They Don’t Make Pubs Like This Anymore
In Hartlepool station, there is the Rat Race Ale House micropub.
The sign says it all. Note the barrels and the absence of the bar. As I said before, every station needs one of these.
92 Clubs – Week 2 – 18 Clubs – 36 Trains, 2 Trams
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14
As with last week I can also add several Underground and Overground trains and lots of buses.
It was an easier week, that Week 1 and I got home to my bed every day. I’m now having the weekend off, as the hay fever is driving me nuts. On Monday, I’ll go to Hereford, Huddersfield and Hull and on Tuesday, I’ll be in my seat at Portman Road for Ipswich against Portsmouth.
Here are the awards.
Heroes of the Week
This week, I’ll award it to all of those who’ve contributed. Some people, who I’ve never met have given a pound for every club. I hope I’m living up to their hopes for me!
There was also the taxi driver in Liverpool, who just wanted the money for his diesel.
Most Surprising Stadium of the Week
There have been several that were not what I expected like, Bury, Exeter and Hartlepool, but I also revisted some where I have been in the past, so these didn’t show me anything I didn’t know.
Best Stadium of the Week
It just has to be Chesterfield. Everything is there and they are working about making it better.
Best Signposted Stadium of the Week
Hartlepool is well-signposted and still has four large floodlight towers to guide you.
Worst Signposted Stadium of the Week
I’ll give this award to Coventry, as there are no details at the station and it’s a long walk to the bus station, where it’s not obvious where to go. At least I found a quicker way back using an express bus.
Welcoming Stadia of the Week
As in the first week, many stadia were visited in the dark or when no-one was about. I was however, very well welcomed at Chesterfield and Exeter.
Best Town of the Week
Hartlepool by a country mile. Politicians and officers from many of the places I’ve visited could learn a lot by just visiting the town.
Here’s a few things I liked.
- The rather decripit railway station has been transformed into one of the best small stations I have seen in the UK, by a fair bit of imagination.
- The art gallery, which doubles as a tourist information centre in a church in a central point in the town.
- I didn’t have much tie to visit the museum, but it was one of the best small museums, I’ve found.
- It would be a difficult town to get lost in, as it is well-signposted and you seem be able to see the main landmarks from everywhere.
I have been to many places, where a lot more money has been spent or is available and they are worse places to visit. Especially, if your time is limited or you have a simple objective, like visiting a football match.
Best City of the Week
Exeter impressed me, with good signposting and an easy-to-find ground marked on all the maps.
Dump of the Week
When I looked at the list at the start of the week, I thought that there would be a lot of candidates.
In the end it was Gillingham, which was just a run-down town, with a rather tired stadium, without a roof for visiting fans. But I’ve also had comments on this blog saying they didn’t like the place either.
Sign of the Week
This has to be the display in the car park at Hartlepool station, telling you how long you have until your train arrives. Every station should have more of these.
I may still be a few stadia behind, but I’m enjoying the trip.
Here’s to next week.
92 Clubs – Day 14 – Gillingham, Hartlepool
It was quite an early start to get a bus to London Bridge for a train to Gillingham. I t was almost still dark, when I arrived and I followed the signs at the station to the Priestfield Stadium. It is only a short walk.
Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium
As you can see it is rather tucked away in the houses and the away supporters have to brave the weather.
I then took one of the Class 395 or Javelin trains back to St. Pancras.
A Javelin Arrives at Gillingham
I then had a couple of hours before I took the 11:23 Grand Central service direct to Hartlepool. I used the time productively to have breakfast in Carluccio’s, buy myself some sandwiches for the journey and investigate a walking route between Euston and Kings Cross/St. Pancras.
I arrived at Hartlepool on time in a station, that was totally unexpected.
Artwork at Hartlepool Station
I know the area well from my time at ICI and visits later and have actually travelled to London from the previous station on the line, Eaglescliffe, in the 1970s. Everybody, should note how with a little artistic creativity, some common sense and not vast amounts of money a dingy station like Hartlpool, can be made totally acceptable to anyone who wants or needs to travel by train. I think too much, we concentrate on the trains, when for many journeys we spent quite a bit of time in or around the stations.
It was just another well-posted short walk to the ground.
Inside Hartlepool United's Ground
I then explored the town, of which I will post more later, before I ended up in this micropub on the station.
Rat Race Ale House, Harlepool Station
The Rat Race Ale House was well worth a visit and say if you are a supporter, who travels to the ground by rail, it is a place to at lest try for a pre-match drink. But don’t go if you drink chemical lager!
Every station should have one!
It had been a day of contrasts, a southern town and ground, that needed to be lifted up and a northern one, that had suffered a lot of unemploymemt in the 1970s and 1980s, that had pulled itself off the floor in style.
Just as I said with Exeter, I hope Ipswich draw Hartlepool, one day in a cup. The town is well worth a visit. I know it’s a long way from the south and if you don’t book early it could be expensive on the train, but give it a try!
The Anonymous Widower 