Adaptable Travel Plans

More Strike Dodging in London

800 Years of the Franciscan Third Order 

I had long been committed to a day in London on Saturday 8th October. It was the nearest weekend date to St Francis' Day, 4th October, in the year that the Third Order of the Society of St Francis is marking eight centuries since St Francis founded an order for those who wanted to follow his principles of Christian living while living an ordinary family and working life. Each year members of the order renew their lifetime pledge on or near 4th October, and for this special year it was decided that where possible we would meet for this purpose in larger numbers at four national venues rather than in our local groups and areas. For me, the most convenient cathedral was Southwark, on the South Bank of the River Thames near London Bridge.

Grandparent Duty

Before I'd had a chance to buy train tickets for a day in London, my wife and I were recruited by our son to look after our grandchildren in London while he and his wife went abroad for a short holiday, and our time in London would include my day at Southwark - and the children would go to a concert with Granny and her sister that day. It all fitted perfectly, and on the weekdays when the children were at school, we would have time to explore London, again.

Before booking our tickets I was at a Franciscan meeting and booked tickets on behalf of five other members of the order who would be travelling from Kettering on 8th October, and within ten minutes of paying for the tickets the news came through that the next rail strike had been called for that day ... here we go again!

Nevertheless ...

I advised my Franciscan brothers and sisters that there was no need to cancel their travel plans yet and as soon as East Midlands Railway came up with their strike day timetable it was clear that the day could go ahead, albeit with slightly altered timing. For ourselves I was also confident that we could travel, although there was also a strike planned for the day we were to arrive in London and collect the grandchildren from school after their parents' departure, but to give the whole family peace of mind we arranged to travel a day early and check into a nearby hotel so that our presence was guaranteed. On the Saturday my sister-in-law was able to travel to London early enough with Thameslink and return on her planned LNER service after the concert and lunch with the children. 

After All That, A Great Few Days in London!

We set off from Stamford on the 17:55 Cross Country train to Peterborough which connected neatly into the 18:30 train for London Kings Cross. Having booked it on the day I booked Standard Class this time, which, normally being able to book well in advance, I seldom do. Standard Class on LNER's "Azuma" trains is very comfortable in my opinion: the main thing is that there is plenty of legroom. A corollary of the extra space is that the seats are rather thinner than anything before and some say that this makes them too hard, but I have not found them so myself.

We decided to try out the "Eat at Your Seat" service, even though I could actually see the buffet counter from where I was sitting, and we ordered a can of Hop on Board ale and two glasses. It's quite a complex system but it works very well: orders obviously go to a central point somewhere and are then relayed to the buffet counter on the train where a member of staff prepares the items and then brings them along. The train was not especially busy (even on the eve of a strike day) and the hostess who brought us the drink was able to chat with us. When she heard about the difficult day we'd had (don't ask ... it's enough to know that a luggage collection for a forthcoming long journey never happened in spite of a day of frantic phone calls), she disappeared into the First Class section for a moment and returned with a gift of more ale and some crisps and cake - the refreshments we would normally have had when travelling First Class. How very kind, and typical, I might add, of LNER staff.

We arrived on time at Kings Cross, and having had to travel so late (because of the phantom luggage collection!) we took the Underground straight to dinner with the family and then went along later to our nearby hotel for the night before our duties began. We were staying at a brand-new Premier Inn at Hammersmith, very handy and the usual Premier Inn standard, although the air-conditioning in our room was not working properly when we arrived and although the staff kindly fixed it, it was a while before our room was cool enough. Nevertheless, we'd recommend this place for anyone needing a room in west London. We did not have breakfast here, but waited until we knew the children had been taken to school and then went on to our son's home and had breakfast there, saying farewell to them and leaving our luggage as we set off for our first London day. The idea had been to leave them in peace to say goodbye to their children, then we would meet the children from school later - just as we'd have done if we had travelled on the day.

Although staying in west London, much of our expected activity was to be in east London, and we began on the Wednesday with a visit to the newly renovated and extended Museum of the Home, formerly known at the Geffrye Museum, at Hoxton. We took the Hammersmith & City Underground line to Liverpool Street and a bus from there which took us almost to the front gate - although unfortunately the front gates were closed because high winds made the trees on the garden a bit of a risk, so we had to retrace our steps and then go round to the rear entrance, which is actually now the main entrance anyway. First we had coffee (naturally, we were well into the morning by now!) and then visited the museum at some length: there is much more here now than there was, although the "rooms through time" exhibit showing the changing lifestyles of middle class families through the furnishing and decor of their living space remains central, and fascinating. To me as a non-Londoner the stories of various different modern immigrant families were probably the most interesting aspect of this museum, especially in the context of a museum accommodated within a building financed in large part by the slave trade. I like the way it makes no secret of that foundation and seems to have found a way of coming to terms with it: we cannot change the past no matter how evil some things have been.

It's All About the Bagels

The next day we visited the Museum of London, travelling again by Underground as far as Barbican this time. We have been there several times before but wanted to return one more time before it closes for a while for its move to new, larger and historic premises at Smithfield, where it re-opens in 2026. There was not a lot to see that we had not seen before, although these places always change a bit over time and memories fade so return visits are always a good thing, and there was also a display about the forthcoming move which was worth seeing. Lunch was a short Underground ride and a walk away in Brick Lane, Bethnal Green, at one of two beigel shops just a few doors away from each other. I had always wondered why my mother-in-law, brought up in Bethnal Green, persisted in calling bagels "beigels" and now I knew why: it appears to be a quasi-official East End word for bagel. Anyway, today we had ours from The Beigel Shop which claims to be Britains first and best, one salt beef with mustard and gherkin and one soft cheese and smoked salmon. 

On Friday we visited shops in Oxford Street seeking a black suit for me (I seem to go to a lot of funerals these days ...) but I am going to have to order it on line, I think. We arrived by Central Line at Tottenham Court Road station and left at lunch time on the new Elizabeth Line from the same station, changing at Whitechapel to the London Overground (this stretch is the former East London Section of the Metropolitan Line) to Shoreditch High Street in order to return to Brick Lane - now that we knew whereabouts in Brick Lane we needed to be - to try bagels from the other shop, Beigel Bake. The queue was even longer than the previous day at The Beigel Shop. Both shops have queues at mealtimes, and both open every day, all day, without exception (presumably as takeaway food shops they even remained open during the lockdowns, but I imagine the queues at 2 metre spacings must have occupied the whole street!). We bought the same types of beigels as from the other shop so as to compare them, but forewent the mustard on the salt beef this time. After lunch we strolled through Bethnal Green and popped into St Matthew's Church, completely rebuilt after being destroyed by the extensive bombing of the area in the Second World War, then travelled back west by Underground Central Line from Bethnal Green as far as Holborn from where we walked to Covent Garden to buy some gifts from the London Transport Museum Shop and then off to collect the grandchildren for their dinner.

Saturday was my day at Southwark Cathedral. I met my sister-in-law from her on-time Thameslink train at Kings Cross and brought her back "home" and then we all set out together via Hammersmith on the District Line, with the children, Granny and great aunt getting off at Sloane Square for their concert at Cadogan Hall while I stayed on the train to Monument from where it was a short walk across London Bridge to the Cathedral. The highlight of the day for me was a talk from Thomas Vellacot, CEO of WWF in Switzerland, on the urgent need to be more aware of the environmental catastrophe currently overtaking the world. He had come by train from his home in Zurich, aware that flying was a major contributor to that catastrophe. There are many little things we can do to contribute to conserving the world, but it is useless to do these unless we attend to the big things, notably burning far less fossil fuel and destroying far fewer habitats: washing hotel towels less often is fine, but in itself far, far too little! At lunchtime I went to the famous Borough Market to buy something to eat and ... one stall without much of a queue was, believe it or not, a Brick Lane Beigel stall! So for the third day in a row I had a Brick Lane Beigel for lunch, soft cheese and smoked salmon this time. I do not need another bagel now for a very long time.

There was a bit of an issue with signalling on the District Line in the afternoon as I was going home to west London, affecting all the sub-surface network and therefore also affecting Granny and the children going home from escorting auntie to Kings Cross. With no District trains shown in the departures display at Monument I took the first Circle train with a view to changing at Edgware Road where, if my hunch was correct, I'd have to wait a while and finish up on the train carrying the rest of the family. That is more-or less how it worked out, although I had not anticipated that their train would be diverted onto the Circle Line and we'd all be waiting there together for the next Hammersmith and City train home. All a bit of an adventure, really! I never mind that sort of delay when there is a work-round. It is when I do not know how long the delay will be and do not have the information to inform a decision about what to do that I begin to be concerned. 

On Sunday I walked to church while the grandchildren baked biscuits with Granny and then Mum and Dad arrived from their holiday and we all had lunch together at a new pub-restaurant, The Broadcaster, at Wood Lane, adjacent to the former BBC Television Centre. Then we picked up our luggage and booked Standard Class LNER tickets using the excellent smartphone app and set off for Kings Cross. LNER delivered us to Peterborough with their customary efficiency, and the train for Stamford was also running to time on this occasion and we were soon home and unpacked. The next, rather more exciting, adventure would not be far into the future, though!

Some Practical Little Journeys

Train trips to events official and personal

Sometimes I travel for fun, sometimes because I have to be in other places to do things of varying importance. Either way I always try to travel by train or bus whenever I can (or walk or cycle for short journeys), for all sorts of reasons I have been through elsewhere in this blog. 

Recently I have taken a trip to Lincoln for an event at the Cathedral where our Acting Bishop wanted to thank those of us who continue to provide ministry in our retirement. The value of retirement ministry was illustrated when I arranged a meeting in Lincoln on the same day, planning to go straight from the meeting to the cathedral service, which was followed by a sandwich lunch (I walked in to the service just as the Bishop was starting it!). Fitting in the meeting before an 11:00 event meant that I had to leave Stamford much earlier than usual. It was tempting to drive, but I had so much I wanted to get done and driving the car seems such a waste of time even though theoretically it would get me to Lincoln nearer to the time of my meeting and in less time, and would enable me to leave whenever I wished. The ability to get things done won out, though, and I booked train tickets to leave Stamford on the 06:57 after a hurried breakfast.

This gave me a simple connection into the 07:31 East Midlands Railway service to Lincoln via Spalding and Sleaford. I said Morning Prayer on the train to Peterborough and then worked the rest of the way, partly on preparation for my meeting and then making my way through a rather full email inbox - retirement has not stood in the way of busyness! I arrived in Lincoln in plenty of time before my meeting and had a cup of coffee at the Grand Café at the bus station before taking a bus up the hill to my meeting.

I had a good time catching up with old friends and making new ones over the lunch after the cathedral worship and then it was time to walk back down to the station. I had booked Anytime tickets and had seats reserved on a 15:27 departure, but was ready to leave well before then. There was a LNER Azuma standing at the station bound for London with a stop at Peterborough, so I boarded that and was taken smoothly and swiftly back to Peterborough, this time via Newark and Grantham. The reason this train was not shown as an option for travel to Stamford is that it would have connected with the one westbound train per day which Cross Country is presently not running between Peterborough and Stamford: a "Covid Keep" I'd rather lose! There is now a much better service than ever between Peterborough and Lincoln, but it is of limited value to Stamford people because of the gaps in the timetable, one each way, on our local line. Anyway, it worked for me because I knew there was a bus that I could use to fill the gap, and being old enough for free bus travel it did not cost me anything - but it did not leave until just before the train, if running, would have arrived in Stamford, and it was very much slower than the train. Still, it worked and I was still home in reasonable time and had had a good day's work and play.

The other recent short trip was to Nottingham with my wife to attend the funeral of an old acquaintance. Again it was tempting to take the car but in the end we decided to travel by rail which would allow flexibility to have drinks with friends afterwards if appropriate and to travel together for part of the way back with those from farther away whom we knew to be travelling by rail. Getting there turned out to be much quicker than anticipated: our train to Leicester was on time, but the services from there to Nottingham were running just a touch late, two or three minutes, which made it just possible, if we hurried, to get a connection half and hour earlier than planned, and it was also a quicker train, non-stop to Nottingham. We had planned plenty of time in Nottingham for coffee and a tram to the church for the funeral, but after the coffee we actually had time to walk to the church, and even to take a detour through the arboretum which was rather pleasant, and still be in plenty of time. We met one friend there, and another couple arrived a little later on a train from London.

Afterwards, when memories had been exchanged over food and drink we made our way back. This time we joined our three friends on the tram which took us straight to Nottingham rail station. One was taking a Cardiff train from there, and the rest of us boarded the next train for London which was calling at Leicester. There we left our London friends and awaited the train home. There was almost an hour to wait, so we left the station and enjoyed a cocktail (buy one, get one free!) at The Merchant of Venice, the Shakespeare-themed Italian café-restaurant almost opposite the station, which is rapidly becoming our usual stopping place in Leicester. Trains between Leicester and Stamford are not especially quick, the route being a "pasting together" of what remains of several former branch lines, but it is a useful line and they are fast enough for our purposes. Again, they suffer from the gaps in service that I mentioned above, but for us these do not matter on this part of the route because we never travel out in the afternoon or home in the morning: it is when we are going out towards Peterborough or Cambridge and returning in the afternoon that the gaps are an inconvenience. Perhaps when the strikes are over and people have the confidence to travel again (and Cross Country employs enough drivers!) the full timetable will operate once more and we'll be able to travel when and where we like.

Six!

A Surprise Party in London

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.