We have enjoyed several trips in the UK and Europe by train and they seemed too good to keep to ourselves. These are all real reports of our own experiences and none is sponsored by any of the businesses mentioned in them; all views are my own. Do feel free to comment and ask questions! #flygskam #trainbragging
A Simple Start to Ease into This Year’s Rail Adventures!
Every year I tend to have a few bigger trips lined up by March or April and this year is no different. Two are Great Rail Journeys escorted tours, chosen and booked as soon as they were advertised to “bag” them and get a start made on the calendar for 2023; one is a Eurostar visit to Amsterdam which we promised ourselves when the through services began and now are finally taking, and one is to the Isle of Wight and Sussex which we have been doing each summer for the last eight years - and this will probably be our last. One more is a few days in Birmingham with friends.
We have not done a railway “adventure” since last autumn’s trip to Sorrento and quite frankly we are a bit out of practice! General busyness along with the wave of rail and other strikes has kept us at home apart from the few day trips and family gatherings which I’ve reported here. Looking forward to the forthcoming trips to Amsterdam and to the South of France would just be too exciting without something else to occupy our minds! Fortunately we had a good reason to pay a short visit to friends in Croydon who are moving soon and downsizing: I was able to broker a gift from them (of some clergy robes they no longer need) to another acquaintance who could use them in one of his country churches, and so we arranged a couple of nights’ stay with them to fetch the robes and to visit their present home for the last time. They are moving soon to Chichester and that move is the reason they’ll no longer be taking their holidays near there and so our annual trips to join them will be ending this year.
St Mildred's Parish Church, Addiscombe
Hoping that no strikes would disrupt our plans, I booked Advance First tickets between Peterborough and London Kings Cross and then, once I was more confident that Cross County’s trains between Stamford and Peterborough might be operating (i.e. the day before we travelled!) I booked Standard Class returns for that bit of the trip. Per passenger mile that is the most expensive leg of the journey…
We had some family duties to carry out in the morning of the day of our departure, and our hosts had things to do, too, so we did not leave until noon. We had a large suitcase with our own stuff for a couple days in uninspiring weather plus gifts for our hosts and with enough space spare for the robes we were transporting back to Lincolnshire.
Although our train out of Stamford was some ten minutes late (no explanation given, but looking at Live Train Times online it seems to have been late since shortly after leaving Birmingham), this did not affect our journey at all and we easily made the connection at Peterborough into our pre-booked LNER train to London. This was a five-car "Azuma" train from Lincoln and there was plenty of space in our First Class section. The simplest "Deli" menu was on offer and this provided the light lunch we needed, departure from Peterborough being on time at 12:30. We were soon in London and had a little shopping to do (there are some great shops at St Pancras, across the road) before making our way down to Croydon. We were in no hurry, knowing that our friends were busy. When we were ready to go we made our way to the "basement" platforms at St Pancras for the next Thameslink service to East Croydon. This was on time (although with such a frequent service the concept of "on time" is not all that significant!) would get us there at 15:17, so I sent a WhatsApp message to say we expected to arrive at our friends' home at about 16:00.
The Brighton or Horsham Thameslink trains stop at all stations through the central London "core" and then after London Bridge run non-stop to East Croydon, the whole journey taking just about half an hour, much of which is spent imitating an Underground train through central London, complete with automatic doors! At East Croydon we made our way up the ramps to the tram stop, where we had just three minutes to wait for the next tram. We were very soon at Addiscombe, the stop for our friends' home and would have been half an hour early getting there! I had grossly over-estimated the amount of time it would take to get from the station to their house: the tram was there for us just as soon as we had touched-in our Oyster cards, it was not delayed and the walk from the tram stop at Addiscombe was only a matter of three or four minutes. Thus we had twenty minutes or so to spare around the shops at Addiscombe, which turned out to be very useful as we picked up a handy collection of Lego bricks in a charity shop, ideal for the next visit of the senior grandchildren ...
We had a great time with our friends and after a couple of nights packed our luggage complete with the items we had come to fetch and set off home after lunch on the third day. The tram took us back to East Croydon station where we happened to arrive just before a Thameslink train was due in, so we went straight to the indicated platform and waited just a few seconds as our train arrived. Our train from Kings Cross was not due to leave until 19:06 (I had allowed plenty of leeway, not being sure of timing when I booked, and this train has some advantage - including reasonable fares - as will become clear), and we filled the time with a museum visit; there is never a shortage of things to do in London and quite a lot is within easy reach of Kings Cross and St Pancras stations. We had already visited both the Canal Museum and the Jewish Museum between trains, and even the British Museum and the British Library are close to hand, although it would take a lot of changes of train to see all of what they offer, and this time we visited the Foundling Museum, chronicling the history of Coram's Foundling Hospital which gave a fascinating insight into some of the profound social problems of Georgian London as well as revealing the great humanitarian effort of individual good people to solve them.
After spending some time in the First Class lounge at Kings Cross we took the 19:06 Lincoln train, another five-coach Azuma but this time quite busy. The staff did a fantastic job of serving everyone's refreshments efficiently but in a polite and friendly manner and we were on time at Peterborough, a perfect journey. One advantage of this train is that it connects at Peterborough with the once-a-day East Midlands Railway service to Nottingham via Stamford, so there was not long to wait before our train: indeed, it was already at the platform waiting for its crew and we were able to board long before departure time. Again the train was on time and we were soon home and I shall now be able to contact my local colleague to come and collect his new vestments from me!
This was the easiest, smoothest and best train journey I have had for a long time. There were simply no problems: even though the first train was a few minutes late it did not affect us and all the rest were on time, clean and tidy with, where appropriate, full catering. Fares have risen somewhat this year and I was not in a position to book ever so early, so it was a bit more expensive than I have been used to but it was quite acceptable - I could always have booked Standard Class if I'd needed to get the price any lower.
Lincoln Cathedral, one of the symbols of the cities served by LNER, appears on the cans of Hop On Board ale served on the trains!
By Train to Newcastle Upon Tyne,
in First Class with LNER
I needed to buy a new cassock, the long dress-like garment that Church of England clergy wear. I have always worn black and my old robes are wearing rather thin, but although I estimated that they might see out my active ministry, I had recently been appointed as a non-residentiary Canon of Lincoln Cathedral and the cathedral Canons traditionally wear a shade of blue, as do the Choir and the Vergers, so this was my opportunity to replace my old black cassock with a new blue one. It would be nice not to have holes in the pockets and fraying button-holes for the rest of my ministry!
The cathedral provides the fabric, and the new Canon pays for the cassock to be made, and although I could go to a number of clerical outfitters, there is one, J&M Sewing, which keeps a stock of the blue fabric in order to make the choir robes, so it is simpler to go there for clergy robes as well. The snag is that it is in Newcastle Upon Tyne, a great city but a long way from anywhere else! I needed to act fairly quickly as my installation at the cathedral was only a few weeks away and I knew it would take a while to have my cassock made, so I did not book train tickets ages in advance but went for the least expensive I could reasonably find on the next day when I had enough time to spare, having arranged to visit J&M Sewing at noon on the appointed day. It was a long time since I had been north by rail, and I decided to travel First Class in order to enjoy a leisurely meal on the train home rather than the rushed affair involved in travelling the short hop to and from London. Given Cross Country Trains' tendency still to cancel our local trains at a moment's notice, I decided on this occasion to drive to Peterborough and start the train journey there. Cold weather, and some snow, was anticipated so I knew there was some risk to timekeeping whether by rail or by road. Although the cost of parking at Peterborough station is many times more expensive than the rail fare from and to Stamford, it is still less than the taxi would have cost in the event of a train cancellation, and I wanted to avoid hanging around Peterborough station for an extended period in the cold.
My wife travelled with me (for company, but also to ensure that I ordered something sensible!), and we travelled north on the 09:48 departure from Peterborough, one of the services that stops only twice, at York and Darlington, on the way to Newcastle, taking just a touch over two hours so that we would arrive just neatly in time for my noon appointment - the premises of the company being a short walk from Newcastle Central station. We were served coffee on the train and I resumed my breakfast with one of LNER's delicious bacon rolls, and we each had a yogurt. These refreshments are all within the ticket price. Here and there on the way we saw traces of fallen snow, but the weather in Newcastle when we arrived there was sunny and, for early March, quite warm: the cold and snowy weather we had left behind at home, and it was at its coldest and wintriest in London and the south-east: one does not often go to the north-east for the warm, sunny weather, but we had done well that day.
After choosing the wool/terylene mix over the pure wool, and being measured and choosing my options and placing the order (14 weeks expected delivery, so I would not in any case have it for my installation), we walked into the shopping streets of the city centre to find some lunch and to buy some black jeans to replace my worn-out ones (not all my clothes are wearing out at once, just these two items!). We found both at John Lewis - although I could not help wondering if a large lunch was the thing before dinner on the train ...
Although we have stopped drinking alcohol on weekdays in Lent, we broke our Lenten fast this day because it was the feast day of Edward King, Bishop, a very important feast day in the diocese of Lincoln, and how appropriate it was that I had ordered my Lincoln blue cassock on such a great day! So it was wine with lunch: I'd have to go easy at dinner, feast or no feast, because I'd be driving home from Peterborough station.
We had a short walk around the city centre, gradually making our way back to Newcastle Central station, where we waited in the First Class lounge for the 16:26 train back to Peterborough. This train had been chosen for the affordability of its First Class Advance tickets rather than anything else, and was slower than the one on which we had come north, stopping at quite a few more stations on the way. One of the advantages of First Class which is not often considered is that there is a lot less disturbance at intermediate stations, for several reasons: there are fewer people in the carriage overall, and most people are travelling longer distances (since most of us will be happy with Standard Class on short trips); there is more space in which to move and wider aisles so it is easier to pass people. The catering staff in First Class are kept busy even so, keeping track of who has been served, though, as people get on and off!
In due course we were offered our meal, from the intermediate "Dish" menu, and I chose a vegetable curry which went well with a can of Hop On Board ale. This was plenty, given the early hour and the large Caesar Salad I'd had for lunch! The crisps and biscuits went home for later ... Taking the first opportunity to eat meant that the ale would be safe to drink, being well before I would have to drive.
The Hop On Board can carries pictograms of famous landmarks on LNER's routes, including Lincoln Cathedral, which was nice in the circumstances!
Arriving on time in Peterborough we encountered a wintry shower and met someone we knew from Stamford who was looking for a lift home because the next train, which had been late, had just been cancelled owing to a fault, so we squeezed him in our car (which had the grandchildren's child seats in it!) while I cleared the snow off the car ready to drive home, carefully, though the snow. We were glad that we had brought the car, much as I love walking home from the station across the meadows at Stamford, but the idea of waiting over an hour for a train at a cold and snowy Peterborough and then walking home through the snow did not have quite the normal appeal. The walk in the snow would have been OK if the scheduled train had been running, but it turned out that we were right not to trust them. We dropped our acquaintance at his home and drove home to ours. Job done. Now I wait for my new robe to arrive, and soon, a visit to Lincoln for my installation ceremony!
Thinking about the trip, it has occurred to me that starting earlier and finishing later it would be quite feasible to arrange a day trip to Newcastle to enjoy some of what the city has to offer. Keep a look out for it on my "Come with me" page as soon as travel becomes more reliable!
Some months ago I helped a relative to arrange a "birthday bash," as she called it, which happened about a month ago. Celebrating a round-numbered birthday, she wanted to take a group of six female relatives and friends to London for the day, with lunch on a river boat and then a show at a West End theatre. I said I could book those things for her and if we could settle on definite travel times she could easily afford to take the group on LNER in First Class on Advance tickets. They were not seasoned rail travellers (which is why I was making the arrangements for them, I suppose!) and accustomed neither to advance booking nor first class travel. After a lot of online browsing, especially for lunch trips on the Thames, I was able to make all the bookings for them. It was to be a September Saturday and it was some time before evening tickets for the return leg of the train journey became available, which was slightly unnerving when everything else had been booked and paid-for. I was also very nervous about the river trip because it was booked through a third-party website which was not really up to the job. For example, you could only book up to six places and I needed seven, so I had to book three and four; then one bunch of tickets did not arrive (it was all emailed) so I had to telephone and they were resent ... and there were several other issues too boring to detail now, but it did mean I spent some time praying that the women would get their lunch.
The chosen show was "Six!", about the wives of King Henry VIII. This was at a theatre near Charing Cross, and the river boat departed from and arrived back at Tower Pier, so travelling between them on the District Line was easy, and likewise straightforward Underground journeys were available from and back to Kings Cross, and I advised them to take contactless credit or debit cards to travel by Underground. All was in place and I agreed to be available by telephone in case any advice were needed. It should have been OK, though, because my wife was one of the guests and knew London well, and when we were last there we had deliberately visited Tower Pier and checked on where the relevant riverboat should be docked on the day - Tower Pier is quite a complex pier with several moorings for many different boat services.
A few weeks before the trip one of the rail unions announced the date of the trip as a strike day which was bit of a pain but I advised the party-goers to wait to see what services would be run. It would not be impossible to continue the day, albeit with some adjustments and with less contingency time than I'd normally allow. In the event the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II led to the strike being cancelled but also the introduction of the possibility of London being jam-packed with people visiting her body lying in state. At that stage it could even have been the day of the funeral for all we knew. Theatres helpfully announced that they would continue their programmes but with a minute's silence, so that was OK, and none of the organisations involved had written to cancel anything, so the trip was back on, exactly as planned with slightly more nervousness about the arrangements because of the possibility of crowded transport and streets.
A couple of days before the trip we had a phone call. One of the invited friends had caught Covid and was unwell so she had to pull out. All was paid-for and so I was invited to take her place. I was cautious about accepting a place on what was essentially a girly day out, and yet it was (a) a pity to waste the seventh ticket and (b) probably not a bad idea in the circumstances to have me along for technical assistance. In any case I'd enjoy the train ride and the lunch, and the show was pretty good, too, although not something I'd have chosen, but as an unexpected gift it was great. I now know slightly more about Henry VIII and have resolved to study that period a bit more ... Three of the ladies were family anyway, including my wife, and the other three were friends whom I had not met before, and I had a great day and am very grateful for having been included.
The day began with us all meeting at Peterborough rail station by car: weekend car parking at the station is reasonably-priced and several of the party lived some way from the railway. I drove so that I could pick up the birthday girl on the way and I could easily forego intoxicating drinks for long enough to drive her and ourselves home afterwards.
Our LNER Azuma train from Peterborough to London was on time and our reserved seats gave us a table for four, a table for two and one seat behind that, which I took, being a "reserve" guest! On this train the simplest complimentary menu was being served which provided us with a good light breakfast to start our day. For most of the party this was their first experience of First Class train travel and I was so pleased that it all went well for them.
We were soon at Kings Cross station in London and made our way to the Underground station. I don't know what local people consider the best way to the Tower from Kings Cross, but for this party I had recommended using the Circle Line: it is a long way round for a short journey but it is simple and requires no change of train nor a long walk. Arriving at Tower Hill Underground station we walked around two sides of the Tower to access the pier and with plenty of time in hand stopped for coffee at one of the many coffee shops nearby. I strolled down to the riverside to check things over while the ladies finished their coffee and was fortunate to see Tower Bridge open to allow a sailing vessel to pass through, and I just managed to take a photograph as the bascules began to fall ready to allow road traffic to cross - no time to take up a good position or to adjust the zoom, but I got the photograph - it is the one at the head of this post.
The time came to make our way to the pier: the company asks customers to arrive in plenty of time to get everyone aboard before departure. To my great relief there was a man with a clipboard inviting people with lunch booking to come to him and be directed to the right mooring for the trip, and when we reached the front of the queue there seemed to be some confusion about the size of the party, with the crew wondering if there should be three more of us. I am sure this had something to do with the glitch on the website and one bunch of electronic tickets failing to arrive and having to be reissued. Whatever, the birthday girl was invited aboard to choose tables for the seven of us and we were all duly seated and the boat trip was under way. I bought a bottle of sparkling wine to share, opened and poured in a bizarre, behind-the-back manner by our young waiter, presumably to entertain (or impress?) the ladies. It was a good start to the meal which was served efficiently but with a friendly, personal service which I think would be hard to beat, and for mass-catering (this was a large boat) was of an excellent standard.
The boat ride gave us some great views of the river and of London as far as Westminster and Limehouse and we were soon back at the Tower ready for an afternoon's entertainment. One interesting feature of the ride was the comprehensive view we had of the long queue to see the Queen's coffin: we never lost sight of it all along the south bank of the river, past all the familiar landmarks far as Southwark Park.
We made our way back to Tower Hill station and caught the next District Line train to Embankment, walking up to Strand where our theatre was located, but there was still some time to pass before the show, and the idea was to visit a bar for a drink or two in the meantime. It actually took us some time to find a suitable place which would not become overcrowded with an additional seven people, but after searching all around Covent Garden we eventually settled on The Nell Gwynne, a traditional, small, London pub in a narrow alley just along from the theatre. The only spaces were at the bar and we really only just fitted in but it was so right to visit a place so redolent of old London!
And so to the the Vaudeville Theatre and the musical lesson in Tudor history. It is entirely a musical and has been very well reviewed and a great production for the ladies to enjoy together: a reminder that the only reason these six are famous is that they were at one point each married to King Henry VIII, but they were, of course, all real people with lives of their own. We could probably not name, unless we are historians, the names of any other queen consorts through history, but we know these six!
After the show we made our way via the Piccadilly Line back to Kings Cross for a drink at The Parcel Yard (as much hot chocolate ordered as ale!) and then some of us waited in the First Class Lounge while others scoured the shops at the station. We all gathered in the lounge in time to go together to the train for the journey home, enjoying LNER's usual hospitality with a final drink (soft now in my case because of the drive home) and a sandwich. At the station car park all I had to do was touch my credit card to the machine at the barrier as I drove out and my account was debited for the weekend daily charge - automatic numberplate recognition had clocked my arrival and ensured that I paid the correct amount, no ticket being necessary and no fuss. Brilliant.
Everyone seemed very happy with the day, and as well as feeling really grateful for having been included (while extremely sorry for the friend who had been too ill to go), I was also relieved that after all the uncertainty it all went very well indeed. The overcrowding did not materialise; indeed, Kings Cross felt less busy than usual (not that that prevented us having to take a big detour in a one-way system even more stringent than at the easing of lockdown!). A grand day out for the birthday girl.
Azuma at Peterborough, where we changed for Stamford on our way home
A Day Out by Train with Friends
I have not been to Lincoln for a couple of years, whereas before Covid and retirement I used to visit about monthly. In those days there were few trains and I had to drive as often as not, and the rail journey was often longer and more complex than a short trip to ones own county town ought to be. During the lockdowns and "stay at home" advice of the last couple of years some significant improvements to the rail services have taken place and there has also much much work done to the city centre at Lincoln, and to Lincoln Cathedral, too. When some friends were staying and we were looking for somewhere for a day out together Lincoln came to mind: it is a place where I had lived many years ago, and before that a place where I and one of the friends had spent a few days when we had not known each other for long, so there were some memories to be stirred. Tickets were booked using the LNER app, choosing trains that would take us out by one route and back by another and would give us plenty of time in Lincoln while allowing us back to Stamford in time for a restaurant dinner. All of us having Senior Railcards the total fare was just under £100 for Anytime Day Returns, although where possible we did have seats booked on our chosen trains. Had we become bored or the weather become rough we could return early (but not late if we wanted our booked dinner!).
(This was to be an easy-going, relaxed day out, so I did not take my camera with me and any illustrations you see here are from my earlier collection.)
We left Stamford on the 09:56 Cross Country train to Peterborough and although our reserved seats were not all adjacent (the Cross Country algorithm does seem to leave something to be desired) we did manage to find a table for 4 for this short leg of the trip. This service neatly connects with an East Midlands Railway departure from Peterborough to Lincoln, part of the improved offering from this company since I last travelled that way. Although there had long been a train at about this time, it had always been a short, single-coach train which might be able to take everyone at Peterborough but was always grossly overcrowded when it reached Lincoln. The service also used to start late in the morning and finish early in the afternoon, of little use to most potential passengers - and although that did not affect us on this trip it was the main reason for me having to use my car in the past. We were surprised to find that our train was not just a bit longer than before, but consisted of four coaches and although there are no seat reservations on this route it was easy to choose a table together with a window to open for anti-viral ventilation as well as a view of the countryside. We were blessed with gorgeous weather for the time of the year, late October, with lots of sunshine and no rain (although the forecast until that very morning had not been so optimistic).
The first part of the ride to Lincoln took us up the East Coast Main Line as far as Werrington Junction, retracing the steps of the last couple of miles of the trip from Stamford, and then we set off across the Lincolnshire fens on the route through Spalding and Stamford towards Lincoln. This section is marked by distant and not-so-distant spires and towers of town and village churches among the clumps of trees that mark those places, including Deeping St James where we also once lived and Crowland, the historic Abbey of St Guthlac. Soon the train approached Spalding where two of us had grown up, but apart from the area immediately around the station all now unrecognisable, so much has the town grown. There were enormous new houses being built well out of the town centre and we wondered where on earth the people to live in them would work and shop, there being little in Spalding itself these days.
Soon we were off across the fens again to Sleaford, with a slight hold-up on the approach to the station because of the constricted access since tracks there were reduced some years previously. More people joined the train here than left it, and the four coaches were beginning to look more of a necessity than a luxury. Many more joined us at Ruskington and at Metheringham, now well out of the fens into gently rolling hills, and the train was nicely full without being crowded when we arrived on time at Lincoln. A pleasant ride through sunny Lincolnshire, and now to explore the city. It was great to be back, and I was looking forward to seeing how the city centre improvements had progressed since I was last here.
We started "uphill" around the cathedral and castle and made our way down, so the first thing to do was to visit the bus station, opposite the rail station, and take a bus up to the cathedral. These run frequently are are not too expensive and do save the effort (and time) of climbing one of the steepest streets in England!
From the Cathedral bus stop we went to look at the foundations of the Roman east gate, preserved in front of The Lincoln Hotel - fresh from a holiday in Rome it was good to be reminded that we have quite a lot of Roman remains here in England, too, even if ours are several centuries younger than some of the Italian ones! Strolling around East Bight we followed the course of the Roman city wall and saw more fragments of it in private gardens and then arrived at the north gate which is still in use by modern traffic, although somewhat reduced in grandeur, most notably by lorries not quite small enough to pass through. As we walked down Bailgate we reminisced about how things used to be: much was the same, and the pub where I used to recover from philosophy lectures had not changed much. We visited the site of St Paul's church, supposedly founded by St Paulinus in the early years of English Christianity, and then went to the Castle. No tickets were left to visit the buildings, but actually that was OK: it would leave us with plenty of time to see the rest of the city, and entry to the grounds is free so we spent a little time there and then found some lunch in one of the cafés on Steep Hill (yes, that is the name of the street!) before moving on to the Cathedral. One snag with visiting on a Monday as we did is that some bars, restaurants etc are not open for lunch on Mondays and with a table for four required we did have to queue for a few minutes, but only a few.
I know Lincoln Cathedral very well, partly from living in its precincts for nearly three years and partly from having taken part in its services from time to time over the last forty years, but my friends do not know it half so well, so it was good to show them around, and we did not need to join the guided tour ... What I had not seen before was the new visitor centre and education facility which had been built, with grant funding, on the north side of the Cathedral, partly in buildings formerly part of the cathedral school. The centre was not completely finished but had been partially opened for the half-term holiday for children's activities, and the new café was also open for our afternoon cup of tea, replacing the tiny coffee shop that had opened by the chapter house four decades ago.
When we had seen everything we wanted to see at Lincoln Cathedral we began the walk down the hill, stopping on the way to see the places that had mattered to us many years ago, and popping into the model shop to buy just a few more HO scale figures for my Swiss model railway, then doing just a little more shopping before exploring the Sincil Street area. This is now known as the Cornhill Quarter and a good deal more pleasant an area it is, although with many of the good local shops still present, and a cinema added. The Cornhill Quarter is immediately adjacent to the bus station, rail station and multi-storey car park and forms a great entrance to the city centre. There is still some work to do, but it is now much further advanced than when I last saw it and already looking great.
It was now time to make our way to the station and await our train home. Checking the departures we were not surprised to see that we needed to cross the bridge to the far platform, but as we crossed we were pleasantly surprised to see that the train, this time a LNER "Azuma" inter-city set, was already on its way from the siding to the platform and within a few moments of arriving the doors were unlocked and we were able to board, easily finding our reserved seats around a table for four. Much more spacious than the train on which we had arrived at Lincoln, this one took us back to Peterborough via Newark and the East Coast Main Line. As soon as it left Lincoln I went to the café-bar and bought a round of white wine to round of the warm, sunny day we had enjoyed together - I bought the last of the white wine, so I hope no-one else wanted any! While I was at the bar, the rest were watching the University of Lincoln slide past the window, and then were amazed to find that the Cathedral was also visible from the left side of the train, having been on the right side when we were at the station! There is quite a loop to get from the former Central station to the Newark line which was served by a separate station until a new link was constructed late last century. By the time we stopped at Newark darkness had come and we watched the scenery no longer. LNER took us smoothly to Peterborough for our Cross Country connection to Stamford, all on time and just right for dinner at the Cosy Club!
It had been a simple day out and yet a really good one: the weather was better than one dared hope in mind-October, all our trains were clean, punctual and spacious enough, we had good company (well, mine was good: I have to hope the others felt the same!) and enjoyed all that we saw and did.
Last year's intended return to Yarmouth and West Wight had to be postponed because of travel uncertainty, and so we did it this year, followed as usual by a few days in Chichester to visit of friends holidaying at nearby East Wittering. Unlike last year, train services were almost back to normal this summer, with Covid-19 restrictions being lifted following the effective NHS vaccination programme, and it was much easier to book travel, although I booked the hotels way back at the height of the pandemic, ensuring that free cancellation was available, anticipating that demand for UK holidays might be high this summer with foreign travel being difficult. We opted for four nights on the Isle of Wight and three nights in Chichester, our friends having kindly booked theatre tickets for one of those evenings!
It had been a while since I had arranged a trip which included more than one destination and involved several activities, and I have to confess that I was quite nervous about it. This was probably partly because the long gap enforced by the pandemic meant that I was out of practice and the confidence gradually built up by experience had waned somewhat, but possibly more due to the additional complexities wrought by pandemic precautions still being taken by many organisations - the need to book in advance for many more activities than normal, and the reduced capacity of, for example, restaurants, meaning that advance booking was almost essential. As restaurants etc vary in the way they take bookings, an evening was largely taken up in the week before departure with online and telephone bookings to ensure that we should not go hungry during our holiday.
Then there was the weather ... we had had some glorious sunshine and hot, even very hot, weather before we went, but the poorer weather started on the day we left, with the forecast looking even worse for the four days we were due to be on the Isle of Wight, although rather better for Chichester. Packing required layers: I took sandals but wore shoes for travel. I took all short-sleeved shirts but packed a jumper as well. I took shorts but wore jeans, and so on: an unlined, light jacket but also a water and wind-proof jacket with hood. Jumper and both jackets could be used all together if the worst happened temperature-wise, but in August if the sun shines, even if the air temperature is low for the time of year, it still feels hot, so we did not anticipate too bad a time provided that, and it was quite a provision, the rain was not too persistent!
Even for a whole week's holiday we still managed to pack everything in one small case each (the sort that air travellers call "carry-on") together with a small backpack each. I included a fresh shirt for each day as well as spare shoes and sandals. Off we went on a sunny Thursday morning to catch the 10:57 train from Stamford station. As I crossed the meadows I overheard a young child asking her father, "Why does everyone have a suitcase?"! The train, on time, took us to Peterborough where we had just a few moments before the 11:29 to London Kings Cross, on which we travelled in First Class on cheap Advance tickets. We were plied with coffee and with food, so an early lunch was therefore taken.
In London we took a bus to Waterloo for the next stage of the journey. I had allowed lots of time in London in order that there would be no difficulty in the event of travel disruption in case railway staff had to take time off for self-isolation etc, but in fact everything went smoothly and on time at every stage and we therefore had a leisurely journey with plenty of breaks! Bus travel if not the quickest way from Kings Cross to Waterloo, but it did not have to be ... and with the departure point for the service having moved (unknown to us) from St Pancras to Euston we had a longer-than-expected walk to board the bus in the first place - all good for the exercise we needed following the laziness of lockdown.
We sat on the concourse at Waterloo, with takeaway coffee, waiting for our train to be announced, the 14:35 to Poole, and fell into conversation with a lady also travelling to the Isle of Wight for a holiday. Soon the platform was indicated for our train and we boarded the nearest coach and chose our seats. The First Class sections of these trains are less spacious than they used to be but the seats are still very comfortable and there is plenty of legroom, big tables and a decent view from the windows. Luggage space is not as good as one would like for a holiday train, but not too bad and we easily managed with our cases between seat-backs and backpacks overhead. The train was very fast, whisking us through south London without stopping and on though Surrey and Hampshire with just a few brief halts. The stretch through Southampton and the New Forest was the same way we went last year on our way to our family holiday in Dorset, but this time we changed trains at Brockenhurst for the shuttle to Lymington Pier. Another passenger from our part of the train was taking this route for the first time and was asking our advice: she, too, was on her way to the Isle of Wight for her holiday. It all felt very old-fashioned and traditional, although no-one was carrying a bucket and spade. We had only been that way once before ourselves but the connection is very simple, across the platform and wait just a few moments for the four-coach electric train that runs the few miles via Lymington Town to Lymington Pier. Again I had arranged plenty of time before the next ferry departure and we sat and enjoyed a cup of tea at the terminal before boarding.
The rain started just before we boarded the ferry and continued all the way across the Solent, giving the distant view of the Isle of Wight through the ship's windows an oil-painting quality as we approached the terminal at Yarmouth, but as we disembarked the rain stopped and sun shone as if to greet us as we stepped onto the island! We checked in at The George hotel and unpacked in our room on the top floor overlooking the harbour then went for a short stroll around the town. Dinner was booked at the hotel the first evening and was wonderful, with plenty of local produce.
When planning the itinerary with the help of the National Trust and English Heritage iPhone apps I came across one place we had never been and looked like it merited a summertime visit, Mottistone Manor Garden (National Trust), between Freshwater and Newport. It is on bus route 12 which is one of those half-a-dozen services per day bus routes so the visit had to be carefully scheduled, and we went on the Friday, the first full day on the island, taking the regular bus (number 7) to Freshwater and changing there, after a short walk around and our morning coffee break, to the number 12 for Mottistone.
Above: "The Shack," the architects' office and rural retreat of Lord Mottistone, now displayed at Mottistone Manor Gardens
The gardens were stunning and well worth seeing, and the short history of the manor was interesting, too, the 2nd Lord Mottistone having been an architect (responsible for the 20th century restoration and conversion of Eltham Palace for the Courtauld family). We had lunch in the tea garden and enjoyed the views over Freshwater Bay from the higher parts of the gardens then caught the bus back. The bus ride (top deck, of course) there and back were an important part of the enjoyment of the day, with spectacular coastal views - so much so that I'd recommend taking a ride on the number 12 even if you don't visit anywhere.
Left: a small part of the front, lower, garden. This has to be seen to be believed
We rode back to Totland on the bus and then walked down to the beach and walked all the way to Yarmouth along the beach and then the coastal path, pausing for a cup of tea at the Fort Victoria Country Park. It had been a great day so far and we had walked many miles and seen a lot of sea, fairly rough sea for there was a brisk wind but even though temperatures were quite low for the time of year we were kept warm by the fairly constant sunshine.
Friday was the only day for which we had not made a booking for dinner, wanting to be flexible so that we could perhaps go somewhere in Freshwater or Totland ... bad idea in 2021. After washing and changing following the day's exertions we returned to Totland by bus to see if either of the seafront restaurants we had seen there earlier had a table free for dinner. Neither did, so, becoming rather hungry by now, we returned to Yarmouth ... None of this was costing us anything in bus fares because I travel free anyway on my pensioner's pass and my wife was using the Southern Vectis bus company's new "tap in, tap out" system which capped her fare at the Day Rover rate, reached while travelling back from Mottistone earlier in the day. Walking towards the town centre from the bus station, the first restaurant we saw was The Terrace which had some indoor seating (all taken) and a lot of outdoor seating (almost all available) overlooking the harbour at first-floor level, over the ferry terminal building. It would have been an idyllic spot (and probably packed out) were it not for the aforementioned brisk wind, now a very strong wind. We were offered blankets and promised swift service and that they would do their best to make it as good as possible, and they did. We had a great time, paper menu weighted down (just!) by water and beer bottles. It was great fun, and the food and drink were good, too. I don't think I've ever dined out wearing a coat before, not even in Switzerland.
Cocktails at Off The Rails
The weather forecast for Saturday was not good: the wind was expected to be much the same but there was expected to be rather less sun and some rain from time to time. Undaunted we set off for an expedition to Osborne House (English Heritage), for which I had already booked tickets in advance: these were free of charge to us as English Heritage members but required to ensure that there was no bunching of arrivals. We travelled on bus route 7 in the other direction to Newport and changed there for route 5 to Osborne. Many of the island's bus services go to and from Newport bus station, so a change there will reach almost any destination (we could even have come to Mottistone this way but the idea had been to see Freshwater and the coastline). We have been to Osborne several times before and did not need all day there, but it was great to see Queen Victoria's beach again and to take a lengthy walk around the extensive grounds. We visited the house itself briefly and paid special attention to the little exhibition about the way Victoria and Albert celebrated their birthdays at Osborne, which was new to us. We did get caught in some of the expected rain, but we also got caught in more than expected of the sunshine which coincided nicely with our time at the beach. And so back to Yarmouth via Newport to get ready for dinner at Off The Rails, a quirky restaurant in Yarmouth's former railway station. Through the week Off The Rails does not open in the evenings and only offers dinner on Saturdays, so I had booked Saturday dinner there well in advance to ensure that we could eat there: we sat on former railway carriage seats, next to a pile of suitcases and surrounded by vintage and quasi-vintage railway signage. I ordered the "Firebox," which was smoked mackerel with toast and salad (we discovered the Isle of Wight tomato on this holiday - how have I avoided them before?).
Sunday's outing, which had also had to be booked in advance, was to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which we had last visited about four years previously. Partly because of coronavirus fears and partly because of the current temporary closure of the Network Rail Island Line for track improvements the timetable and ticketing on the Steam Railway have been simplified for this year and based on the assumption that everyone would start from their main station at Havenstreet (to where a shuttle bus operates from Ryde and where there is a car park. But we had to start at Wootton, the only station served by bus, so I had had to make the advance arrangements by telephone in combination with the website - quite a palaver but it worked. Again we left Yarmouth on a bus to Newport and changed there for a Ryde-bound bus as far as Wootton Station. We had left plenty of time in case of delays but there was no hold-up and we had time for a stroll into Wootton before returning to await our train. I had to speak to the guard to be let into a First Class compartment because although our online booking included travel from Wootton to Havenstreet the reserved space on a specific train was for the 14:33 from Havenstreet, for which I had to obtain our tickets at the the Havenstreet ticket office, that at Wootton being closed.
The First Class compartment in the vintage coach was just wonderful, with deep upholstery and splendid moquette, slam doors with droplights held by leather straps. We were taken to Havenstreet in luxury and then I made my way to the ticket office and became a real ticket-holding passenger (!) and then we had our lunch at the station refreshment room before exploring the Train Story museum, right up-to-date with the recently-withdrawn 1938 tube train which had been in service on the Island Line until January this year. These were to be replaced by new trains made from old District Line coaches this spring after some track and platform alterations had been completed but there has been considerable delay in getting the new trains into service and the Island Line remains closed which among other inconveniences has removed the rail connection to the Steam Railway at Smallbrook Junction. We were able to board the 1938 unit no 007, on which we had ridden several times while in service on the island, and watch a video about the new trains which are, eventually, to replace it.
Soon the time came to board our vintage steam train at Havenstreet for the round trip which would get us back to Wootton for the end of our outing. With all the vintage sounds of guard's whistle, slamming doors, locomotive whistle and hissing steam, we set off towards Smallbrook Junction in our beautifully restored First Class compartment. At Smallbrook the locomotive was detached and ran round to rake us in the other direction, non-stop through Havenstreet to Wootton. For most people their round trip would include the ride back to Havenstreet, but we had already done that part and so, after a pleasant ride through the countryside to the traditional steam railway sounds, we left the railway and waited for our bus back to Newport where we explored the town centre for a while before taking the next bus to Yarmouth.
Dinner that night was very special, at a restaurant called "On The Rocks" (not to be confused with Off The Rails). The menu was very simple, a big piece of meat, fish or halloumi served uncooked on a hot stone, with unlimited salad and fries and a wide choice of drinks. The meat, fish or halloumi cooks on the table and is eaten straight from the hot stone and if the salad or fries run out, the staff bring more. A great experience and thoroughly recommended. Very popular and again was booked before we left home. And so to bed on our last night at Yarmouth ready for moving on the following morning for our annual visit to Chichester.
On Monday morning we took the now-familiar bus number 7 to Newport and changed there for the bus to Ryde Esplanade from where we walked to the pier head for our catamaran to Portsmouth. There the usual waiting space and cafeteria were closed and being used simply as queueing space once boarding began: we all had to hang around the concourse with simply a coffee machine for refreshment. It is a good thing that we had not relied on taking lunch here, as we had considered. I did not understand why Wightlink and Costa could not get these facilities back to something like normal, especially as passenger numbers were still not back to normal levels. There was also a short panic when I saw a notice that space on the catamaran had to be reserved in advance, but although I telephoned the number given for this and was sent an email confirmation of our spaces on the next departure, when I showed the train tickets at the barrier the inspector did not ask to see the reservation - we had through Day Anytime rail tickets from Ryde to Chichester which stated on them that we could travel on any service that day; clearly Wightlink did not take through rail passengers into account when devising their policy on reservations.
The crossing went smoothly and on time, and the on-board system for disembarking passengers without undue crowding was very good. We then had about twenty minutes to wait at Portsmouth Harbour for our Southern train to Chichester, which departed a couple of minutes late but encountered no further problems and arrived on time. After checking in (a little early) at the Chichester Harbour Hotel and unpacking we met our friends for a drink at the excellent Park Tavern just around the corner from our hotel. Bath and bed and ready for another day.
On the Tuesday morning we contacted some other friends who now live in Chichester and went to join them at their home for morning coffee, then we went our separate ways until later afternoon. Tuesday evening was the theatre booking, and four of us met for a very early dinner (5.30pm!) at The Bell Inn and then joined two others for the well-reviewed performance of South Pacific at the Chichester Festival Theatre - the fourth time we have been to the summer musical at this superb venue. It was great to be in a theatre again: to my surprise all the seats were taken although mask-wearing was urged and most people complied.
Wednesday was our day at the seaside at East Wittering and we travelled there as usual by the local bus service, and as usual were delayed in the dreadful Chichester traffic but arrived eventually and after coffee and a brief visit to the beach had lunch together before a walk towards Bosham, taking the ferry from Itchenor across a part of the enormous (but scenically and naturally splendid) sprawl of Chichester Harbour. Good exercise and lovely countryside before a pint of local ale at the pub in Itchenor before returning to our hosts' holiday home at East Wittering for an evening together with dinner.
Our train home was booked for Thursday afternoon so after checking out we left our luggage at the hotel and visited the Novium museum to read about Roman Chichester and North Bersted Man, the most elaborate Iron Age warrior burial ever found in Britain. We then bought provisions and sat in the Priory Park for a picnic lunch in the pleasant summer sun before collecting our cases and taking the train home via London after a great week's holiday.
Again we had allowed plenty of time in London before taking our LNER train from Kings Cross, and we crossed London by bus and bought some tea in Fortnum & Mason at St Pancras before going to wait in the First Class Lounge at Kings Cross until our train was announced. The new "Deli" menu, with beer, made a good light supper on the way to Peterborough where we had a little while to wait for the train to Stamford. Having spent the week largely avoiding showers we were disappointed that as we approached Stamford the rain started; by the time we had sheltered under the canopy at the station to put on our jackets and put up the umbrella, though, the rain had stopped and the jackets just made us rather hot as we walked up the hill out of the town centre to our home! It had been a brilliant week, sometimes because of the weather but often in spite of it, and we are already looking forward to the next couple of trips and hoping that the Italian and German ones booked in autumn and winter can take place.
With the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions we have been able to see many of our family whom we had not seen for several months, but our son and his household in London, with no garden, we had seen least, and so some arrangements were made for this summer and we set off yesterday, Sunday, the eve of "Freedom Day" when the remaining legal restrictions were due to be lifted, to visit them. But it did not quite work out as planned, even though the plans were only a few days old. Our daughter-in-law had a cough and was awaiting the result of a Covid test, so it was uncertain whether we could visit at all, but on the morning of the visit her negative result arrived. In the meantime, however, their younger child's nursery had told them that the little girl must isolate as a contact at nursery had tested positive ... so we only met our son and the older child for a picnic, not being able to go to the house.
This has been the problem with unlocking - is it actually saving the economy and bringing some certainty to business when infection levels are so high that random self-isolations are making it hard to plan anything at all, even as minor as Sunday lunch with Granny and Grandpa?
As far as travel was concerned, getting out of Stamford on a Sunday morning always means driving because the rail service starts very late on Sundays. This particular weekend was when the line between Stamford and Peterborough was closed while engineers built the new junction at Werrington to connect the new "dive under" to the Stamford Line tracks, so there was no rail service at all on our local line. So we drove to Peterborough, a trip short enough for our plug-in hybrid car not to need any petrol, being within range of the battery. We also got to play with the new (to us) car park payment system at Peterborough station! At the barrier on the way in we did not have to do anything but pause while the Automatic Number Plate Recognition system read our car number plate then opened the barrier. Parking on a Sunday morning in the pandemic was a piece of cake, and then I made sure I read the notices about payment so that I knew what to do when we came back later on! There were several options, but it seemed to me that the simplest in our circumstances was to use my credit card contactless on the way out. There was no ticket to lose, no faff at ticket machines. no need to remember our own number plate (and having bought the car at the start of the first lockdown we are not really familiar with it yet!), and, most important to me, no need to use a smartphone app - although the LNER app is one option for those who prefer it. If you think buying a train ticket is complicated, to me as a very occasional driver and parker of cars paying for parking these days seems far more complex than paying for train tickets. The app you need varies from car park to car park and the ticket machines are complicated and do not often use the same English that I do. And if you think that is complicated, you should try electric car charging ... but that is another story.
We had allowed bags of time to get to Peterborough because you never know what sort of hold-ups there might be (none in this case) and how much time might be soaked up parking the car and fighting the ticket machine (minimal and zero respectively, see above), so we had some time to wait for our booked LNER train, time we occupied with our usual Sunday routine of the Sunday Times General Knowledge Crossword puzzle. We were booked on a specific train in order to take advantage of low-price Advance First Class tickets in each direction. Our trains both ways were LNER's "Azuma" class inter-city express trains and on the morning trip to London we were treated to coffee and the weekend breakfast menu, although having already had breakfast I just topped up with a pain au chocolat with my coffee and a bottle of water for the sweltering day which lay ahead. Our booked seats turned out to be the pair with no window, but there was no-one in the table seats immediately in front of them and no further station calls for this train, so we consulted the First Class host and moved into those seats, still well-enough distanced from other passengers, and we were all wearing face-coverings, of course.
We knew in advance that from Kings Cross the Hammersmith & City Line was not operating, and that several other lines were suffering from sudden closures because of unexpected self-isolating staff, so we took a bus to our chosen rendezvous point, which was Kensington High Street. Buses are not quick, although perhaps they are not so slow on Sundays, but we do get to see a lot. We actually travelled by bus only as far as Hyde Park Corner and then walked along the South Carriage Ride of Hyde Park and along the souther edge of Kensington Gardens to reach our destination. This part of London is just a joy to visit on a summer day and there were lots of people, walking, sitting and cycling. We met our son and senior grandchild and then bought the components of a picnic from the Whole Foods Market in what had formerly been Barkers department store, opposite St Mary Abbots church, and returned to Kensington Gardens together for our picnic, followed by coffee in a side street café where the crowds were much thinner. Altogether it was fairly easy to keep a safe distance from others, with just a little care, and we were very happy throughout.
We accompanied the others back to their front door but could not enter, of course, and then spotted that although the Hammersmith & City Line was not operating, the Circle Line apparently was, because we saw trains passing and the local station open. that would do: we went to the station and took the next train to Kings Cross St Pancras. There was plenty of space to start with and although mask wearing (still compulsory) was patchy we were OK for a while. Someone sat opposite us and kept taking his mask off and on but there was nowhere else to move where everyone was masked so we were reliant on our vaccinations and our own masks. Gradually the train filled up and our neighbour left his mask on, as did most others - interesting. Transport for London will be requiring face coverings even after the legal requirement is lifted because London's transport does get crowded and there are parts of London where vaccination take-up has been poor (not where we had just been, though).
We now had an hour to spare at Kings Cross and we spent it in the First Class lounge and enjoyed a salad we had bought at the Waitrose beneath it, before making our way to the train when it was ready to board, using the bridge over the platforms once more - this had been closed on our recent trips. Again we had our socially-distance reserved seats but this time a pair facing each other across a small table, our favourite arrangement. The complimentary refreshments on offer included wine (which I have never known at a weekend before, but I remembered that I would have to drive home so I declined that and accepted the cheese and pickle sandwich and another bottle of water.
The car park at Peterborough worked beautifully: I did ensure that I had my credit card to hand and at the barrier simply "showed" it to the card reader and drove out. We took a scenic route back to Stamford and arrived home to plug the car in ready for duty the following morning having used no petrol and emitted no exhaust.
It was a good day out. In spite of the difficulties a summer day in west London is never going to be bad, and neither is day with children and grandchildren, even in reduced numbers, and, I have to say, a trip in First Class with LNER is almost a guaranteed joy as well! Just as well, as we have quite a few more coming up, including Edinburgh in a few weeks' time when I am hoping that the catering will be better still. It is already so much better than last summer when we all lived in fear of getting near other people and touching anything that someone else may have touched. Looking forward to next month's trips, and just hoping that plans do not have to change too much!
