By James Stone

There are a huge number of tours available to various parts of the country where one can retrace the footsteps of various characters from novels and the lives of their authors. Jane Austen tours around Yorkshire are especially popular, as are guided excursions around many of the unseemly parts of London in an attempt to retrace the movement of Sherlock Homes and his pal, Dr Watson. In Dublin, there are annual James Joyce days, with re-enactments of scenes from Ulysses at various points in the city.

For me, it was just one poem that set me off on the hunt to relive the sights and sounds described by the author: Adlestrop by Edward Thomas. Opinion is divided on whether this poem is actually any good, but its poignant depiction of a Gloucestershire train station on a summer's day shortly before the outbreak of war in 1914 has a wonderful feeling of calm and beauty that spoke to me. And so, on a Saturday in late June, I gathered up my thermos and my collection of the poems of Edward Thomas, and got the train to Adlestrop.

Well, in fact, I got the train to Kingham, some five miles from Adlestrop and then cycled the rest of the way as the station itself is no longer in use. I didn't think I would see many tourists on the Adlestrop trail and I was shocked to see a coach load of Americans piling out of their vehicle as I approached the beautiful village. It turned out they were there because of the village's connection with Jane Austen, who apparently had stayed in Adlestrop on a few occasions with her family. One man told me that he had only leant of Thomas' poem from the tour guide. I, conversely, only learnt of the Jane Austen connection from my American friend.

Pressing on, a mile out of the village, I came upon the remnants of the station, last used in 1966. Even on a sunny day it was a terribly forlorn sight. Behind some railings and away down the track I could make out the platform, consumed by undergrowth. Any corresponding ticket office was no longer to be seen. It was a disappointment but what could I have expected? I thought maybe some group of enthusiasts might eventually spruce the place up again. But then, if I wasn't willing to do it, why would anyone else? Perhaps, I thought, I should stick to the popular Harry Potter film trail, at least those sites would never be allowed to fall in to ruin.