Another Couple of Nights Away

A Short Break at Studland Bay by Train and Bus

As I mentioned in A Couple of Nights Away, we received a really good offer for a two-night stay at the Knoll House Hotel on Studland Bay in Dorset, quickly snapped up along with reduced-price rail tickets during the "Rail Sale". Last time we stayed there it was more of an adventure than we bargained-for when the heathland between the ferry and the hotel caught fire and our return from a day out took a lot longer than planned owing to a road closure to avoid the fire. This time we just had the adventure we had planned, and weather which was better than we had dared to hope.

The weather did not start well, with light drizzle as we packed our cases, and steady rain by the time we left for Stamford rail station. Umbrellas raised we arrived at the station and caught our 09:56 Cross Country train, a few minutes late this time, to Peterborough where we popped round to Waitrose to buy a packed lunch before catching the connecting LNER train to London at 10:50. We were travelling with First Class tickets to London and complimentary coffee and brunch were served on the way. From Kings Cross we took the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus and the Bakerloo Line thence to Waterloo - all using our through train tickets booked from Peterborough to Bournemouth: nothing extra to pay for the Underground. At Waterloo we browsed Foyles bookshop while awaiting our train - not a cheap option as we bought three books between us that we had known we needed until we happened to see them in the bookshop!

The train from Waterloo to Bournemouth was comfortable, smooth and quite fast but there is no longer any catering on board South Western Railway trains, which is why we had brought a packed lunch with us. By the time we had boarded the train at Waterloo it was lunchtime and so we set our table and enjoyed a lunch of prepared salad, fruit salad and chilled peach tea. Super, and probably much like we'd have bought on the train had there been a trolley or a buffet. First Class on Southwestern Railway is not like First Class on LNER, but it was comfortable and it got us to Bournemouth in time to get our bus onward to the hotel.

The bus ride to Studland on the number 50 "Purbeck Breezer" is what makes this journey an adventure: it is normally operated with open-top buses and although in summer these sometimes have just a windscreen at the front of the top deck, in winter they tend to use the versions with the first few rows of seats under cover, and we arrived at Bournemouth in nice time to stroll over and board one of these, taking our seats just a few rows back to get the best views while remaining remaining sheltered from the wind. By now the sun was beginning to break through and the rain had completely stopped. The bus wound its way through Bournemouth town centre and the western districts of the town and the leafy pine woods of Canford Cliffs then along the southern edge of Poole Harbour and the most expensive residential land in the UK at Sandbanks before waiting for the ferry across to Studland. We had to wait for a ship to leave the harbour before our ferry could arrive from the other side but were entertained by a Royal Navy Chinook helicopter practising with the Special Boat Service off The Foreland while we waited and the sun gradually showed more of itself through the thinning cloud cover. From the urban townscapes and arcadia of Bournemouth and Poole we were now into the carefully maintained (by the National Trust) semi-wilderness of Studland Heath and very soon we were stopping the bus outside the Knoll House Hotel.

The stunning view from our room, through the hotel grounds to Studland Bay

After checking in we unpacked the smarter clothes we had brought for evenings at the hotel so that the creases would drop out by dinner time, donned our walking boots and set off for a walk down to the beach and along it. The walk down through the hotel grounds and through the woods onto the beach was something we had many times - in summer! It was different this time and our progress was halted by water too deep to wade through in just walking gear, so we had to make a bit of a detour but got there just a few moments later. By now it was past tea time and the National Trust café and shop at Knoll Beach had just closed for the night and Trust staff were busy with their conservation work. We just walked along the beach in glorious sunshine and back again in drizzle! Shower, change and dinner. Dinner was included in our package but we did avail ourselves of the cocktail bar in preparation for dinner, and this was definitely not included. We found ourselves chatting to a local couple who were there simply having an after-work drink - what a lovely place for that! They recommended a whisky bar in Bath which we shall have to try next time we are there.

After a good night's sleep we awoke to a gorgeous sunny day and after breakfast set off for a day out, beginning with a bus to Swanage, too early for our senior citizens' concessionary passes so we had to pay our fares. We had a little stroll around Swanage for old times' sake and then boarded a bus to Wareham which we had only briefly visited, by car, in the past. There we explored, had coffee in a place once apparently frequented by Lawrence of Arabia, and discovered a really ancient St Martin's Church, the same dedication as our church at home in Stamford but very, very different. 

It remained sunny all day with very little wind, and temperatures were good for February (up to around 10 degrees C), and in the sun it was quite warm when walking and we removed our coats and gloves very early on. When we caught the bus back to Swanage I also removed my jumper, for the top deck was like a greenhouse! From Swanage we travelled as far as Studland village and then went down to the beach there and walked along to Knoll Beach for a snack lunch at the National Trust café. Sitting there in the sun it was just like the summer (except for the number of people in coats) - indeed it was better weather than we had in the summer of 2020 when we came here with all our family.

We strolled along the beach in the direction of Poole Harbour - with no intention of going that far, of course - and along part of the naturist beach where, not surprisingly in February, I suppose, everyone seemed to be wearing clothes. A few horses, a few dogs (they're allowed here from 1st October to 1st March, and then forbidden for the sake of the wildlife for the rest of the year).

It was time to walk back now, time to rest and recover from what had been quite an energetic day for us. Bath and change (and a brief unintentional sleep!) and ready for dinner again. No cocktail this time but we did have Prosecco with our meal, and pudding. We were hungry after such a day, and we slept even better than the night before.

Our last day was a Friday and we packed and paid our bill and checked out straight after breakfast, leaving our luggage at the hotel to set of, suitably booted, to walk to the Old Harry Rocks. These rocks (see heading photograph), vertical chalk stacks at the end of a headland, are a constant sight and landmark along this section of the coast and have been a distant companion on many of our holidays and especially of our walks along the beaches but we have never before visited them and seen them at close quarters. It was a walk of about a mile and a half from Studland village and rather than walk along the road we took a route out of the back of the hotel grounds and over the heath - which took us through more mud than we really wanted to encounter - the last time we went this way was in summer and there had been some mud but not so much. We returned along the road from the village! The walk between the village and the rocks was all good off-road walking and all very easy. On the way back we had coffee at a beach café at Studland Middle Beach before returning to the hotel, recovering our luggage and taking the Breezer bus one last time back to Bournemouth. This time it was a closed-top bus, which is fine in winter, but we always travel on the top deck here for the views of Studland Heath, of the ferry crossing, of the trees of Canford Cliffs. In Bournemouth we had lunch at a town centre café  and then walked down to the seafront to "say goodbye" to the sea before taking the next bus to the railway station and await our train home. 

It had been a short break but I think we had made the most of every moment.

We boarded our train at Bournemouth and had a smooth and pleasant ride to London Waterloo, then easy interchange to Kings Cross via the Underground. At Kings Cross it all began to fall apart. Our train, on which we had reservations in Coach L, turned out only to have five coaches owing to trains being out of place following earlier disruption due to a fire somewhere else. It was jam-packed in Standard Class and overfull in First. We did not have seats until someone took pity on a couple of pensioners and gave us a seat; refreshments could not be brought through on the usual trolley but we could visit the galley and pick up our sandwiches and drinks. Then it unravelled even further when the train stopped at Stevenage owing to problems further along the line. It eventually transpired that it would be held for some time and our kind train manager suggested that those heading to Peterborough might like to get off and take the next train to Cambridge, which would soon stop at the adjacent platform, where we could get a connection to Peterborough. For us, of course, that would provide us with a connection home, albeit two hours late but we were already missing the planned connection and were by no means sure that we might make the next at Peterborough. So we baled out of the overcrowded train, beer cans in hand along with our luggage, and caught a Thameslink train to Cambridge. Once there we made our way across to the platform where a Cross Country unit was waiting to form the next departure for Birmingham which would take us home. To my surprise it was a newly-painted refurbished class 170 Turbostar. I think they only had one, possibly two, in the fleet at that time, so it was a bit of a silver lining to have the chance to travel on one. New seats with slightly more legroom and bigger seat-back table which comfortably took my large MacBook Pro (on which I am writing this article now).

The lovely day then unravelled further still when a very disruptive passenger boarded and racially abused a couple of other passengers, threatening one of them and generally causing mayhem. We could all have done without that and some of us texted British Transport Police as we are always being urged to "say it" when we "see it" so that it can be "sorted". He was leaving the train at Peterborough anyway and was taken care of by the BTP, but as time went on it became clear that he was ill rather than criminal and I think he was well known by the police as someone in need of support.

And so into Stamford and the usual walk home across the meadows and through the town, two hours later than planned but I understand from LNER that the train we had abandoned at Stevenage did not reach Peterborough until very much later. We await our Delay Repay compensation, but I have to say that none of this disruption really affected our enjoyment of a really great couple of days away. We had packed in so much and so many new things, and we were still home before our usual bedtime. The train staff coped brilliantly and the thinking-on-their-feet action of the LNER train manager who suggested the detour via Cambridge certainly saved the day for us - and for those left on the stranded train there were now more seats available, vacated by those like us who had taken the alternative.

Arrival at Stamford on the newly-refurbished Cross Country Turbostar, with brighter paintwork and much smarter interior. We love arriving at Stamford station on our way home and being welcomed by all the church towers as we cross The Meadows.

 

The Best Laid Plans ...

Not quite the trip we planned - but still a great trip

We were to look after our grandchildren in London while their parents were off to Scotland for another relative's eightieth birthday celebration. Great, the first trip for a while and we would have the Friday while they were at school to do something in London. I booked to usual route there, local Cross Country train to Peterborough - cheaper than before now that Advance tickets are available on this short trip - and LNER to London; I also considered Thameslink but LNER's Advance First Class tickets were at a good price and as we would be travelling over lunchtime on the Thursday (in order to get things done before we left home), this would be a way of having lunch on the move in pleasant surroundings. We booked tickets to The Silk Road Exhibition at the British Museum for the Friday, which we both thought would be a god thing to see and had long had in mind to go next time we found ourselves in London. 

Booking the train ride home was not so straightforward: this would be on the Sunday and, as often happens at present, the main line between Kings Cross and Peterborough was to be closed for engineering work. Usually we take a train from St Pancras to Leicester when this happens, and change there for Stamford. But for some reason this option did not seem to be available either. LNER and Thameslink both offered various options involving a replacement bus between various stations on the Midland Main Line and the line to Peterborough but these did not look attractive for a cold, dark Sunday night with luggage, so I looked at travelling from London Liverpool Street to Cambridge and from there to Stamford. It was a long way round and slow, but straightforward with just one change. There would be no catering, either, so we'd have to cope, but having a good Sunday lunch before leaving should make that OK!

Although our train from Stamford to Peterborough was a few minutes late, it still easily made our connection to London without us having to rush, and we took our reserved "club duo" seats in the second coach and relaxed as the cold drinks trolley came along, followed by the food and hot drinks. As I have remarked before, we felt very much at home in the care of LNER's First Class hosts and enjoyed our cold buffet from their basic "Deli" menu which is always the option served on the Lincoln-London train. We like these five-coach trains because they are seldom crowded and with a small First Class section we never have to wait long to be served. I have also travelled Standard Class on them on my various trip to Lincoln and there is very little crowding there, too, and never a queue at the little buffet counter.

Arriving in London our first job was to pop over to St Pancras station to visit the Fortnum and Mason shop there and buy some St Pancras Blend tea, for we had run out of it and have never found a worthy substitute locally! Then we made our way to the Underground to go to our temporary home in Shepherds Bush. And this where a series of unfortunate events began (we seem to be having these recently!). Now the weather forecast was not good: a Red Warning was in place in the north of England, in all of Ireland and the south of Scotland. We were a long way from there but did not entirely escape the mischief of Storm Éowyn and when we left the Underground there was an enormously heavy shower well under way. We paused at the station to do up all our clothing and make ourselves ready to step out: the man on duty at the station even checked that we were OK as we were taking so long to leave! We had decided to take a bus two stops along the street to our destination rather than walk as usual, and we were fairly soaked just walking to the adjacent bus stop. People already in the shelter made room for us and we squeezed our way in - Londoners are so friendly, especially in this multi-cultural part of the city which we have grown to love since starting to visit. The bus dropped us a short walk from the house and by the time we let ourselves in we were pretty wet and although our storm-proof jackets had taken most of the rain we were wet from the knees down. The suitcases dripped onto the floor but certainly proved themselves as waterproof. No sooner had we arrived than the sun came out and it became a glorious afternoon, and even warm by recent standards. But too late for us.

We had more-or-less dried out when we went to meet the children from their out-of-school club and take them home to dinner. The following day was to be our "free" day in London, once we had taken them back to school after breakfast at home. It is an easy trip to the British Museum from Shepherds Bush, just a simple ride on the Central Line to Tottenham Court Road and a short walk. We were about half-way there when an email message arrived to say that they could not open and that we would not be able to visit the exhibition ... we went along anyway to see how much of the museum might be open and whether the problem might be fixed - we had all day, after all - but staff came along the substantial queue to explain that they could not open the museum yet and had no idea when they would be able to open but to "check the website in a couple of hours". So we immediately decided that a refund was the way forward for us, and indeed it later transpired that the temporary exhibitions have not opened yet as I type this on the following evening ... and may not even open before we're back in Stamford.

The actual Neal's Yard, where the remedies come from. It really is a yard!

I thought that maybe a visit to Seven Dials, just a short walk away, may be in order as I had not seen the place for about fifty years when I visited a run-down and largely derelict area on a field visit from my Town Planning degree course. First call was to a coffee shop, near to which we also discovered what looked like an excellent fish and chip restaurant, where we bagged a table for an hour or so later. Seven Dials is worth having a look for its interesting collection of shops, eating and drinking places (we fitted in half an hour in a pub between coffee and lunch!) and even a couple of theatres, all among historic streets including the original Neal's Yard. I wouldn't come to London just to see it, but a trip to London can include it if you like that kind of thing. The pub was surprisingly uncrowded: when we left we reduced the clientele by two thirds. So it was a peaceful pint, unusual in London, but I gather that Fridays have become quiet post-pandemic. 

The fish and chips were superb, and I think The Rock and Sole Plaice lived  up to its advertising as the best fish and chips in London - not that I have tried them all, but is hard to imagine anything better. 

After lunch we had a final walk around streets we had missed - there are seven radials plus a few streets linking them - and then made our way back to Tottenham Court Road Underground station to go home. That was when the wind struck, the only real trace of Storm Éowyn that we encountered that day, but we were soon sheltered inside the entrance to the Underground station and by the time we emerged at White City the wind had dropped and we could feel the warmth again, the warmest day for some time, and warmest we were expecting for some time to come.

That was our day out done, for we were on our way to collect the children from school and go home to dinner.

Saturday was spent doing family things with the children and then on Sunday they wanted to take us to their church, which is not their local one five minutes' walk away but St Mary Abbots in Kensington where their Dad is a churchwarden (an absent churchwarden that Sunday!), which involved another rail adventure by Underground. I usually walk when I do this on my own, but it's too far for children. We took the Central Line from White City station to Notting Hill Gate and walked from there, a pleasant enough walk along Kensington Church Street, and then on return we decided to do less walking and went a slightly longer way round from High Street Kensington to Edgware Road by Circle Line where we changed to the Hammersmith and City to return home from Shepherds Bush Market station - less walking at both ends!

Before the train filled up at Tottenham Hale

And so home - and this was the interesting bit. Such a shame it was during winter so that the view from the trains was just for the first few minutes. After lunch we took the Hammersmith and City Line through to Liverpool Street. Either route would have got us there, but this is a nicer ride than the Central Line, and either route would have allowed a change into the Elizabeth Line, but all the apps suggested that we did not change, so we didn't. We arrived at Liverpool Street just ten minutes before a Greater Anglia train to Cambridge. This was ten coaches, high density commuter stock with little luggage space and we easily found seats, although not as spacious as we're used to. The first stop was at Tottenham Hale where hundreds more people joined the train! This is the connection point with the Victoria Line Underground and my guess is that these were people en route from Kings Cross or St Pancras to Cambridge and beyond who could not ate their usual train for the same reason that we could not. I don't know if Great Anglia had added more coaches to this train to cope or not, but all the seats were soon taken and there were many standing in the aisles. It might have been prudent to increase the frequency of the service in the circumstances, but the fragmented railway simply does not work in this way - roll on Great British Railways and its "single guiding mind" ... I hope.

The crowds thinned out after Bishops Stortford and most people got off at Cambridge with us - the train was going on to Cambridge North. We walked along the platform to where our connecting train home would stop and were able to sit in a pair of seats near the luggage rack. There was a refreshment trolley from which we eagerly anticipated buying a cup of tea, but it did not start its rounds until just before we reached Stamford, which was a bit of a disappointment. As the refreshment vendor was standing in the vestibule right behind us I wish I had approached him and asked for tea, but I didn't and now it was too late; we had tea after we'd walked home. After a few hours on trains taking the long way round it was good to walk across the Meadows and through town home, much quieter on a Sunday evening than on the more usual Friday or Saturday!

It turned out that the alternative route home worked quite well, but it would have been better if it had been daylight. I also still wait to see the Midland Main Line route in daylight: we only ever seem to get these diversions in winter! 

And now, coming up soon we have a trip to Bath via Birmingham and Bristol, done before but not for a few years, and Studland Bay via London and Bournemouth, a new route for us because we have always gone via Birmingham before. Then, Zermatt, St Moritz and Venice via London and Paris. Suitcases are never away at the moment.

Salisbury, To Visit Its Famous Cathedral

A  Day Trip By Train to Say Farewell

I had received a letter to tell me that an old friend whom I had not seen for some years but with whom I had been in touch by letter a couple of times per year had died. He was well over ninety, so I could not be too sad, but I did want to attend his funeral and just maybe see some of his family and perhaps some other acquaintances. The funeral was to be in a chapel in Salisbury Cathedral, for he was a retired priest who had lived near the Cathedral in his last years: I knew him as the person who had trained me in my first curacy in Grantham over forty years before.

It was a long way to go, but I had only ever been to Salisbury once before and it would make a good day out. It was a simple enough trip, although involving a trip across London between Kings Cross and Waterloo which I had never really mastered, until this time. Finally, at the age of seventy, I have it cracked! My wife and I are always saying that by the time we die we'll have excelled at living ... life-long learning is all very well, but some lessons you wish you'd learnt a while earlier.

Surprise Bargain First Class Tickets

Now, on a trip like this I usually break it into sections and order online tickets for each leg, using Standard Class for the local train to Peterborough and First Class Advance for the trunk sections, with my Oyster Card for getting across London,  but I start by looking up the through ticket partly to have a price to compare but mainly to see which trains I need to get in order to undertake the journey, noting the times and then buying the tickets the cheapest way I can find. To my surprise I could not get a better bargain than simply getting an Advance Single in each direction all the way between Stamford and Salisbury: it was even cheaper to book all the way than to hive off the Stamford-Peterborough bit and buy Standard Class for that, so it was First Class all the way both ways. Great. Further, these tickets were also valid on the Underground between Kings Cross and Waterloo, so there would be no charge on my Oyster Card for this trip. The little cross on the right-hand edge of the ticket shows validity on the Underground: I don't know if everyone knows that, as it does not seem to be widely advertised. 

I left Stamford on a fairly early Cross Country train, the 07:56,  and caught the 08:28 LNER train to London, on which the good old LNER bacon roll, coffee and orange juice made a decent breakfast. Everything was on time (or, at least, so close to it that I did not notice otherwise!) and the LNER booking engine had allowed plenty of time to cross London, so I set off to find a reasonable route to Waterloo, choosing the Piccadilly Line to Leicester Square and then the Northern Line to Waterloo. It worked, and was better than some other routes I had tried in the past, but even better was to come on the way back ... stay with me!

I was slightly nervous about putting my ticket in the ticket reader on the barrier at Kings Cross St Pancras Underground Station in case it did not come out again, but it did and the journey continued! I made sure I was within sight of a member of staff, just in case, and I did check with him that the ticket was valid, a belt-and-braces thing.

I had never travelled from London to Salisbury before and was looking forward to trying that train service, the only non-electrified railway route at London Waterloo. My one previous trip to Salisbury was from the other direction and was over thirty years ago, so it was a bit different. The train consisted of six coaches, two three-car Express Sprinter. I walked along to the middle of the train to a First Class section: there was another right at the start of the platform but I thought that might fill up rather more. I had plenty of space where I chose to sit and had a relaxing journey through the pleasant Surrey and Wiltshire countryside. Indeed, it was so relaxing that at one stop I looked out of the window to see where we had reached and saw that it was Salisbury! So I quickly gathered my stuff together and rushed off the train ... which then stood there for a further several minutes before continuing its journey to Exeter.

And so into the city. I had allowed plenty of time to have lunch before the funeral, judging that if something went very wrong I could be up to two hours late and still get to the service on time by squeezing in lunch earlier in the journey. Nothing did go wrong (although not getting off the train and having to get the next one back from the next stop would have qualified!) and so I had time for a stroll around as well as a pizza at Presto, near the Cathedral.

St Nicholas Hospital where my late friend lived his last days, possibly the inspiration for a Trollope novel!

Trinity Chapel, Salisbury Cathedral

I was early getting to the chapel for the funeral and had time to sit and think and pray, and to take in the splendour or this huge cathedral.

After the funeral and the wake, mingling with people I had never met before as well as members of the deceased's family I had not seen for nearly forty years and some I never knew well anyway, I made my way back to the railway station to await my train home. So far it had been a lovely sunny and reasonably warm day, ideal for travelling, and mercifully the weather waited until I was under cover at the station before the heavy shower came! By the time my train was in, the sun was shining again ...

There was some interesting shunting at Salisbury station as shorter trains came in from the West and were augmented at Salisbury to form longer trains for the rest of the journey towards London. Although three coaches of my train were standing at the platform when I arrived, passengers could not board until the incoming train from Exeter had coupled to it, then the doors were unlocked and boarding commenced. I went into the "new" part of the train, reckoning that there might be a greater choice of seats, as indeed there was, and with no luggage I really could sit anywhere. The ride to London was uneventful and soon I was strolling along the platform at Waterloo station towards the exit and the Underground.

So ... back to the issue of the quickest and easiest way between Waterloo and Kings Cross stations! According to Apple Maps, the best way is the Bakerloo Line from Waterloo station, changing at Oxford Circus for the Victoria Line to Kings Cross, so I thought I'd give that a go. For some reason I never consider the Bakerloo Line, I don't know why, but this turned out to be the best way because at Oxford Circus there is a cross-platform, step free, connection between the two lines. As it happened on this trip, I was also fortunate in having a train arrive at the platform just as I did both at Waterloo and at Oxford Circus, and neither was overcrowded, so it was a quick, simple and pleasant trip, quite unlike the other route in the other direction. Now I must update my page on changing station in London!

A few minutes wait in the First Class Lounge at Kings Cross and I was soon on my way home: LNER train to Peterborough and the Cross Country connection to Stamford. All on time, tea and crumpets (warm!) from the LNER menu on the train to Peterborough. And my lovely wife picked me up in the car from Stamford station to save me the uphill walk home. I look forward to improved health one day so that I can look forward to the walk home instead of asking for a lift, for I much prefer walking, and the walk at the beginning and ending of a trip is part of the advantage of using trains and buses: on days when I travel by car my exercise level drops alarmingly. It had been a good day: a lovely day for travel, a joyous farewell to an old friend who'd lived a long and fruitful life, a new train route, a great cathedral, and an epiphany about transfer between London railway stations!

Next up, Lincoln. And then .... Venice!

See you soon!

 

Train Trips Through, To and From London

Why is Retired Life so Complicated?

Chichester - well worth a visit if you've never been

The easy bit - through London

We recently visited our friends in Chichester. Timing was determined by a theatre visit (Oliver! at the Chichester Festival Theatre, excellent production), and a desire to attend church with them on the Sunday, where they have both joined the choir. The trip there was almost uneventful, except that our first train, from Stamford to Peterborough, was late enough for us to miss our booked Thameslink connection at Peterborough, setting us back half an hour as we awaited the next departure. This was fine: we simply informed our friends we'd be half an hour late, sat back and enjoyed the ride: by travelling in the declassified rearmost section of the Thameslink train we enjoyed First Class accommodation on our Standard Class tickets. Once out of Peterborough there is not a lot of scenery until the rolling hills (and tunnels) of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, and the spectacular Digswell Viaduct overlooking Welwyn. The most interesting section of this ride for me is the slow trundle though central London: we go from being a 100mph main line express to an urban metro with frequent stops, automatic doors and big inflows and outflows of passengers. After the pause at Farringdon for the change from overhead to third rail electric pick-up, there is the crossing of the Thames at Blackfriars, where the station is actually over the river, and the curve round Southwark Cathedral into London Bridge station. So many landmarks are visible from this route and the train travels very slowly, so there is plenty of opportunity to look for them. After London Bridge we became an express train once more, not stopping again until East Croydon.

We changed trains at East Croydon, and with no delay to the Thameslink train we made the expected Southern connection to Chichester, half an hour behind the booked one - there was no complication with tickets since we were travelling on ordinary Super Off-peak tickets with no reservations. At Barnham, the last station before Chichester, some light rain began, and with slippery rails the train began to lose a little time as the driver struggled to accelerate. Arrival was therefore delayed by just a couple more minutes and thus we were over half an hour late and were able to claim worthwhile Delay Repay compensation, although to us it really did not matter much on this occasion.

To cut a long story, but almost certainly a boring story for readers of this blog, very short, we had a great few days with our friends (which did involve a certain amount of railway modelling ...) and then it was time to move on.

The last-minute add-on bit - to London

Our son in west London invited us to use his home as a base for a London break while he and his family were away visiting other relatives in Scotland. Their departure coincided with our commitment to visit our friends in Chichester, and their return with a commitment to our other son in Peterborough, so our opportunity for a few days in London was short, and we would not see the family there either before or after the stay, but we have a key to the house and we gratefully accepted the chance to visit London once again, even though for only three nights. Moving on, then, involved just turning up at Chichester railway station and buying two off-peak singles to London Victoria ... except that it was not that easy. The booking office at Chichester railway station was closed, and so I had to challenge the ticket machine to sell me the right ticket. Thank heaven I am an experienced train traveller with science A levels and a couple of university degrees, because I struggled to use the machine to get what I wanted and I felt sorry for anyone new to this sort of thing and who had not had the technical education I'd been blessed with! The machine suggested a lot of "popular" tickets, but none was for an off-peak single and it was not at all clear how one would go about telling the machine that one had a Senior Railcard and required the discount. Further, I never did discover how to buy two tickets at once and had to repeat the whole drawn-out process to buy a second ticket for my wife. By now we were looking at getting the next train... Which was fine. But I have learnt that in future I need to book online even if I do it on my way to the station. I would still have to confront the machine to deliver the actual tickets (Southern do not do digital tickets), but at least they'd have been chosen and paid-for.

The actual journey went well. Very well. The view of Arundel as the line curves round it is always a joy, and the green, leafy scenery of rural Sussex and Surrey is delightful, too. Soon we were in London and used the District Line to Hammersmith and then the Hammersmith & City Line to our son's home before letting ourselves in and settling in for our brief stay. 

Our agenda for London included a visit to Buckingham Palace state rooms on the first day, and lunch at Murano in Mayfair on the second, both booked in advance as soon as we had accepted the offer of the accommodation. The Buckingham Palace trip would be free of charge because the ticket we bought last year was still valid for another couple of weeks.

And so after a good night's sleep in our temporary home we travelled back the way we had come, via Hammersmith to Victoria, and then walked to the ticket office at Buckingham Palace to pick up the tickets we had booked in advance and await our turn to enter the State Rooms. This visit is very well done, as you would hope of the Royal family! There is a multi-media handset to allow a self-guided tour at ones own pace, and as we had done the tour the previous year our pace was quicker than most, although there is a lot to see, including some new things, such as the new portrait of the King, and a second visit is certainly well worth while. The art collection alone is worth seeing more than once. While there we saw advertising for the photographic exhibition at The Kings Gallery, with pictures by many photographers of members of the Royal family over many years, and decided to visit that after lunch on our second day, Murano being about an after-lunch stroll from Buckingham Palace ... 

So, emerging from tha Palace and after booking our tour of the King's Gallery the following day we went for a walk through Belgravia to Sloane Square, really not very far at all. The walk took us through Eaton Square and we popped into St Peter's Church, rebuilt after a disastrous fire just a few years ago, and there we discovered (or, rather, were reminded) that the new parish priest is the grandson of a now-deceased old lady I used to visit in one of my past parishes and who told me about her grandson being ordained - a small world indeed. Eaton Square is a mathematician's nightmare, being far from square, about six times as long as it is broad! But at least it is, more or less, a rectangle.

At Sloane Square we visited the Peter Jones store, probably the only remaining John Lewis branch to retain its original name. Tea and cake there rounded off our eating out and then we caught the District Line and Hammersmith and City Line back to our temporary home.

Our first engagement the following day was the lunch at Murano in Mayfair, so we were in no hurry when we went out and walked down to Goldhawk Road to catch a bus on Route 94 to Piccadilly Circus, from where we planned to walk to Fortnum and Mason, just for fun, really! The bus ride took us right along the north side of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, along Oxford Street and then down Regent's Street, a really great ride, for those with the time. From Shepherd's Bush as far as Oxford Circus it very much parallels the Central Line of the Underground, which is the obvious alternative if time matters more than the top-deck view (and the free ride if you've a Senior Citizen's bus pass!).

Fortnum & Mason is always good fun to look around, and although there were some tempting cheeses there was no way we could keep them to take home, so could not buy. But we did get a few small treats for the grandchildren by way of thanking the family for the loan of their house while they were away.

We were quickly on our way on foot to Mayfair for our lunch reservation at Murano. As ever, this was a great meal, served with suitable style and efficiency, with an imaginative, Italian-based menu. We went for the lunchtime table d'hôte menu but added a few bits. The meal always includes nibbles before and after, and water. You do not go hungry at Murano.

It was a short walk from Mayfair to Buckingham Palace, and then round the corner to The Kings Gallery to see the Royal Portraits exhibition,extracts from His Majesty's photo collection. This was interesting not only because off the subject matter but also because some (most) of these pictures were created by world-famous photographers and there was a lot of information about them as well as about their royal subject matter. It was a last-minute idea to come here but I was so glad I had. We returned "home" to Shepherds Bush by District Line train to High Street Kensington to do some shopping at Marks & Spencer and then took a bus to White City, from where we walked the rest of the way. A tiring day, but very rewarding: all we had really done was to visit one photographic exhibition!

The complicated bit - getting home, collecting children on the way

On our last morning we tidied the house after breakfast and left early. We had a busy day ahead, for we were only able to fit in this last-minute royal jolly if we picked up our Peterborough grandchildren on the way home, for we had promised to look after them for a few days at our home. So, a Hammersmith & City line train to Kings Cross to begin the day (via Fortnum & Mason's St Pancras branch to buy our favourite St Pancras Blend tea, only available there) then the 10:30 LNER train to Peterborough; once more we travelled Standard Class because it was not a meal time and there was little to be gained in First Class for such a short journey on what we think is a pretty comfortable train anyway. Our son handed over his children in the entrance hall at Peterborough station and we took them to the platform to await our Cross Country train home to Stamford. We had not been on the train more than two minutes, still in Peterborough, when the senior grandchild declared that she was bored. Encouragement to look out of the window fell on deaf ears, even though this is the child who travelled happily all the way to Bournemouth with us a couple of years previously ... I don't think I'll ever understand children even after two generations of trying to care for them! Maybe it's because for a long trip we brought things to do on the way, but that was hardly worthwhile, especially when we had been via Chichester and London, for a trip of less than fifteen minutes. Finally we walked home from Stamford station, which was far from boring with two children reluctant to carry or trail their "Trunky" luggage, but we got there. Straight into lunchtime, and the rest is beyond the scope of this weblog! Just a note to say that booking the tickets required a little thought: we needed adult, Senior Railcard, singles for ourselves, one child single and nothing for the younger child but the hope that we could get her a seat (we could). All these were bought in advance along with the outgoing fares and the the fare from London: the only tickets I didn't book in advance but very much wish I had, were the ones from Chichester to London. I have learnt my lesson, and the railway company (Southern in this case) has hammered one more nail into the coffin of the station booking office.

It is easy to think that for complex trips a car is necessary, but I think this is far from the case. Indeed, sometimes taking the car can be a hindrance when there is nowhere to park it or when you need to finish something in a different place from where you start, or if two of you need to separate. With some planning, this sort of trip worked well. It helped that all the trains that mattered were on time - and I have now received the compensation for the one that was late at the start of the adventure - and the smartphone apps that allow us to track one another made the meet-ups at both Chichester and Peterborough stations a breeze.

It would also have been easy to think that it was not worth the effort to squeeze in a few days in London, but to forego both free accommodation and a free visit to Buckingham Palace was just not on! We did not have the chance to see our London family that week, but they visited us just a few days later, so that was not too much of a loss.

How to Visit Frankfurt Without Leaving the English Midlands

Day Trip by train to the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market

We have visited a number of Christmas Markets since we began our "adventures" by train a few years ago.  There were the real German ones on the Great Rail Journeys Christmas Markets Rhine Cruise, the big local one in Lincoln and those in Bath and Bristol. I had also taken a group by train to the Birmingham one a little while ago, but it was so cold that day that I did not see much of the Christmas Market that time! The Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market lasts almost two months (Lincoln's, now ended, was just two days but was very much bigger), from the beginning of November until Christmas Eve, and occupies New Street and Victoria Square in the heart of the city of Birmingham with German-type stall selling German and German-influenced gifts, food and drink. There is a more locally-inspired market in the Cathedral grounds with smaller stalls selling local crafts, food and drink, and some of the shops join in the Christmas theme or the German theme as well. My wife had never been to the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market but has always been a fan of German culture, and so, Birmingham being an easy trip by train from our home in Stamford we decided to visit it this year. My adventures are having to be a bit simpler at present for health reasons, so a day trip with no change of train fitted the bill nicely: it is quicker and easier to visit Birmingham, several counties away, than to visit our own county town of Lincoln!

Looking at the train timetable and the peak and off-peak fares, it seemed that a good day out, giving enough time for all we wanted to do, could be had by taking the 10:07 train     to Birmingham, returning by the 15:22: if we stayed later than that, the next train on which an off-peak ticket could be used would be the 18:22, three hours later. Looking at our diaries, there were not many days when we could do it! In between our voluntary jobs and our family commitments, and not wanting to leave it to near Christmas we thought that this Tuesday would do nicely and so we kept the date free. I did not actually buy the train tickets until the day so that we could change our minds if the weather forecast were poor.

All was well and we set off for the station. Although I could have bought the tickets at the ticket office for a trip like this, the last two times I had been to the station the ticket office had not been open and so I used the Cross Country Train Tickets iPhone app which gave me our tickets on my smartphone. We had to remember to take our Senior Railcards with us! In the event the ticket office was open, a corollary of which was that the waiting room was also open and heated, which was just as well because the weather in Stamford turned out to be both colder and damper than expected, and the train was late. It had been delayed by "operational issues" around Cambridge or Ely and the slippery rails made making up for lost time impossible. You could hear and feel the wheels slip as the train pulled away from each station. There did not seem to be a catering trolley on the train, but our intention in any case was to have coffee in Birmingham.

Like all east-west lines in central England, this is not a fast line (and not a straight one, either!) but the trains are quite quick, when they can get a grip, and comfortable and the time soon passed. Fifty years ago I used this line to and from university and it was much slower and less comfortable then. We were soon in Birmingham, and New Street station is right in the thick of things in the city centre, so we were straight into the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market. 

We walked along New Street towards Victoria Square, looking cursorily at the stands we passed while seeking an indoor café for our morning coffee. We ended up at Albert's Schloss, and Alpine-inspired restaurant beyond the Town Hall: we had sen this place when we visited Birmingham in the summer but had not been inside. Seeing the menu and enjoying the service and the "German" and "Austrian" atmosphere we thought we'd have to return some time for a meal, but today we wanted to eat from the Frankfurt Christmas Market - it would have to be a frankfurter, wouldn't it?

We looked around the food and drink outlets in Victoria Square and decided where our frankfurters would be bought at lunchtime and then walked off to the Cathedral grounds where there were smaller stands selling more local things, and we bought a glass Christmas tree decoration from a local craftswoman before returning to Victoria Square for lunch, "serenaded" by a singer singing many of the usual Christmas pop songs. It was all very atmospheric, and although it did remind us of our time in the real German Christmas markets a couple of years ago it was a very English interpretation! After our sausages we moved on to gluhwein. The bar we chose served gluhwein in very good glass mugs, for which we had to pay a hefty deposit, so it was much easier to drink than in thin wine glasses too hot to hold. We could take our time drinking it and then we moved on to New Street, buying some chocolate-covered marshmallow on the way. 

We walked the length of New Street, studying the stalls in much more detail now. These are much bigger than the stall you find at most Christmas markets and sell a wide range of goods as well as a lot of German and German-inspired food and drink. We had all we now wanted to buy from the market and were close to the Bull Ring shopping centre, so we paid a brief visit to Selfridges and Marks & Spencer and then it was time to make our way to New Street station to take our train back to Stamford. We bought take-away coffee at the station and it was just as well because there did not seem to be a refreshment trolley on the train home either! If these facilities are not reliable they will be underused because we shall all make other arrangements and buy little if anything from the trolley on the train. We found some good seats together again and had a comfortable ride home, leaving Birmingham on time but arriving in Stamford a couple of minutes late.

It had been a really good day out and we needed very little for supper after our small but sustaining "German" feast at lunchtime. The train to and from Birmingham really is very convenient for us and everything is so close to New Street station that a day out is so easy. We really must do it again.

There is, of course, no other city like London, but when I look at Birmingham now it is so much more London-like than it ever was fifty years ago when I was studying there and it felt like an overgrown market town. I am not sure that the city has caught up with its own new image, though, and it does not live up to its Second City status as I think it could. I intend to return in the spring or summer to hear a concert at its world-class Symphony Hall and, if it is open after its repairs and refurbishment, visit to world-class Museum and Art Gallery, too.

Birmingham Pins

Delays and Cancellations - and that's just me ....

Severn Valley Railway

By this time of the year I usually have a few winter trips arranged and one or two in the summer and autumn of next year, too. This time I only have one booking in the diary, a Great Rail Journeys escorted tour in Switzerland by way of celebrating my forthcoming 70th Birthday (although it will take place some months after the date, which is just as well in the circumstances). I write from a Thameslink train on my next adventure, for which I bought the tickets on departure, and we are planning a visit to the Birmingham Christmas Market but do not yet have a date. The vagueness in the planning is a result of some medical issues I am currently experiencing, but the way forward is now a little clearer and I hope that some plans will soon take shape. I have been a little cautious about announcing any group days out until I know my own availability and until the industrial relations in the rail industry become more stable, hopefully soon.

Meanwhile a recent road trip did include a day exploring the magnificent Severn Valley Railway, so I'll take the opportunity of my current train ride to bring the blog up to date with a description of the day on the SVR.

The Severn Valley Railway Adventure began with the Market Deeping Model Railway Club's annual summer lunch party at which a raffle was held and my ticket was drawn. One of our members had a couple of shareholders' First Class Freedom of the Line ticket vouchers left which he would be unable to use and had given them as a prize in the raffle, and they were still available when I went to claim my prize ... 

We were staying in a Premier Inn in former industrial premises in the centre of Kidderminster and walked across the town centre to Kidderminster station on the Severn Valley Railway on a sunny autumn morning, via breakfast at Caffè Nero. The idea was to catch the first SVR train of the day to the other end of the line at Bridgnorth and then wander back to Kidderminster on various trains, ending with the penultimate train of the day in order to allow some slack in case of a problem: with our car parked in Kidderminster we had to be back there in order to get home. At Kidderminster we went to the ticket office window of the Severn Valley Railway station with our Freedom of the Line vouchers which were converted into First Class tickets by the simple process of stamping them with the date. The first train of the day according to the timetable was at 10:00, but while I was having the tickets stamped an announcement was made that there would be an additional train at 09:40: experience had shown that he first train of the day was overcrowded so by adding an extra one twenty minutes earlier they were more easily able to cater for the crowds - a Good Sign. We boarded the train, composed of 1940s-50s maroon coaches hauled by a BR standard steam locomotive, the sort of train that would have been the latest technology when I was a toddler travelling with my parents! We sat in the buffet car (which was not serving: we'd have had to travel in the scheduled 10:00 train for that, but we'd just had breakfast so that was OK) and we almost had the space to ourselves.

At Bridgnorth I watched the locomotive run round the train for its (unscheduled extra) trip back to Kidderminster and then we walked into the town to explore. There we had coffee and visited the local museum. We had been to Bridgnorth before and did not need to see much, and had plenty of time for what we did do! Back at the station there was time to buy a pint and crisps before boarding our next train: the plan was to visit most of the stations on the line by travelling back and forth, also using most of the vintage trains that were in use that day. One of the great things about the Severn Valley Railway is that it has several complete rakes of coaches of more-or-less matching vintage and style, so it is not simply a steam locomotive with random coaches. We drank our beer and ate our crisps on this train, which took us to Arley, a two-platform country station on the river bank.

At Arley we had (just!) enough time for a country walk to see Victoria Bridge, an impressive cast-iron bridge which carries the Severn Valley Railway over the River Severn, which we remember seeing used as a Scottish bridge in the film The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Back at Arley station we caught the next train back to Highley, a delightful country station where for those who have more time there is an opportunity to visit the locomotives and other historic items on display nearby. Here there was a short shower of heavy rain for our visit, and the station is not blessed with a lot of shelter, but there was just enough for the crowds awaiting the next train, and the rain soon stopped. From there we took the train to Bewdley, where we had allowed ourselves a bit of time to explore. Being honest, arriving at 15:47 the exploration consisted almost entirely of selecting a place for tea and cake and consuming it (The Courtyard Bar - stunning cakes and friendly service, and on the Severn riverside). I could imagine that in summer this would be a glorious place to spend some time at the riverside bars and restaurants. We walked back to Bewdley station to await our last train of the day, back to Kidderminster.

It is a short ride from Bewdley (once the southern terminus of the Severn Valley Railway until the station at Kidderminster was built), past the West Midlands Safari Park with some of its exotic animals visible,  to the SVR terminus at Kidderminster. We had had a wonderful autumnal day out which had mostly felt like summer, if a little cool, and with just one short shower. The Severn Valley Railway was as busy as ever, with a decent service of interesting vintage trains and good service at its many refreshment facilities, and the Severn Valley countryside and the town and villages were wonderful to visit. I thoroughly recommend a visit to the Severn Valley Railway: by rail to Kidderminster it is an easy day trip from much of England and Wales, or makes an easy day excursion from Birmingham (trains from Moor Street or Snow Hill) as part of a longer break.

This Could Be the Last Time, I Don't Know ...

Holiday by Train on the South Coast of England

Waterloo station in London has seen many an excited departure for seaside holidays on the south coast and the west of England, and in recent years some of these have been mine. The trains themselves are not very exciting these days, and the First Class seating was downgraded at the last franchise award, although it is still excellent value for money if booked in advance. Waterloo is a busy station with many local and suburban services but also with some significant long-distance trains serving several holiday destinations all along the south coast, although it has been many years since it served the Devon and Cornwall resorts. our holiday this year began at Yarmouth, on the Isle of Wight. Fast trains normally leave Waterloo every half-hour on the route to Bournemouth and Weymouth, and there is a simple cross-platform change of train at Brockenhurst in the New Forest, from where a local branch-line train connects with a ferry direct to Yarmouth.

We had used this route twice before and I worked out a schedule that fitted our needs, taking us to London via Cross Country and LNER trains from Stamford, with a change of train at Peterborough, in plenty of time for the 13:35 departure from Waterloo. All our travel was booked in advance as soon as Advance tickets became available, and the hotels both at Yarmouth (very expensive) and Chichester (just expensive) where we were stopping next. I also booked the restaurants for dinner on the Isle of Wight as we have had difficulty finding places in the past. 

The weather had not been good all through July, dull, cloudy, showery, and cool for the time of the year, but on our day of departure the sun was shining when I woke up and stayed out until well after we had left home, making the journey to London much more pleasant than I had anticipated, helped by the trains being on time and clean. I had allowed plenty of connection time at Peterborough and we enjoyed the coffee and biscuits from the "Bike Barista" which are free for LNER First Class ticket-holders. On the train, the 10:50, brunch was served from LNER's Dish menu and I had the blueberry porridge and an orange juice. It really was a very good trip, arriving at Kings Cross on time. At Kings Cross Underground station we spoke to a member of staff to have my wife's renewed Senior Railcard linked to her Oyster Card to gain the Railcard discount on Underground travel in London, then we made our way to Waterloo.

Kings Cross to Waterloo is not a difficult journey by Underground, but the route is not that obvious! We have done it several different ways, and also by bus (takes ages) and many years ago I used to do it on foot. This time, which may be the last time, we took the Victoria Line to Warren Street and from there the Northern Line straight to Waterloo: in both cases a train came into the station as soon as we arrived on the platform, so the cross-town change of station was pretty quick, although the Underground trains were both very busy, for the middle of a weekday in summer. 

Something Funny Happened at Waterloo

The idea was get to Waterloo in good time, buy a simple lunch and wait for the train while eating it. There is a Marks and Spencer Food Hall and that is where we bought our lunch, but there is also a Benugo café (I did get coffee there) and many other food outlets, all of which looked quite good. Tip: go and sit on the balcony overlooking the concourse: it is much less busy and frenetic there, and Benugo is there, too, with interesting views of the activity below.

While eating, knowing I had plenty of time, I looked idly across at the departures board to see if our train was posted yet. Not only was it not there yet, but neither did it appear in the "subsequent departures" section even though several trains timed after it did appear there ... "13:35" was clearly printed on my Advance ticket, and LNER, through whom I had made the booking, sent me the automatic reminder stating 13:35, but there was no 13:35 departure! Live Train Times on the LNER app came to the rescue: I looked up live departures from Waterloo to Brockenhurst and found that it was retimed to 13:30 owing to some alterations to the timetable to reduce the number of trains operating. That was fine, no need to ask anyone for help. Soon the platform for the 13:30 to Bournemouth and Weymouth (also holiday destinations, of course) was indicated and we made our way to platform 12 and boarded.

Delayed, Not Delayed

We left Waterloo station on time, but by Southampton our train was four minutes late for some reason (even though the retiming had given it an extra five minutes ...), and as it made its way through the New Forest the train became later and later, not by a huge amount but by enough to miss the connection at Brockenhurst for Lymington Pier for the ferry to Yarmouth. Disappointing, but not tragic. The next train to Lymington Pier was just half an hour later and was on time, giving us seven minutes to board the ferry, and, of course, the ferry staff were expecting a last-minute influx because they had noticed that not many arrived on the preceding train ... so in spite of a half-hour delay we arrived at Yarmouth exactly on time, but we waited at Brockenhurst station rather than at Lymington ferry terminal. Our afternoon cup of tea was on board the ferry instead of while waiting for it!

We checked in at The George Hotel and Beach Club at Yarmouth, went for a stroll around the town and then took up our reservation for dinner at The Terrace, the rather splendid restaurant above the ferry terminal at Yarmouth. Nothing in Yarmouth is cheap - indeed it did occur to me that this place is similar to Switzerland in the cost to visitors, but it is a very small town and we were here at the peak of the holiday season, so we could not expect a bargain.

Our drinks lined up for dinner!

We did have a table indoors, although the weather was very considerably better than last time, but still not really right for overlooking the harbour. The cocktails, the food (I had fish and chips!) and the beer were great, and we were greeted by a fantastic sunset (see header photograph) as we left. Back to The George, bath and bed ready for the morning.

When planning the holiday I had left the first full day vague, to put it mildly, thinking that in suitable weather we might visit a beach and just take the day easy, then visit Osborne House (English Heritage) on the next day. The weather forecast, however, showed that the next day, Saturday, was to be the only wet and windy day (Storm Antoni, as it turned out, yellow weather warning throughout the south of England!), so we rescheduled Osborne to the first day, Friday, and left Saturday as the vague day but no longer expected to visit a beach!

On the Rocks and Off the Rails, but Nothing is Wrong

We took a bus to Newport on Friday morning and changed for Osborne House. The wonderful Southern Vectis buses from Newport to East Cowes stop at the gates of Osborne House and so we were soon there, showing our English Heritage membership cards and breezing in. First stop was for coffee and then we toured the house itself. While we have done this several times before, there are often new things to see, and in any case one does not take in everything each time. 

From there we strolled down to the beach, once Queen Victoria's private beach, where we enjoyed an ice-cream, and then we walked through the woods to the Swiss cottage and children's garden plots where the young princes and princesses learnt their life skills under the care of Prince Albert. we took the courtesy bus back to the house and then, having seen enough, walked into East Cowes, which we'd never done before, and from there took the bus back to Newport and thence to Yarmouth. Dinner that evening was at On The Rocks, a "hot stones" restaurant where we cooked our own steaks on hot stones, accompanied by unlimited salad and chips, and glass of Malbec, of course.

We woke on Saturday morning to the sound of rain. We had breakfast on Saturday morning watching the rain as it eased off and came back. By ten o'clock it was much lighter and the sky much brighter and we set off on the 10:25 bus to Newport where this time we changed for the bus towards Ryde, alighting at Quarr Abbey. I had long ago heard of this Roman Catholic Benedictine abbey and on the ferry from Lymington its various facilities for visitors had been advertised, so we thought we'd use this free day to have a look. Quarr is set in beautiful countryside and woodland, near to the ruins of its pre-reformation predecessor which was dissolved by Henry VIII. The abbey is an unusual design in brick, and very peaceful, and for visitors it offers a café, a farm shop and a more general gift shop and plenty of opportunity to walk. Visitors are welcome to attend the chapel services (but to leave the singing to the monks!), although we were not there at the times for any of those. We were in the café when a shower of rain occurred and did not encounter any other wet weather until we arrived at Newport bus station on the way back, but all the bus stops there have shelters so we managed to take cover while waiting for the connection onwards to Yarmouth. By the time we left the weather was dry again, although we did pass through more showers on the way. Back at Yarmouth we returned to our hotel and changed ready for our evening out: this was a meal at Off The Rails, the restaurant with a railway theme located in the former railway station building on the edge of Yarmouth. This was about a ten-minute walk away and, as on our previous two visits, the food was different (I think "quirky" the word for the menu) and both delicious and filling.

Sunday was the day to move on and we said farewell to our hotel at Yarmouth and left for Newport on the same bus departure as on Saturday morning, but this morning was sunny and much warmer, and we had luggage. Even with our cases, which are not huge, we travelled on the top deck of the bus. This ride, scenic as it is, was a lovely end to our three-night stay on the Isle of Wight. We had not explored much the time but we had rested a lot, which was what we needed more than anything. We were making our way to Ryde, by changing buses once more at Newport bus station, a place we had begun to know quite well, for from Ryde we were to cross back over the Solent for the next stage in our week's holiday. Buses to Ryde are "only" every fifteen minutes on Sundays but soon enough we were on our way, past Quarr Abbey where we had been the day before, and into Ryde. We had coffee at an Italian coffee shop we have visited before and then it was time to make our way to the Hovertravel check-in for the flight across to Southsea.

Festina Lente

We had never used the hovercraft before, but when I was booking the train tickets this was the route I was offered. They were open tickets via "any permitted" route but the itinerary I was given was for the hovercraft and its integrated bus link to Portsmouth and Southsea station. So we gave it a try. The Hovertravel website urges everyone with a through rail ticket to book a specific flight in advance and I had done this and had to show my rail tickets and quite the booking number on check-in: we were a touch early and were allowed to board a flight 30 minutes in advance of the one I had booked, since it was far from full. The flight is just ten minutes and the bus is waiting by the terminal at Southsea, but it was straight into heavy traffic. All the time gained in charging across the Solent so much faster than the catamaran we have normally used was used up poking our way slowly around Portsmouth city centre to transfer to Portsmouth and Southsea railway station - the catamaran used to take us direct to Portsmouth Harbour station, but I am not sure that direct trains to Chichester now operate from the Harbour, so perhaps that is why we were sent the long way round via the hovercraft to Southsea. Another "disimprovement" in our national rail network which is now run more for the convenience of the operators than the passengers, it seems. 

We had about forty minutes to wait for our train - perhaps Sunday is not the brightest day to choose to travel - but there were ice-cream parlours nearby so it was not difficult to pass the time! Soon enough we boarded a semi-fast train bound for London Victoria which whisked us swiftly to Chichester station from which we walked to our hotel, the Chichester Harbour Hotel, a bit of a way from the station but very handy for the theatre which we would be visiting in a couple of days' time.

According to established tradition, that evening we met our friends for drinks: it is their holidays, for many years spent at nearby East Wittering, that have drawn us here each summer to join them for a day at the beach and an evening at the theatre. The reason why this could be the last time is that they had just (last week) moved to Chichester and will no longer be taking their holiday at East Wittering. This year they were doing it, one last time, as it was the easiest thing to do with having only just unpacked their possessions. We shall doubtless continue to visit, but not as a summer holiday in the same way. Dinner the first night in Chichester was at Côte, only because that's where we went the very first time we came and we've been there on the first evening ever since!

Our first full day staying in Chichester was spent exploring. We took a bus to Arundel which we'd only visited together once before, over thirty years ago! The obvious way to Arundel would be the train, but it was fun to try the bus, an infrequent service and so needing thought and discipline (though good to have the train in mind as a back-up in case we decided to stay longer). It was a very pleasant ride through the Sussex countryside and we visited the splendid Roman Catholic cathedral there and wandered among the shops, having lunch at a very individual place called Green & Coal. The bus back took a slightly different route through some different villages and then we had a relaxing evening, with a takeaway salad in our room.

The Hills Are Alive

The second full day was the day we were booked at the theatre (The Sound of Music this year), with a pre-theatre dinner booked at The Bell at 5pm: the dinner arrangement has become earlier and earlier over the years as we've feared missing the start of the play - although last year we were served so expeditiously that we had time to kill before the theatre! That still gave us some time, though, and in indifferent weather we took a bus to explore Midhurst, a few miles to the north, where we've never been before. No longer on the railway, Midhurst has a half-hourly bus service so we had no need to plan our travel. Among other things we discovered that the administrative centre (and the information office) for the South Downs National Park is right opposite the bus station in Midhurst and we picked up lots of information for potential future visits. We had coffee and croissants at the local bakery, served by the French owner of the business and his Italian assistant - good coffee, good pastries and a chance to speak French and Italian!

Back in Chichester we changed and prepared for our evening out ... Now we have been enjoying musicals at Chichester Festival Theatre for many summers and have seen some fantastic productions, but I have to say that this year's The Sound of Music was the best we have seen. The performances by some of the child actors, some of them in their first major production, were superb. Before the theatre we had dinner (if you can call it that when starting at 5pm!) at the Bell Inn, opposite the theatre, as we have for several years.

The following day, weather much improved, fortunately, was our day at the seaside, so we set off for the bus stop, via Tesco to purchase a contribution of wine towards the day's catering. Our bus ride to East Wittering was much quicker than we have ever experienced before, with less heavy traffic, and also we had a double-deck bus for the first time and so had a very different view of the countryside, and West Wittering as we passed through it, than in previous years. We walked from the bus stop to our friends' holiday home and so began our probable final visit to East Wittering. We walked along the beach, we ate and drank with our friends, we walked again, visited an inn of the shore of Chichester Harbour and an ice-cream shop on the beach at East Wittering and spoke of old times spent together. After what seemed all too short a time we were driven back to our hotel and prepared for the following day's train trip home.

Homeward Bound

Having breakfasted in our room for three mornings on fruit salads from M&S, we pushed the boat out with breakfast at The Ivy on our final morning. We packed our cases and checked out of the hotel, asking them to keep the luggage until we were ready to catch our train. We had booked a table at The Ivy along with all the other bookings when the holiday was planned, but I don't think it would not have been difficult to find a table on this morning if we had not booked. It was warm enough to sit outside on the pavement: the restaurant faces north so it needs to be a warm day as the sunshine does not reach the outside seating until late in the day. After a really great breakfast I visited an exhibition at The Novium Museum on JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth fantasy novels and the art, music, TV and film adaptations from them, and then it was time to collect our luggage and make our way to the railway station to begin our journey home. 

We had booked Advance First tickets for the 13:09 train to London Victoria, but because of an overtime ban this train was not running and we opted to take the 12:39 instead, running half an hour ahead of our schedule rather than half an hour behind. We did not need lunch after the late an substantial breakfast, and in London we went straight to Kings Cross (easy on the Victoria Line from Victoria, and all step-free, so easy with luggage, too). We had coffee at Notes, which we had visited once before, many years ago when it was surrounded by building sites, and then waited in the First Class lounge at Kings Cross until our train was ready to board.

The train journey from Kings Cross to Peterborough went smoothly but by the time the catering trolley reached us we had to take our food and drink with us to eat later as we were almost in Peterborough. Not to self: travel in coaches M or L next time rather than K - that way the food will come sooner! At Peterborough we popped to Waitrose for milk and then caught the connection, on time, for Stamford and walked home. It was a lovely, warm, sunny evening and the town was full of people enjoying themselves, many of them having a drink after work. We'd had a great week and it was good to be home: washing on, LNER supper consumed at home, shower and bed. Now the question is: was this the last time? What will replace this staple of our summer holidays?