Starbucks Stop Gluten-Free Sandwiches I Like
Starbucks are my reserve, if I get hungry. They had a very acceptable chicken sandwich.
But they’ve now replaced it with one of cheese and coleslaw.
I hate coleslaw, so when I was offered it, it went down badly with me and I left the shop hungry.
I also like meat and fish and the number of cheese sandwiches I’ve eaten in sixty-four years is probably less than half a dozen.
The Non-Availability of M&S Sandwiches
Travelling if you are a coeliac has always been difficult and now, if you are leaving London it is a lot easier, as you can get very good sandwiches at the M&S Simply Food stores in the capital.
But despite what it says on the M & S website, sandwiches are not available in any station outside the South East. The only station, where I’ve found them is Cambridge, but as the city doesn’t feature on my itinerary, that isn’t much help, especially, as I know the city well and can get proper meals in several places there.
I also got the impression from a couple of stores, like Swansea and Exeter, that there isn’t much demand for the sandwiches outside London. Incidentally, I’ve only found sandwiches at three stores outside London and the South East. Manchester and Liverpool had two and Meadowhall had one.
I only ask one thing of M&S. Let’s have the web site in-line with the stores. For instance, I was told in one place, by the manager of a station store, which was a franchise, that he would not be stocking the sandwiches. But the website says otherwise.
Does Sheffield’s Public Transport System Work For Visitors?
Of all the major cities I’ve visited; Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield, Sheffield seems to have the public transport system that is most understandable to visitors. I’ve left out Liverpool and Birmingham, where I didn’t have time to look at the systems. Although of course, Liverpool is different for me, as I know the city well.
In Sheffield, I was greeted by this walking map.
Walking Map at Sheffield Station
At the other side of the station, there was a proper information board explaining how the trams worked, with details on fares, routes and where all the places I needed to visit were located.
Sheffield station is also located closely to the major bus interchange.
Sheffield Transport Interchange
This picture shows the interchange with the station behind the buses.
If you arrived in Sheffield with just an address, you should be able to find your way very easy. One small point, is that if you need to walk to the bus interchange or the trams, it is generally under cover and pedestrian friendly.
I used the trams extensively on Day 31 and didn’t get lost once. The only thing they need is indicators at the tram stops to tell you how long you will have to wait. But all the stops do have good maps, which is very rare in the UK, except in London.
I didn’t actually use the buses, but then I didn’t need to as the trams covered everywhere I wanted to go and they had the maps to guide me from the stops.
Sheffield is unique in that it has two major train stations linked together; the main station and the one at Meadowhall Interchange. On Day 31, I arrived at the main station from Manchester and then when I returned from Scunthorpe, I arrived at Meadowhall. I left for London from the main station, but say if I’d been going to the north east, I could have left from either.
Tesco Freight on the Rails
Returning from Ipswich on Saturday, I took this picture.
A Tesco-Branded Train
It shows a one container of a trainload branded by Tesco.
Pushed By Roger and Pulled By Isambard
On Saturday on my journey to Ipswich the Class 90 engine pushing the train to Ipswich was named.
Class 90 Named Roger Ford
So who is Roger Ford? Roger is a respected writer on the railways of Britain and writes extensively in the magazine, Modern Railways. On Wikipedia, there is a link between the magazine and these engines.
Through 2006 and 2007 reliability has improved greatly: in 2007 the whole fleet won the ‘Silver Spanner’ from Modern Railways for the most improved main line fleet reliability in the UK.
I doubt that Roger would have allowed his name to be used for the engine, if it was anything to do with the award! The story is here on the National Express East Anglia web site. I wonder what will happen, when the company loses the franchise in the next few months. But then they inherited the engine and its name from Virgin, so hopefully for Roger’s sake, he’ll continue to push the Ipswich/Norwich expresses up the hill to East Anglia.
On Day 37, coming back from Swansea, I was pulled by another named engine. This time a Class 43.
Class 43 Named Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Whether the pusher at the other end of the train was named, I didn’t know. But surely the Brunel nameplates, are the only ones that feature a top hat!
Cough Sweets
AS a child, I used to have the occasional bag of cough candy twists? Are the still available? And are they still made with proper sugar? It just seems that since the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft, a lot of their brands seem to be disappearing. I haven’t seen any mint imperials in months for a start. Or Halls menthlyptus either!
Let’s face it, Kraft’s most famous product, Cheese Slices, is something, that no-one with any sense of quality about food would ever eat.
On the subject of sweets though, I don’t even eat much chocolate these days. Things like small Green and Blacks bars don’t seem to be around anymore!
The Anonymous Widower 