Something to bear in mind here is that this CD is written for a PC but, as with other NVM CDs, they are HTML based and can be run on RISC OS with, at least, Win95FS. At least one enthusiastic RISC OS user has been in touch with NVM and is working with them to ensure future CDs don't have the (few) problems that the older ones do.

 Quite simply, this CD is a very large, off line Web site which you view through your normal Web browser. It provides a 'virtual' tour of the entire Settle-Carlisle railway and the countryside surrounding this well-known line. Using the location map to choose a stop on the line you can take yourself to pages dedicated to that stop and by clicking on the links you find there you can explore the area and visit some of the sights which can be found nearby.

 Written in friendly manner, the text is always interesting to read and there are occasions when the writer's sense of humour shows through. For example, I came across this when exploring Alum Pot which is the most complex and spectacular cave system in the area and is located just a short walk from Selside.

 "The main shaft is best viewed FROM A RESPECTFUL DISTANCE, as illustrated by the accompanying photograph. Keep children and animals bound and gagged!" There are over 1500 stunning photographs, including seven panoramas, of one of the most beautiful areas of the country. I was amazed at just how many wonderful sights there are along and around the route of this famous old railway line. Together with these colourful pictures the CD provides you with hours of entertaining reading. Don't expect loads of fancy graphics though.

There are, in all, nearly 700 pages of illustrated text on the disk. The entire history of the railway line is there. I particularly liked the History As News section which contains a number of reports from the local newspapers in the area dating from 1870 to 1896. It's amazing how much the way incidents are reported have changed since those days. You just don't see reports in newspapers nowadays which contain phrases such as "receiving such injuries as are feared will prove fatal." 

 Other sections of interest include a brief illustrated history of Carlisle and Scotland from the days when the Romans ruled the world through to 1745 and there is a pagewhich explains the roots of place names in the area. There is a large selection of fact sheets about the stations, tunnels, signal boxes and viaducts located along the route. Plenty of stuff for you to all laid out in a neatly arranged format. I have to admit to being a bit of a history and geography buff, so I found myself really getting involved while browsing through the disk.

 You can discover just how much you have learnt from reading this CD by taking part in the quiz. The idea is to travel from Settle to Carlisle calling at nine stations along the way. To get to the next station you need to choose the correct answer to a question from a choice of four. If you get one wrong you  are penalised by being taken back one station.

Rob Donaldson