went well with grandson being given a good offer a couple of days afterwards.
We suffered from poor regulation leaving Exeter. We were a few minutes down and due to pass the all stations to Paignton at Dawlish Warren. For some reason that was not held and we followed it under yellows all the way to Newton Abbott, at a cost of 10 minutes and subsequently losing our path over the Tamar Bridge, which cost an other three minutes. We still managed to connect with our planned train at Truro.
Interesting to see the passing loop system at the station.(photo)

The campus was a pleasant walk up the hill through the grounds, with plenty of time before Jack’s interview. Tremough House was originally owned by the Foxe family and has extensive landscaped gardens. The pedestrian and cyclist entry takes you through these.

The return journey  went well and we decided to take time at Exeter to walk to the Mill on the Exe for refreshment. One advantage of Jack now being 18, however I still paid!

Woolston station

The Yeovil Heritage Centre is beginning its South Chord Project, aiming to complete the schene started by the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) in 1865, probably not Brunel however.

Just appeared on GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journey Check

In 1985 there were embryonic plans for a platform on the WR lines near where they crossed. The walk from there passed the signal box along live lines meant it progressed no further. I wrote an article mentioning it in Modern Railways for March 1988.
If such a link were to go ahead now I believe that it would use the S to W curve, earthworks for which can still be seen. Part of the Clifton Maybank extension they were never used. Use could be also made of the N to W curve of the 1860s broad gauge goods link which led to the transfer shed, now the Yeovil Railway Centre. The old down platform might serve this but alternative arrangements will be need for the heritage centre.

11 Thornford (Bridge Halt), that and Chetnole used the old platform from Cattistock Halt, replacing the timber one originally used.

I called at the Axminster ticket office to ask for a AXM to EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) anytime return and an EXD-PYN off peak day return, commenting that it was cheaper than a single through ticket.

The ticket clerk advised me that it would be cheaper to get the AXM-EST(St Thomas) as this was outside the Old NSE^▸ (Network South East) restriction time zone for Senior Railcards.

The plan was always to catch the 07.36 to EXD. It perplexes me as to why the splitting of the ticket at EXD as originally intended would lead to a reduction in price  from £44+ to £33+ as I was intending to use the same train!

We will see how it turns out tomorrow…….

My real point, I feel, is that until we have a comprehensive review of ticketing these anomalies will continue to appear to those who have an understanding of the ticketing system.
The move to single leg pricing and perhaps tap-in systems will help to deliver this but will need to get the confidence of the passenger in this. Until that time the ticket office will have a significant role to play.
Is this gaming the system? Perhaps but the senior railcard was an obvious choice, especially as we live close to the Devon border and its Day Ranger ticket for days out.
Splitting tickets was my looking at alternatives, without using split ticket websites. Using the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) website and checking that against the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) one.
The Senior railcard is not valid wholly within the NSE^▸ (Network South East) area, which includes Exeter St Davids until 09.00.
 Exeter St Thomas is beyond that area allowing access to the day return ticket at the lower price. I had thought about doing that but did not get round to it, until the ticket clerk mentioned it.

The irony is that we do not have to be in Penryn until the 13.30 interview thus theoretically could catch the 09.03 from Axminster and arrive at Penryn at 12.58, followed by a quick walk to the campus. That would have cost £20.20 but would have been a risky decision, relying on everything running to time!

Accompanying grandson to Penryn,by train from Axminster at 07.37, on Wednesday where he has a university interview. Researched the fares and found the return would be £67.30. Thus decided to renew the Senior Railcard, thus reducing the fare to £44.80.
I then looked at splitting the tickets at Exeter. The anytime return fare, with railcard, to Exeter St Davids  was  £15.20, from Exeter St Davids to Penryn came in as an off peak day return at 18.70, a total of £33.90.
Deciding to get the tickets in advance from Axminster station, rather than online, turned out to be a good decision. The ticket office clerk advised me to book Axminster to Exeter St Thomas, as it was out of the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) area, for a day return ticket. This cost £10.10.
My journey will now cost me just £28.80.
This exemplifies the need for ticket reform and the retention of ticket offices.

Mods if you feel this should be posted elsewhere please do so.

Just renewed mine, the last one ended at lockdown. Grandson has asked me to go with him to Falmouth where he has an interview at the University. It seemed to be the ideal time to renew it.

Judging from the rust, somewhere close to sea spray.

Thank you Grahame, Marion and I had a similar situation after one of last year’s storms. The power went off and after it returned her MacMini would not boot up. We took it to a computer specialist who declared it defunct, saying he had not come across a similar thing before.
Luckily, we were able to claim on the house insurance, who also allowed us to increase the RAM at our cost. The result was that we had a new MacMini for a couple of hundred pounds.
We have always run Time Machine on our Macs and this was not damaged enabling the restoration of the files on the new computer.
We did add a new surge protector just in case.