Mudlark Final Destination Riding Britains Trains to the End of the Line.

by Nige Tassell

All aboard for a one-of-a-kind journey by train to some of the most obscure parts of Britain

On the 200th birthday of the world’s first passenger-carrying railway, Nige Tassell sets out to ride Britain’s railway network all the way to its lesser-travelled-to corners, its seldom-visited outposts. From Wick to Penzance and many points in between, he stays on until the end of the line. He is the last man sitting.

The sixteen final destinations he visits offer sixteen different stories. By delving into their histories, by speaking to their people and by having a good old-fashioned nose around, Tassell reveals much about places that rarely have light cast upon them – from ferry ports to abandoned resorts, from tiny hamlets to towns being reclaimed by the sea. It's a journey that takes in Harry Potter, Muhammad Ali, goths, Alan Bennett, Vera Brittain, Viz comic, Alex Horne, Nigel Farage. Vikings, John Betjeman, Aneurin Bevan, Tyson Fury, Charlotte Rampling's dad and the weepy judge from The Great Pottery Throwdown. All human life is here.

So grab yourself a window seat for an odyssey that tells us much about Britain today. All aboard, all aboard.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Travelogue, Railways, British Literature, Transport

304 pages, Hardcover

Published May 8, 2025

Reviews

[Alasdair MacCaluim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a keen rail traveller, I jumped on this book as soon as I saw it.

It's a nice gentle read, investigating many and very varied termini and the things and the people he sees and meets - or overhears - on the way, from the Scottish Highlands and post industrial North East England to the Welsh valleys and the Home Counties.

This is full of perception and fun facts and is an easy and charming read.

I've done about half of these trips and Final Destination has made me keen to do more of them!

[Rhys Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really loved this book and how it explores so many different parts of Britain and the socioeconomic variety of the country.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nige Tassell has yet to write a poor book and this is another excellent one, My book of the year so far

[Jayne Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a fantastic book filled with information on train journeys and places around the UK.
It's written with wit , humour, and interest.
recommended

[Sean Sadler · Rating 3 out of 5]

My quickest read so far in 2025
Inspired to borrow the book from Stirling Library following a review in either The Times or The Guardian ,also as it featured my hometown as one of those Final Destination journeys (Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness ) in addition to a couple of other journeys I had also made by train , Shanklin, Dungeness.
The book is an engaging read and has a beautifully illustrated cover by Gary Redford
Tassell describes random meetings with other travellers, reports snippets of conversations overheard on the trains he travels on and supplies some of the history associated with places he spends time in
The chapter on The Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness revived happy memories of the place l left in 1978 at the age of 20 to live in Scotland , I was last back in Shoeburyness in 2024 and it has only been in recent years that I have realised how much I miss it and what it means to me.
All the other Chapters offered much to commend also.
Recommended.
3.5 out of 5

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Final Destination” is a witty - but gentle and kind-hearted - wander across the more obscure reaches of Britain’s rail network. Nige Tassell writes with warmth and empathy about those towns that are literally ‘at the end-of-the-line’, stopping off at such glamour spots as Stranraer, Middlesbrough, Pwllheli, and the Isle of Wight. In his encounters with provincial Goths, Viking reenactors and the almost inevitable trainspotters, Tassell has a knack for connecting with ordinary people and drawing them out in conversation - a skill of considerable value in a travel writer (and one that is surprisingly rare in the genre).

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rattling along the rails, Nige Tassell takes in the whole length and breadth of Great Britain as he rides trains to the literal end of the line. From the top of Scotland at Wick to the Welsh coast and the Norfolk shores, from Penzance to Shanklin and more, Tassell criss-crosses the country to see what exactly is at the end of the line. It’s a meditation on the journey itself, on home and family, and on the changing state of the nation.

Both a relaxing and illuminating travelogue and a more deeper look at how the UK is changing in the modern age, Tassell’s writing is soothing and insightful, inspiring one to hop on a train oneself and ride on until the end.

[Simon Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nige Tassell writes very readable books about popular subjects such as football and music. However, his works about the former include a season spent visiting non-league grounds and the latter tracking down the musicians involved in the NME's obscure C86 cassette. So it is with his train book, 'Final Destination'. Not a book about catching the Orient Express or glamorous sleeper trains to Berlin and Paris (although there is an account of travelling overnight to Cornwall). Rather, it's a travelogue containing visits to end-of-the-line stations such as Sheringham and Shoeburyness. It's a slow journey but hugely enjoyable all the same.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice book detailing Nige Tassell's journeys on certain UK train lines, going North to South across the country, from the start to the end of the line - but it's about so much more than just the journey or the rail line, it's about the destinations and what they have to offer, as well as painting a picture of modern Britain in both a good and bad light - it's all written with a lovely use of language and you feel like you're reading it in the author's gentle voice and accent.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tome is a kind of magic.
Not the lost-my-money on a Find The Lady sort of cheap magic.
With some of the best travel writing available, Nige Tassell treats you to real, breath-taking, Vegas residency oohs-and-aahs.
There are tears, there are laughs, and every word is first-class.
So jump on board for the read of your life.

[Tom Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another superb book from Nige Tassell.
Listened to him narrating his own audiobook- great listen with good humour throughout.

[Justin Neville · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an armchair-only traveller such as myself, you couldn't be in better company. Very readable.

[Gavin Hogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pootling virtual train ride to the end of various lines, in fine company. Nige has a great ear for fragments of conversation he overhears.These aural snapshots ground the book in the actual journeys and place you on the train, on the seat next to him, sharing a big bag of Kettle chips.