Back on Track at Last

Chichester and the "Costa Geriatrica"

Travel finally got back under way this month, with my annual short break in Chichester by rail. I was quite nervous about booking it, with different Train Operating Companies applying varying rules to keep staff and passengers safe from Covid-19, as well as being out of practice with buying tickets - besides the issue of reduced services and short-notice changes to them.

Face coverings are compulsory on public transport in England

I booked using Cross Country’s train tickets iPhone app but was not offered an electronic ticket, presumably because Thameslink and Southern cannot cope with them, so I had to collect paper tickets at Stamford station. The hotel, the same as last year’s, had been booked for many months and I had called to check that all was well with that before I started buying tickets. I had feared I might have to drive and I had not been looking forward to competing for road space with everyone else taking holidays in England this summer, but the railways were beginning cautiously to welcome people back and we gave it a go.

I decided just to go to Chichester this year for the few days we had already booked at the Chichester Harbour Hotel and not take the originally-planned few days on the Isle of Wight first; when I was booking, the ferries to the island were still uncertain and I did not want to end up needing to drive in order to get to an operating ferry. The simpler, the better. All ready to go, packing for the first time in ages and struggling to remember what I normally take, I woke on the morning of the trip to discover that a problem on Thameslink’s line through central London was causing major problems and we may have to cross London between termini by Underground, whereas we’d booked through London by Thameslink to minimise changes and avoid the crowds. By the time we boarded our first train at Stamford, wearing our face coverings, the problem had been fixed and Thameslink trains were running through London again but many trains and many staff were out of position and so we were over an hour late leaving Peterborough, having had to wait for a driver.

Some of this time was clawed back by our train missing out some stops north of London and we made our connection fairly smoothly at East Croydon as advised when I booked the tickets, but an hour late. It did not really affect our plans, and we still had time to unpack and have a cup of tea in our hotel room before setting off to meet our friends, socially-distanced in a pub, our first visit to a pub since February. I was impressed by the lengths to which the landlord had gone to keep customers safe and keep vital transmission to a minimum, but I don’t know whether he’s making a living from the number of customers he is getting.

Dinner was at the hotel restaurant in the first week of the government-sponsored half-price eating-out offer. It was nice to have money off the bill, but service was a bit slow as the poor waitress struggled to keep up with all the people she had to serve with just one barman for help.

The following day we went by bus (again, our first for many months) to East Wittering to join friends on their beach holiday as we always do. The morning was warm and sunny, the afternoon, spent on the beach, less so, and windy, so shorts were exchanged for jeans, and jackets added! A Spitfire flew past a few times, and a Chinook helicopter seemed to be engaged in some sort of exercise on the Solent which was interesting to watch. After dinner we returned to Chichester and our second night at our hotel. Social distancing was not quite so easy that day, but we had exclusive use of a towel for washing, were outside as much as possible and touched no-one. Tough, but we are becoming used to it now.

A drafty afternoon on the beach!

Before we left home I had sent a message to my scattered family to tell them we’d be away in Chichester for these few days, and one son wrote beck to say that he his family were in Worthing and could we meet up. This fitted rather well because the theatre trip originally planned for the third evening had been cancelled and we had been contemplating a trip along the coast with Worthing the most likely destination! Some things were meant to be, so to Worthing (well, West Worthing, actually) we went, had coffee on the seafront and then joined family for lunch at their Air B&B, which was wonderful, and then we all went to the beach together, with no need to wrap up warm this time! I must admit I quite liked Worthing, and not really in spite of its "retirement home" image, either, but rather, now that I am retired myself, because of it! There is a lovely new block of retirement apartments near the beach with all the usual shops, a café and a pub nearby and on a bus route .... but I digress! We travelled to Worthing and back by Southern Railway and the trips went well both ways. There was just enough space on the trains for us to keep a decent distance from other travellers, and plenty of space on stations, but we needed, as the government advises, to stay alert.

Returning to Chichester we bought snacks in town to have in our room for supper, having eaten so well at the family barbecue at lunchtime.

On our final morning we made sure we had a substantial breakfast, with the intention of not taking lunch with us on the train but waiting until we arrived at home to eat. The journey is really quite quick, but there is no catering on Thameslink trains even in normal times and with no substantial break in the journey there is no opportunity to buy anything once we start. I do think Thameslink are missing an opportunity here with such a long route, although perhaps not at present. The train never really filled up even on the London section, and I was shocked at how few cars were in the station car park at Peterborough: we are a very long way from being back to normal yet.

All three of our trains were on time on the return journey and both changes went very slickly, at Crawley and at Peterborough. The weather was beginning to warm up, with temperatures well over thirty degrees forecast for the next couple of days, and as well as preparing dinner, watering the garden was a priority for the evening when we reached home!

We enjoyed our break but I am really looking forward to the day we can stop wearing face-coverings on buses and trains. And it was not improved by the phone call from Great Rail Journeys while we were on the beach informing us that our escorted tour of Italy in October has had to be cancelled as so many others had dropped out. That means that all of my trips managed by others have now been cancelled and the only ones still taking place are ones I have arranged myself. Interesting ... perhaps it is time to plan another group outing! And meanwhile I need to claim Delay Repay for compensation for the late arrival on the outward journey.

Aaaarrrggh! Ahoy There, Shipmates!

Taking Children by Train to East London

Last autumn we visited the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green while in London for T&T's cocktail masterclass in Shoreditch. We noticed then that the museum was well on the way to opening a special exhibit on pirates as seen in children's books, films etc and resolved to bring our two pre-school granddaughters to see it as soon as we had the chance. We finally got the chance in February when our London-based granddaughter came to stay for a weekend; the locally-based one was always with us on Mondays so we planned to take them to the exhibition together, return one to her home in London and then bring the local one home on our way home. Simple! Although nothing is ever quite that simple when dealing with little children, of course, but it did all work nicely and we all had a great day.

Both girls stayed the Sunday night and we were due to catch the 09:00 train from Stamford station on the Monday morning. I shall not bore you with the difficulty of having two such young children to stay while the hall, stairs and landing of our new house were being painted, but as you may imagine were slightly nervous about the project. Come the morning, one little girl was happy to bound out of bed and get ready for an exciting day; the other wrapped herself in her duvet and was hard to budge! With not leaving until the 09:00 train we did have enough time to get them both ready and set off for the station, taking two buggies although both girls are capable of walking but it was going to be a long day and we thought they would need help - and it's easier to look after them when they're strapped into their seats, too.

There was plenty of time between trains at the change at Peterborough, partly because we felt we needed to allow for any difficulty and partly because we wanted the best price on Advance First Class tickets: it would be easier to care for the children in the more spacious accommodation of First Class. Things went well and we used the time to buy something in Waitrose and then use the lounge at the Great Northern Hotel, as LNER's First Class ticket-holders can do. Unfortunately when we got back to the station our train was indicated as "Delayed," one of those sinking-feeling notices which tells you little and invites you to panic. I asked at the counter and was told that there had been a signal failure somewhere north of us but that trains were now running again and ours would only be about twenty minutes late, which was bearable. We went a long way round to our platform and waited in the waiting room: there is always something going on at a junction station like Peterborough, so it was not difficult to entertain the children.

We found a vacant table for four and settled in - there is no requirement to use the seats we had reserved, which were a fall-back in case of a packed train but did not make allowance for the two non-paying little ones. The train staff were really good with the little girls and made sure that they had juice to drink when we had our coffee and the Train Manager brought them each an activity book and crayons which whiled away the rest of the journey for them (and for us, helping them with them). This took me back to my childhood holiday journeys when the first stop was at the WHSmith kiosk to buy similar things for me and my sister!

From King Cross we took the Circle Line round to Liverpool Street - this was all fully-accessible and the children could stay in their buggies for this part of the trip. At Liverpool Street we changed to the Central Line for the one-stop ride to Bethnal Green; being a deep-level tube the Central Line meant using escalators and smaller carriages, so one of us took both children by the hand while the other carried the baggage (including one folded buggy) on one of the buggies. There is always baggage when travelling with small children, even on a simple day out like this one.

The Museum of Childhood is a short walk from Bethnal Green station. I'd recommend the museum to anyone: it is not just for children, and indeed the older you are the more it might mean to you. Admission is free as part of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and there is an excellent cafeteria. Indeed we began with lunch, meeting our daughter there with her baby son. So, three cousins together, which was rather nice, and the girls got to see their auntie.






The pirates display was a small and simple temporary exhibition suitable for all ages but aimed at children mainly. As an adult I was interested in the explanation about how these murderous thieves came to be stereotyped with the familiar garb so beloved of children's toys, games, books and films; the children spent a long time playing in the play area with its miniature ship, treasure chests etc and hats, coats, hooks and eye-patches.

Soon it was time to leave and make our way back to Bethnal Green tube station, catching a train straight through to White City for the short walk to the senior granddaughter's home. One child fell asleep on Granny's lap on the Central Line, the other didn't quite nod off on Grandpa's lap. So tired after a great day out. We did hit a slight snag at White City, where the train terminated: I stepped off the train through the sliding doors as usual, with luggage and both buggies, while my wife got the children ready to leave the train; the driver announced that as it was terminating everyone still on board should leave, but by the time Granny had got the girls to the doors, they slid shut. They were not trapped on the train as the doors the other side slid open to let passengers enter from the other side - they left the train and hailed the driver as he came down the platform. He came over the bridge and used a key to open the doors for them so that they could join me and we left together. A slightly scary moment but soon put right by the usual helpful attitude of the staff, although the driver did admit that it had been his fault to start with - he had no way of seeing that there were still passengers on board and needed to give them longer.

We had tea and played with Lego and then left one granddaughter with her parents and baby sister (by now having seen all four grandchildren in one day - although not all together), returning to Kings Cross via the Hammersmith and City Line with the other.

Again allowing plenty of time between trains we spent a few minutes in the First Class Lounge at Kings Cross then caught the Lincoln train back to Peterborough. Having been well-fed already I declined the sandwiches and simply had a can of Hop On Board ale by way of refreshment. We were met on the platform at Peterborough by the remaining grandchild's parents and said our farewells, then had our complimentary hot chocolate at the Great Northern Hotel before catching our train home to Stamford and treating ourselves to a taxi back to our new home and back to the chaos of a house with its circulation space all disrupted. And no children for the first time in three days!

A London Triangle

or a grandparental adventure

In November two grandchildren were born, a boy to our daughter in Orpington (see The Leafy Suburbs), and a few days later a girl to our son in Shepherd's Bush. My wife had to pop down to the latter at short notice to look after the big sister-to-be (births are always short notice even though you have nine months to get ready for them!) and found the Thameslink service there and LNER back very satisfactory. It was a straightforward birth and she met the new child at under a day old and then returned.

We had both met our new grandson a few days previously but that left me not having met the new little girl, so a visit to Shepherd's Bush was arranged, this time with a few days to prepare! As we had done for the other parents, we took food with us to cook for them and all had lunch together, but we then moved on to visit the other part of the family in Orpington as well, a three-cornered trip. It was all remarkably easy to do, if a little tiring. The main line section between Stamford and London was booked in our usual way, with a Standard Class day return between Stamford and Peterborough and then LNER First Class singles between Peterborough and London - First Class was especially welcome (and especially cheap!) on the way back when we were tired, and supplied us with a good light supper. It was a bit expensive on the way there and it was fares at just a few days' notice that determined which train we took.

The rest was all done on our Oyster Cards, and with family advice we found a simple route between the two homes: Hammersmith & City Line to Baker Street, then Jubilee Line to London Bridge where we caught the next fast train to Orpington. These trains are about every ten minutes and Orpington is their first stop: it really could not be much quicker. From Orpington station we tried the bus service to get to their house: there are three possible routes and we took the first bus that came along which dropped us right at the end of their street, about 100 metres from the house: almost as close as the taxi would get, but we did have to stand in the cold for a few minutes to wait for it - substantially cheaper, though! We did call for a minicab back to the station, with it being dark, late, cold and with a train to catch. Must get in the swing of doing this by bus, though, which will be even cheaper when my concessionary pass arrives next spring! And so to London Bridge, Thameslink to St Pancras, wait in the First Class lounge at Kings Cross, train home via a change at Peterborough. And bed. A great day!

Such a Pretty City!

When I was growing up it was hard to imagine that I would ever be able to visit eastern Europe, or if I did I would be constantly under suspicion and in danger. There were exotic cities like Budapest, Bratislava, Belgrade, Berlin, Prague and Warsaw which I never expected to see and yet now all are easily accessible. They are in EU countries and as an EU citizen I can visit them and feel at home – until next year anyway, and even though language and currencies vary, it is easy enough to mix with fellow citizens of what Mikhail Gorbachev called “our common European home”. This year I managed to visit some of these on an escorted rail tour with Great Rail Journeys. I have already written about our very brief introduction to Berlin, probably the city that symbolises the past division of Europe, and from there we moved on to Prague which was a totally different experience. Prague was almost completely untouched by 2nd World War bombing whereas Berlin was almost destroyed; Prague was the centre of an early attempt to break free from Soviet domination; Prague has an enormously long history as a capital city of an historic principality, then kingdom and finally a republic as it is today.

We arrived there by direct train from Berlin, and when we left we took a direct train to Budapest, both operated by the Czech national railway with comfortable, modern carriages and electric locomotives. They were not high speed trains but reached 90mph at times and some very good food and drink were available from the restaurant and buffet car: this was neither the down-at-heel slow and dirty train of film-noir spy stories nor the glamour of international expresses of the inter-war detective story.

Down to dinner!

Getting off the train at Prague's main station we were amazed at the highly decorated circulation space at the main entrance with its vaulted ceiling and classical style. There was clearly still some restoration work to do at this station, but what had been completed was stunning. A coach took us through the city's congested streets (we arrived at the evening rush hour when an accident had closed a main road tunnel) and eventually got us to our hotel on the other side of the city centre. The hotel had two buildings at the top and bottom of a steep hill and we were delivered to the upper building where our rooms were. To get to the restaurant for dinner we had to go down by a cable-hauled funicular railway to the lower building. The view from our room over the city was brilliant, although the same could not be said for the weather for most of our stay, although it had some good patches.

We had a spacious, comfortable room and after a good night's sleep were ready for the tour of Prague following morning. It was the same sort of early start which had one of our Australian fellow-travellers on last year's holiday ask the tour manager, “Do we get a holiday some time?” but, really, if you've come all this way to an exotic place you do really need to get out and see something of it! At least this time we did not have to have packed before the day started, as we were staying a second night at this hotel.

St Wenceslas' shrine in the cathedral

The tour began with a coach transfer to Prague Castle, and then we were on foot for the rest of the morning, for Prague is very much a "walking city". Unfortunately the morning was punctuated with showers, some of them moderately heavy, but we were prepared for the weather from the accurate forecast and everyone had umbrellas or hooded coats. Prague Castle is the biggest castle in Europe (Windsor is the second biggest) and includes a cathedral and three other churches as well as the presidential palace. The palace has been the official seat of the rulers of the Czech people ever since it was founded, surviving changes from principality through kingdom to republic. Wenceslas, the nation's patron saint, was probably the most famous resident, but he was a prince, not the king of the well-known Christmas carol.

The castle is on a hill overlooking the rest of the city and after a thorough exploration of all the public areas, and a coffee break, we walked down through a vineyard area to the city centre via the famous Charles Bridge with its statues of the saints (which have remarkably survived both Nazism and Communism). Many of the tour party then made their way by tram back to the hotel, but we decided to walk back through the city and see some more of Prague's sights.

It was by now lunchtime, and one thing we needed to do was to try the trdlo, a sweet confection made from bread in the shape of a cylinder, similar in taste to a Danish pastry, for example, but much less sticky. We had no Czech currency with only being here a short time but in the tourist streets where these things were on sale we could pay with Euros (like the UK, the Czech Republic is an EU member state which still has its own currency). We found a place where we could sit outside with a coffee and a trdlo (mine filled with strawberries and whipped cream, Alison's plain). As we were about to leave the heaviest shower of the day began, so we waited until it subsided before we walked on - fortunately there was no queue for our table. The principal place we wanted to see was Wenceslas Square, scene of the demonstrations and meetings which ended the communist era just a few years ago. Wenceslas Square is not actually square, but a long rectangle (like Eaton Square in London) and is a major shopping street, now with a large branch of Marks and Spencer in it: the capitalists have moved swiftly into eastern Europe!

And so back to our hotel through the streets of Prague with their varied, often Parisian-looking, buildings and over the River Vitava. The hotel grounds, full of trees and climbing steeply up the hillside, looked great, but the new highway in front of it, with bits still under construction, rather spoilt the effect its architect had intended. Still, reunited with the rest of our party it was soon time for dinner, a shower and sleep ready for our next move. The following morning we were to depart at a similar time again, but this time packed and ready to catch our train. We were driven slowly through the morning peak traffic back to Prague main station and waited for the platform indicator to show where we needed to wait for our EuroCity train direct to our next stop at Budapest, capital of Hungary, another city I once never imagined I would be able to visit.

This was a long journey of around seven hours, all on one train, which this time did have the scheduled buffet/restaurant car which served superb hot and cold snacks and full meals. We had a hot snack lunch with Prosecco which we took back to our seats, but there was also seating the bar area and a small restaurant where we could have opted to have a waited meal. We also had our morning coffee and afternoon tea on board the train. I wrote much of the previous blog post during this journey, too!

We were about half and hour late getting to Budapest, so our coach ride along the Pest side of the Danube towards our home for the next seven nights, the MS Amadeus Brilliant, took place in the thick of the evening peak and added several more minutes to the delay to our arrival, so we missed tea on the ship but at least we were in time for the briefing for life aboard the vessel, followed by the welcome drink (more sparkling wine) and dinner. After dinner our visit to Budapest began, and of this I shall say much more in the next post.

Do this. Julius Caesar.

We do not often get to the theatre. Even less do we get to top London theatres. But when we saw a review for the Bridge Theatre's production of Julius Caesar we thought we really must see it. Booking early was vital, as was a matinée performance to avoid the need to stay overnight afterwards, and a matinée also gave time for a little while visiting our family after their working day. Checking dates with them we booked the theatre tickets and then the train to London: cheap tickets were becoming sold out for the London-bound morning trip but we were in no hurry and with a brief break at Peterborough were able to travel First Class as usual; coming back we chose the last train to connect for Stamford, the 21:00 from Kings Cross.

On the way there we had our 50-minute wait at Peterborough at coffee-break time and tried out the arrangement that Virgin Trains East Coast has with the Great Northern Hotel, giving free hot drink and cake for First Class ticket-holders. We bounded across the roadway to the hotel coffee lounge but were sent back to get vouchers from the Virgin Trains desk at the station: fair enough, I can see that they need those to reclaim the cost from the train company, but a prominent note on the advertisement  telling me to collect a voucher would have been handy. Anyway, hot chocolate a cake were really great and thus fortified we returned to the platform and boarded the train to London.

It was as well that we'd had refreshments because on this day we lost the Virgin Trains "catering lottery" and found there was no coffee available, although we did get a cold drink and a snack. Arrival at Kings Cross was on time.

The foyer and café restaurant at the Bridge Theatre

The Bridge Theatre is new. Very new. I had to look on their website to find its location and saw that it was where there had been an empty site when I last was there, on the south bank between Tower Bridge and the Mayor of London's office. The production we were to see was only about the second or third to be shown (or was it the first?). We caught a Circle Line Underground train to Tower Hill and walked over Tower Bridge, an interesting experience in itself, and were there nicely in time for lunch at the theatre's amazing restaurant, on the ground floor with great views towards the river, the Tower of London and the City beyond. There were interesting things on the menu (we had cottage pie) and the theatre's "signature" madeleines. We then took a brief stroll along the riverbank and returned to hand in our coats at the cloakroom and take our seats for the play.

The auditorium is built in the round, although rather elongated, and the stage is very flexible with sections that rose and sank according to what was needed for the various acts and scenes, and this Shakespearian play was delivered in modern dress and with some of the leading political figures (notably Cassius) played by by women as female characters - which worked very well and made this a modern play about modern politics rather than a medieval play about ancient politics. Thoroughly recommended but this is a travel blog not a theatre blog! The theatre is also recommended: if you are used to the lack of space at West End theatres, this one comes as a pleasant change, with the spaciousness associated with provincial theatres. The restaurant is worth visiting even if you are not attending a play, and many people do just use it as a café or restaurant.

After watching Julius Caesar we made our way back to Tower Hill Underground station and travelled to Hammersmith to visit the family and then, after time with them, made our way home via Kings Cross and Peterborough as usual. As it was a weekday we took advantage of the later travel time home that has been available since the timetable change a couple of years ago when the last train departure from Peterborough to Stamford was put back by seven minutes to allow a quick connection out of a train half an hour later out of London. We left London on time but somehow lost a few minutes on the way to Peterborough and when we had arrived and made our way over to platform 7 we got there just in time to see the doors closing and last train home leaving the platform. We remonstrated with the train dispatcher that he might have held it for just one minute for the advertised connection and he replied with the absurd observation that he could not see us from where he was and didn't know we were coming. Is he there to serve the traveller or to run empty trains on time, one might ask! There turned out to have been five people who were stranded by his indifference to the customers' needs, and Virgin Trains East Coast paid for taxis to get all of us to our destinations: two to Stamford, one to Melton Mowbray and some further away. Can that really have been cheaper than paying a fine for a one-minute delay, a delay that could probably have been made up by Stamford anyway and incur no penalty at all? So we arrived home by taxi; we left Peterborough at about the time we should have been arriving in Stamford, but actually reached home only about ten minutes late because the taxi was going through to Melton with the other passenger and dropped us off near our home. It did not spoil the day but it is hard to get over the stupid decision to let go a train which had been timed specifically to connect with one that had just arrived and from which passengers were already well on their way. We are comforted by the thought that his colleagues may well have had a word with him since ...

Do see Julius Caesar if you get the chance, and do find a reason to visit the Bridge Theatre. Actually, just finding any reason to visit London is worthwhile!

A Couple of Nice Little Houses

Chiswick House

As I have mentioned before, last year was marked by rather more frequent trips to London than usual for family reasons, and we also enjoyed a year's membership of English Heritage, so when we've visited our family we have usually stayed a mayor two extra and visited some of the London properties managed by this state heritage organisation. In October we stayed near our family at the Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith, which I thoroughly recommend, by the way, and visited a couple of houses in west London while we were there, one in Chiswick, the other at Hyde Park Corner, both with interesting histories.

Apsley House

Our trip began as usual with a train from Stamford, and a change at Peterborough, but rather later than usual as it was a Sunday and we could not get away until the evening. The Brook Green Hotel kindly arranged for us to check in later than usual, although our trains were actually well on time and we were earlier than anticipated. The Hammersmith & City Underground line was closed for weekend engineering work and we had to travel by the Piccadilly tube line instead: Hammersmith has stations on both lines, opposite one another in the town centre, so it does not make much difference, but the Hammersmith & City is mostly on the surface and makes for a more interesting journey in rather bigger carriages. A short walk to the hotel and check-in. Very friendly staff, nice room with view over Brook Green, the urban oasis which makes this part of London such a pleasant place to live.

Café at Chiswick House

It is always worth checking opening times for historic houses etc because they are commonly closed on one or more days per week; they have to do their cleaning and maintenance some time, so the "tourist" section of our itinerary was built around when our planned destinations would be available for a visit. We have the English Heritage app on our iPhones and were able to plan our days over the wonderful Brook Green Hotel breakfast, including planning the travel there using the Busmapper app. And so, after breakfast we toddled down to Hammersmith bus station and sought the departure bay for service 190 which would take us almost to the gates of Chiswick House. The grounds of the house are a public park, open year-round free of charge, and are well-used by local people; plenty of dog-walkers in evidence and lots of people casually using the café, which, incidentally, is a worthwhile piece of modern architecture itself.

The current house seen from a point in front of where the
original house stood

The "house" is actually just one wing, built by the 3rd Earl of Burlington in the Palladian style for entertaining visitors and contains no real facilities for dwelling. It was inspired by the Mediterranean architecture he encountered on the Grand Tour. An audio guide leads visitors around and explains the history of the house, including the long-demolished parts. Well worth a visit, and with the grounds freely available it is possible to see the exterior before deciding whether to come in. The bus ride there from Hammersmith was easy (we followed the route in real time on bus mapper so we knew where we were and when to get off) and passes the famous Fullers brewery. Chiswick station is a half-mile walk and if we'd been coming here from home, that is probably how we'd have come.

The other place we visited involved a bus trip in the other direction towards central London, and we began, the following day, with a walk along Brook Green to the bus stops for eastbound services along Kensington High Street, alighting (as they say in bus and train jargon!) at Hyde Park Corner. There to our left was Apsley House and to our right, on a traffic island, a statue of the Duke of Wellington and the arch commemorating him. Notable for his victory over Napoleon, we has also Prime Minister for some time and had Apsley House extended to make a comfortable London home. Even after extension it is still not huge: the neighbour over the road is Buckingham Palace, and that is huge.

In this house and at the Wellington Arch, also an English Heritage property, I learnt a very great deal about the politics of the Napoleonic era and the Battle of Waterloo, and the adulation in which the victor was held afterwards. Showered with gifts from all over Europe, Apsley House is as much as anything a museum in which to keep them all, and now they are available to anyone who cares to pay to visit the house. It is worth crossing the road, on the level or by subway, to visit the Wellington Arch, too: the exhibition space inside is small but the view from the top is well worth having. I have driven and been driven past this so many times and have never really given it a second thought before.

By the time we'd walked around these two places and between them we needed something to drink and there was no café or bar anywhere near, but we were on the edge of Hyde Park and walk through there soon brought us to an excellent café-restaurant on the side of the Serpentine and were we stopped for a snack and a drink before strolling on through Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens.

We paid a quick visit to the Albert Memorial on Kensington Gore: again, this is something I had passed very many times but had never really looked at, and it is well worth a visit. From opposite there we caught a bus back to Hammersmith and our hotel.

In due course I shall publish the photographs of the memorial on Flickr: there are far too many to show here.



We returned home from London on the 20:35 train from Kings Cross, the last on weekdays that gives a connection for Stamford, and after the usual First Class refreshments were home in time to unpack and still be in bed at a decent time, ready for what the next day would bring. On this trip to London we had used the Underground only for getting there and back: all our travel within London for our visiting had been done by bus. We did this because it was the most convenient in the circumstances, but it did have the bonus of allowing us some great views as we moved from place to place, too. Thoroughly recommended!

What a difference a few minutes makes!

An East Midlands single-coach multiple unit, arrived from Spalding,
forms the first train of the day direct to Lincoln from Peterborough.
My train from Stamford connects neatly with it, giving me a
decently quick journey.

Boarding at Lincoln for the homeward trip: yes, we did all get seats,
with some to spare!

Twice now I have arrived by train for a meeting in Lincoln to which I would have had to drive before this year. It is at 10:00 in uphill Lincoln and the first convenient train service to Lincoln used to arrive just at 10:00, too late to get up the hill in time. Recent improvement work on the line between Doncaster and Peterborough through Lincoln and Sleaford mean that the timetable is now slightly faster than it was and the same train now get to Lincoln with just a few minutes to spare before my meeting begins. It is not enough time to walk up the hill (anyone who thinks Lincolnshire is flat has never been to Lincoln!), but it is enough time to get there by taxi, and the train and taxi fares are still less than the mileage, saving the Diocese money and allowing me to work while travelling. The train takes longer than driving (the route is not direct: I have to change at Peterborough, a long way round) but it is not wasted time because I can write, read and make phone calls etc on the way. I write email and connect to The Cloud wifi to send it while the train is standing at Spalding or Seaford stations, or to the office wifi when I get to my meeting.

With six of these meetings a year, that few moments timetable acceleration is saving me about 36 hours dead driving time per year. Thanks, Network Rail and East Midlands Trains. Now, if I could just have a word about service frequency and start and finish times ...

Taxi!

A few weeks ago alterations were made to the signalling at Spalding, on the direct line between Peterborough and Lincoln. The line was closed for a few days while the work was done, part of the upgrade of the line, and I was due to go to Lincoln on the second day after it reopened. My meeting was at 10:30 in Newport, north of the cathedral, and the first through train from Peterborough arrives at 09:59, in plenty of time.

The little train to Lincoln at platform 1 at Peterborough

When I arrived at Peterborough on the 08:00 train from Stamford I found the train was indicated "delayed" with no indication of how long. It turns out that something had gone wrong with the one-day-old signalling between Peterborough and Spalding, and as this unit had already been there and back, once each way, it had built up an accumulated delay. Engineers were trying to find a remedy the fault so it had been difficult to tell how late it would eventually be. If it were already fixed and no further delay was incurred it would be just 20 minutes late, much of which could be recovered on the journey and I would not inconvenienced at all, and in the worst case in would not be fixed until much later and a further 20 minutes will have been built up, potentially making me at least 30 mins late and bound to miss the start of my meeting. I had to decide whether to get the next train back to Stamford and get my car out and drive: I'd then be on time (unless there were also a problem on the roads - no less likely!) but would have done none of the jobs I had planned to accomplish on the way. I decided to wait: the crew seemed confident that they would not be very late into Lincoln, possibly only a few minutes but up to about twenty.

I boarded and got on with my jobs, whatever they were.

Never been to Lincolnshire before!

 A group of "young retired" people from Hitchin joined the train, too, on a tour by train and bus to explore Lincolnshire. They were doing the sort of thing we sometimes do, although we are less keen on the bus element and tend to use more train: they, of course, had free bus travel for which I am not old enough!

It was a misty day and the scenery of the Lincolnshire fens was fascinating through the mist. At Sleaford, Ruskington and Metheringham the usual crowds boarded the train for shopping or studying in Lincoln.

A few minutes of the delay were made up by shortening the stop at Sleaford, and we arrived in Lincoln at 10:18. If I had been going to the Cathedral I'd have stormed up the hill on foot and expect to be just in time, but I knew I'd never get as far as Newport on foot in that time, so to the taxi rank. I asked for the address and watched the meter tick up as the driver took me through the crowded streets. Now there was no hurry in terms of getting to the start of the meeting, but the quicker he did it the less expensive it would be! I know Lincoln and know he took the shortest and quickest route and I arrived in good time.

Now the interesting thing is that even with the taxi fare this journey was still a lower expenses claim than the mileage would have been had I driven. If had not had a Senior Railcard then the cost would have more-or-less the same by car; with the railcard it was a worthwhile saving. As my expenses are met by the sacrificial giving of church members I am pleased to be able to keep the costs down as much as I can; in a large rural diocese like Lincoln it is inevitable that I'll have to use the car a fair bit but I always look at train and bus options first to see if it is possible to save. It sometimes takes longer, but the time can be used when on the train or bus, and I tend to save up jobs like reading papers so that I can make use of travel time.

Passengers seated in the luggage space!

The trip home was uneventful apart from the overcrowding of the train between Lincoln and the first stop at Metheringham. I was able to board swiftly and had a seat (as did most people, of course), but a number of the students ended up standing towards the ends of the car or even sitting on the luggage rack! I Tweeted this to East Midlands Trains who responded that their franchise did not allow enough coaches to strengthen these trains. Effectively they are victim of their own success - people want to travel by train, and if you were to add those who are put off by the overcrowding and those who cannot make their plans fit round the timetable (as often mine can't) they could probably operate twice as many trains on the routes in and out of Lincoln and fill them all. The overcrowding ceased at Metheringham as a large group of students and shoppers left the train, and by the time the train left Sleaford there was plenty of empty space until more joined at Spalding. The stretch between Spalding and Sleaford has a late start and an early finish to its timetable, so the people are not accustomed to using trains for this trip and the few they do have load poorly. A good service needs to start and finish before and after the working day at least, but on this line the first train of the day was the one I used, due in Lincoln at ten o'clock! The people of Spalding will not think "train" when a day in Lincoln is needed.

The signal problems had been solved and I was in Peterborough on time and connected smoothly for Stamford and home. I hope that the upgrade of the line, which is primarily to provide a freight route away from the East Coast Main Line between Doncaster and Peterborough, will enable the passenger train companies to consider providing a better service here which would contribute to easing road traffic congestion in Lincoln as well as enabling people to make better use of their time.