ONE of the world’s poshest trains pays a rare visit to Worcester later this month to take passengers for a slap-up seven-course Friday lunch.
The Northern Belle – with its 1930s-style Pullman carriages – was described by actor Bill Nighy as “the Grand Duchess of luxury travel”.
And it will be Champagne all the way during a meandering six-hour journey through the Midlands countryside.
A lucky passenger may even get to dine while sitting in what was once the Queen Mother’s favourite chair. One of the umber-and-cream-painted coaches was used to form part of the Royal Train.
A Northern Belle spokesman said: “It seems there was one particular chair where the Queen Mum always liked to sit while sipping her gin and tonics.
“We don’t like to advertise the fact because we think all our seats are fit for a queen.
“But then a journalist from the Daily Telegraph revealed the secret when he wrote an article about the train.”
The Northern Belle featured on Channel 5’s “The World’s Most Scenic Journeys” last year, when steam locomotive “Princess Elizabeth” hauled it over the Settle-Carlisle line.
Narrator Bill Nighty described the trip as “the experience of a lifetime” before telling viewers the train was “the Grand Duchess of luxury travel”.
Passengers will board over a red carpet on the platform when the train arrives in Worcester Shrub Hill station at 12.25pm on Friday, April 22.
They will be handed a welcome glass of Champagne before tucking into either a seven-course “Spirit of Travel” lunch or a “Classic Afternoon Tea” with cakes and pastries.
The train, which will be hauled by a heritage diesel locomotive, will pick up more passengers at Gloucester.
To book or for more details of this and other trips, phone 01270 899681 or see www.northernbelle.co.uk
