I did have a weakness for train travel anyway, and any chance for a trip on old trains/historic train routes were not to be missed. My local – ‘The Watercress line’ between Alton and Alresford – was a particularly nice day out because we’d walk up from the Station through the Georgian Market Place and then nip up Mill Lane and take a stroll along the side of the Arle, a wide and shallow, shingly sort of river where you could see all the wee fishies, and then have a picnic.
My favourite is the Severn Valley Railway between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth, which passes the edge of West Midlands Safari Park (“Was that a camel?”) before following the upper Severn for much of the way. Steep walk up the hill and through Bridgnorth Castle ruins and gardens and then a Pub lunch before coming back.