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grahame
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« on: September 25, 2023, 10:00:14 » |
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Saturday 23rd September 2023 - Day trip for myself plus three guests doing a whistle-top day in London and, it seems, the rest of the world. We got a lift (thanks Lisa) to the station just (thank you, slowest guest!) in time to catch the 08:00 train - 2 car 158 to Swindon; good number getting on - no time to count, busy-ish train. 20 minutes in Swindon, connection into the 9 car 08:46 London service at Swindon. Every seat taken, even in the rear quiet carriage "A" - probaly that busy because the train ahead into London was cancelled. Managed to grab three odd seats, and two of our guests squeezed into one of them (being of slight build and hanging out into the aisle, to the unamusement of the gent they were sitting next to! There was a tiecket check before Didcot, but no sight, sound or smell of a trolley.
On time, into platform 2 in Paddington and a queue for the barriers with a number of passengers struggling to open the gates and being unfamiliar with the system. Then on to the Hammersmith and City platform - 5 minute wait (Barking train). Stood by the route diagram; noting steady flow of people looking up where they were going - clearly lots of newcomers / occasional traffic. And to on to Baker Street.
Non-transport gap. Walked up to 221B Baker Street which seemed to be drawing crowd and charging an arm and a leg to look around. With a group of four of us on a whistle stop tour, we skipped going in to paid attractions but rather took in the London scene as a whole for the day.
205 bus, Baker Street to King's Cross; came along as we got to the bus stop. The annual special train to Hogwarts had left a fortnight earlier, but that wasn't stopping people queueing to have their pictures taken getting onto the platform. Crowds, crowds, crowds - to get in the shop as well as to have pictures taken.
Circle line to Tower Hill ... walk around the outside of The Tower of London, and along the tiverside to Tower Bridge. Piccies, etc - happy crowds, and the bridge up to let a masted schooner through. Across the bridge to the South Bank and walk along to London Bridge station - stopped in one of the arches for a break and lunch.
London Bridge has changed out of all recognition since I commuted throught there 50 years ago; I just about know the layout these days and was able to guide my party through the maze and up to the bus station / forecourt for the no. 17 to St Paul's Churchyard.
Look inside St Pauls? They would have loved it but no sign of prices except "you may come in for free if attending a service" ... and then we found a sign with a headline price that was in excess of what we had paid for our fares for the entire day. Sad decision not to join the queue (clearly doing a roaring trade!!) to have bags searched before entering what is a church!
Walked down Ludgate Hill to pick up onward bus to Trafalgar Square outside City Thameslink. But buses few and far between - some terminating Aldwych and others for Waterloo. Gave up on the 15 which we planned and took the 76 over Waterloo Bridge. Turned out that buses were turning short due to demonstration.
And so on foot - South Bank past the London Eye (another eyewatering price tag) and over Westminster Bridge past Big Ben and Parliament Square where a "reverse Brexit" demonstration was in full swing and the roads closed to vehicles, along to Birdcage Walk, across the Park and The Mall up to Lower Regent Street and a shop called "Zara" which apparently has a massive pull for two of our younger guests. Mum and I looked around and found somewhere - eventually - for a cup of coffee. Then on via Carnaby Street and Berwick Street to Oxford Street, and the Elizabeth line at "Tottenham Court Road" - I say that in quotes because the endtrace we found seemed to be half way between TCT and Oxford Circus! Quiet train - least densly occupied of all day - back to Paddington.
Tired, headed home, 17:32 Cheltenham Spa train sitting a platform 1 and we hopped on headed for Swindon and a change for Melksham. Just 5 cars, pretty busy, and passengers playing "musical light" to find green rather than amber or red seats. Train Manager announces that due to staff shortage there is no catering on the train. Tickets checked as we arrive into Swindon.
And so the longest wait of the day - no onward train to Melksham for 75 minutes, and we went out of the station / walked to McD for a quick bite. The number of empty shops and reconstruction work in Swindon are a sad, sad sight and a contrast to what we saw in London; the look and feel of a different country.
Eventually, busy train back to Melksham - reported elsewhere, and I have reported on the flows of people and onward travel from the station there. A busyness of walking, cycling and being picked up by private car or taxi. As far as I could see, no-one was collecting their own car, nor catching a bus (there isn't one).
On my own, I would have probably walked home - as it was, Lisa picked us up. A question though - "why?". Why did we not park at the station in the morning and hen collect the car at night?
* Because the train service is so unreliable that we wanted to have the fallback option of "please collect us from [Chippenham?]
* Because the car parking system in Melksham still has an awful name for people being fined if they don't get it exactly right.
Would I do it again? Yes - what a fantastic resource we have in London. I recommended that our guests take a day themselves just to see one or two attractions if they wish - "sampling" very expensive. We paid around £150 in rail fares and £100 for food and drink during the day - but we could so easily have spent an extra £500 on entrances to - say - 3 attractions. We used split tickets and day travel cards - I think the day travel cards are coming to an end - not sure what the best ticketing will be after that; it might changed the hop-on hop-off habits. And our guests who have been with us for quite some time now - in limbo from Ukraine - are looking ahead to there futures and are planning to move on soon.
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