A Good Trip to Crewe and Chester
It was a good trip, not only because Ipswich won and I was able to renew old memories in Chester, but also because of the little things that happened and that I discovered.
- Virgin’s First Class lounges made travel in my condition a bit easier.
- The Crewe Arms offered a comfortable bed and good coffee in the morning close to the station and the football.
- I had a very good curry in Passage to India in Crewe.
- The staff and stewards at Crewe Alexandra were pleasant and welcoming.
- Real pubs still exist in the most unlikely places.
- I got a nice complimentary gluten-free salad on the way back. So Virgin can do gluten-free, despite what I said earlier.
I shall definitely go to Crewe again, if Ipswich play there!
Chester Racecourse
Chester is one of the British Isles oldest racecourses and it is unique in that it is only a short circular track, just outside of the city walls.
Chester Racecourse from the Walls
C and myself had one of our biggest successes in racing at Chester when our horse, Debach Delight was second in the Cheshire Oaks. But that was over thirty years ago.
In those days to get to the racecourse was a long slog across to and then up the M6. There was no A14 and it was stop-start all the way through Birmingham.
After this trip though on Virgin Trains, I wouldn’t drive, but would go to Milton Keynes and pick up a train direct to Chester. There is plenty of parking at Milton Keynes, trains are every hour and they take about ninety minutes.
Crewe Heritage Centre
One of the few places that are worth seeing in Crewe is the Crewe Heritage Centre, which is a railway museum.
Unfortunately it was closed, despite it being the school holidays. But as it is within walking distance of the station and the football ground, it would be an ideal place to waste a few hours before an away match with Crewe Alexandra.
An Extra Well-Respected Supporter
In front of me was an unusual supporter. Trigger is a flat-coated retreiver and a guide dog.
Trigger at Crewe
Needless to say Trigger behaved himself , but he did show more interest in the pies at half-time, than the football.
I did have a chat with his owner and he said that the Emirates was the best stadium for guide-dogs. They even provide bowls and toilet area.
Surely we can’t let Arsenal get all the plaudits!
Ipswich Win at Crewe
I really enjoyed the game at Crewe last night.
I know Ipswich won, but the football was good and it could easily have gone to penalties.
I should also say, that Crewe’s stewards knew how to make visiting fans appear welcome. Something that some clubs could learn how to do!
I also had a problem in that I needed to take my medicine. That was no problem, as I asked one of the helpful staff in the refreshment hut, if I could have a glass of water. I got it without question.
That was typical of the attitude on the club.
Alexandra Stadium, Crewe
D & G Buses in Crewe
I noticed that some of the buservices in Crewe are run by a company call D & G Bus.
Obviously as Crewe is in Cheshire, these buses must be the first choice of the many footballers wives who live in the area.
Crewe
After reading the Wikipedia entry for Crewe, I was apprehensive, as it is not complimentary and quotes Bill Bryson as saying it isw the armpit of Cheshire.
But I also have had the other view from the late MP for Crewe; Gwyneth Dunwoody, who used to be my next door neighbour. She was the sort, that if you went to borrow some sugar, you didn’t return until after several stiff drinks.
Even last week at Crystal Palace, a fellow Ipswich fan had said that he’d enjoyed a couple of trips to the town to see Ipswich.
The Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe
I stayed in the Crewe Arms by the station, which is typical of many station hotels all over the UK. It has mahogany panelling, deep red carpets and brown leather sofas. One unexpected thing it has is free and high-speed wi-fi. It definitely didn’t have that in 1880 when it opened.
I slept reasonably well too, as the bed was comfortable. The room was very clean with a bathroom that looks like it had been refurbished in the last year or so.
In the morning, I skipped breakfast because I ate well the previous night, but the coffee I had in a proper china pot was of a high standard.
I would certainly stay there again, if I went back to the football at Crewe.
The town centre was fairly clean with a lot of flowers and had most of the usual names.
Shopping Centre, Crewe
But the highglight last night was an excellent Indian meal in the Passage to India.
Passage To India, Crewe
The building was best desribed as clean, smart and comfortable, the staff were polite and professional and I give the food at least five bricks in honour of Brick Lane, where C and I had one of our most memorable Indian meals together. How about this for a seious shami kebab.
A Serious Shami Kebab
Dirt is not for racing on!
For various reasons, I don’t like American horse racing and especially on dirt.
Small circular tracks, with the exception of Chester, are boring and lack the atmosphere and character of the tracks you get in the UK and Ireland.
In America you can use drugs to improve performance. This might be alright for the Ben Johnsons of this world, but it distorts bloodlines.
But the real problem with dirt racing, is that there is an unacceptable level of equine breakdowns and fatalities.
According to Chris McGrath in The Independent, America is reversing their incorporation of more equine-friendly artificial racing surfaces, as we have at Lingfield, Wolverhampton and Southwell. This is very much a retrograde step, but it is typical of the United States, where despite the rest of the world being different, they are always right and the rest is always wrong.
I’ll leave the last word on racing surfaces to my stallion, Vague Shot. He retired after seven seasons of hard racing without having suffered any serious injury at all. Now at the age of 28, he is still fit and sound and if he feels so inclined he can still do a full roll both ways. He may be the oldest Royal Ascot winner still alive. but he would have been dead many years ago if he had raced on dirt in the United States.
Off to Crewe Today
I’m off to Crewe today to see Ipswich play, tonight. Tomorrow, I shall visit Chester, which is just a short train ride away.
There would appear to be little to do in Crewe, as the Crewe Heritage Centre, a railway museum, is closed on weekdays. But I shall check, as this hasn’t stopped me in the past.
A Day at Crystal Palace
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich play at Crystal Palace. I’m not a fan of South London and until the opening of the East London Line getting to Selhurst Park was never that easy. Here‘s what I said when Town lost last year. You will see that I wasn’t too impressed.
So about midday I arrived at Highbury and Islington and took the North London Line to Dalston Kingsland before a short walk to the impressive new station on the East London Line at Dalston Junction.
Dalston Junction Station
From May next year, this short walk will be avoided as a new stretch of track will connect the North and East London Lines. It will be a good thing, as the pavements are rather crowded and it involves a double-crossing of a busy main road.
I took a Crystal Palace train at Dalston Junction, as I was going to visit the famous park at Chrystal Palace before the match. But fans should normally take a West Croydon train to Norwood Junction for Selhurst Park, as it is closer to the stadium.
Travel on the East London Line and you’ll see what an asset to London, it will become. As we sped southwards, you get superb views pf the East of London and pass places such as the Geffrye Museum that for the serious tourist, who properly explores a city, are a must. As this museum is right on the station at Hoxton and it has a restaurant, it might actually become a popular pit stop on the line. After all with an Oystercard it’s just touch-out and touch-in, whenever you want.
The train started to get filled up at Shoreditch High Street, where there is a ten-minute walking interchange to the main London station at Liverpool Street. Several Ipswich fans joined the train here and I’d got my posse for the expedition to the South.
The other fans had made the mistake of taking a train to Crystal Palace, rather than Norwood Junction. Interestingly, I checked Ipswich’s program for the last home game against Burnley and that gave clear instructions not to go to Crystal Palace. But I had other motives.
Crystal Palace station is one of London’s hidden architectural gems.
East London Line Platforms at Crystal Palace
This the view that greets you as you arrive. Many would say that most football fans are morons, but my travelling companions certainly appreciated what the saw.
The station is equally impressive outside.
Crystal Palace Station
You can’t see it in this view, but there is a glass roof that pays tribute to Joseph Paxton‘s design for the building that gave the area its name.
The Crystal Palace is no longer here now as it burned down in 1936. It must have been some fire, as my mother told me, that they could see the flames from where they lived in North London.
A large park of the park now is taken up by the National Sports Centre, with its swimming pool, running track and training facilities.
Crystal Palace Athletics Track
Nowadays this is the only form of racing that takes place at Crystal Palace, but I can remember as a child watching motor racing from there on the television.
As to the Palace itself, all that is left is some ruined terraces and a few statues.
The Remains of the Crystal Palace
It is all very sad really ands very much echoes the feeling at that other Victorian Pleasure Palace; Alexandra Palace. But before I left, I did have a quick walk round the museum, so perhaps there is hope that this once great park, can regain its place as an important attraction with its views on a clear day all over the city. Especially, now that it is so well connected to the rest of London by the new trains of the East London Line.
I evntually got to Selhurst Park by catching a 157 bus from outside the Park. Due to the traffic chaos outside the ground, it was a comfortable, but slow journey delivering me with just a ten minute walk at the end.
I enjoyed the match especially as Ipswich won, but also because the away fans have now been moved to an area of the ground that gives a better view.
I returned by train from Norwood Junction to Shoreditch High Street, with the journey taking about a third of the time it took last year without the East London Line.
I must say that I enjoyed everything a lot better than last year.
The Anonymous Widower 