Lakeside by Train
Jerry never spent any excess time choosing anything when he built this house. Every room is illuminated with a series of cheap wall lights, where you play a game of chance to see which switch is used to turn them on and off.
I had thought I had found a suitable replacement and the company that sells them had an outlet at Lakeside. Or rather in one of the related retail parks within walking distance of the centre.
Fenchurch Street Station
The picture shows the station where I started my journey, Fenchurch Street. I took a train to Chafford Hundred, which is linked directly to the centre by an eclosed bridge.
Lakeside Shopping Centre
This picture is the view from that bridge.
THe bridge led me into the centre into a rather run-down House of Fraser store and it took me a couple of minutes to find my way out and then find a toilet, which seemed to have to be accessed by a lift. And when I got there, the toilet paper was so thin, I almost forced my finger up my backside when I wiped it. But at least I had some decent tissues in my back-pack.
I have a feeling that Lakeside is losing market share and they seemed to be doing a lot to cut costs.
I didn’t enter any shops at the centre and made my getaway as fast as I could to the lighting shop I had intended to visit in the first place.
Escaping from the Lakeside Shopping Centre
As you can see it is not a very good walk on a narrow path alongside the road. I suppose it is designed to keep punters in the centre, when there is quite an attractive lake that might be worth a walk past on the way to the other shops, where I was going. But then if punters walked, they couldn’t be shopping, could they?
Was the walk worth it?
No! The shop didn’t have the lights I wanted and they didn’t even have the Internet, so that I could show them what I wanted. But I don’t think I’ll be spending just short of a hundred pounds on a fitting I’ve never seen!
But at least there was some weak sunshine, as I walked to IKEA to have some lunch and check out a few things. I did buy another couple of racks and jars before I walked back to the station.
And what a walk that was, involving several crossings of a busy dual carriageway without any pedestrian lights. There is plenty of space and surely a few signs to the station would have helped. But then Lakeside is for people with cars and people like me are the enemy, so if I get run over and killed, that’s one less stupid pedestrian.
Was there anything positive about my visit?
Yes! The trains were comfortable, clean and warm! But the station though was bleak, cold and there were few places to sit.
It did think about complaining to Thurrock Council about how pedestrian and cycling-unfriendly and downright dangerous the area was, but they don’t give a direct e-mail address, just a complicated form, which wants all of your details down to the inside leg measurement, so you won’t fill it in fully and they can put it straight in the Deleted Items folder.
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