The truth is I'm not a fan of coach trips. Ensconced on a coach for a couple of hours before everyone traipses off at various speeds, some much slower than others, to then stand around waiting to be told where we're going as a group at a snail's pace.

This visit was advertised as "Industrial Archaeology" which sounds exciting and probably should be until you put it into the hands of enthusiastic volunteers (retired old men like me). Their enthusiasm overwhelms their ability to understand their audience who may not share their single mindedness. The 400 metre walk into Glenfield Tunnel was interesting but it wasn't necessary to tell us the story about the first passengers getting covered in soot three times.

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After a lunch that was late turning up but good value for money we headed off to Swannington village that had a number of industrial areas largely based around the coal industry in Leicestershire. The volunteers who were showing us around were very enthusiastic but didn't know when to stop. Even when some of us started to walk away they carried on with their set pieces. I reasoned with myself that walking away was quite rude but then I reasoned again that these people were being disrespectful by boring me to death and not noticing. What I found infuriating was that one of the guides knew the history of the machinery but didn't seem to have a clue how it worked.

I now have a new definition for industrial archaeology - it's a load of boring old farts who want to tell you about even older trains, steam engines and coal mining.