92 Clubs – Day 44 – AFC Wimbledon
This was a visit that showed just how good public transport, and buses in particular, can be.
I thought to get to AFC Wimbledon would have meant a trip by train to Norbiton station, which is just a reasonable walk from the ground according to the club’s website. However the web site also says that it is easy to get to the ground by bus.
You can take the 131 from Wimbledon Station or Kingston Town Centre, which stops right outside the ground.
So I used the 131 bus from Wimbledon.
I started by taking a 21 bus from near my house direct to Monument station, where I got the District line to Wimbledon station. Unluckily, I just missed a direct train, so I had to change at Earl’s Court. But it was only just a walk across the platform.
At Wimbledon I had a short walk to the stop on Worple Road for the 131 bus, which I’d looked up on the excellent spider map at the station.
The Bus Stop at Wimbledon for the 131 Bus to AFC Wimbledon
The picture shows the stop complete with its text details for bus information. I used this and found that I’d have to wait six minutes for the 131. I think perhaps the information was a minute out. But I’ll forgive them that!
Kingsmeadow Stadium Where AFC Wimbledon Play
The Kingsmeadow stadium is shared with Kingstonian and rather tucked away, but less than a hundred metres from the bus stop called Kingsmeadow.
Twenty-five minutes later and I was back on the train at Wimbledon. I arrived home in time to watch the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
This trip goes to show how with good public transport and especially buses with proper information systems and maps, it is very easy to take a bus to any location in London. Other cities and towns in the UK, should follow the lead of Transport for London.
Some may say rightly, that watching football or any sport for that matter, is a minority interest. but imagine how say an 80-year-old would cope visiting their sibling in hospital at the other end of the country, by buses and trains. The trains aren’t the difficult bit, but outside London, buses are generally fairly dreadful and an information-free and map-free zone.
Although to use a football example here, I could dwell on the insanity of moving the original Wimbledon club to Milton Keynes, where the only way to get to the ground in a reasonable time, I had to use a taxi. No wonder the number of fans, who transferred their support can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.
92 Clubs – Day 43 – Wigan
I’m getting near the end now and as the cough seems to have no sign of abating, I took a quick trip up to Wigan from Euston.
Outside the DW Stadium
The DW Stadium is another new stadium and some way from the station, but I got a discount from the courteous taxi driver and he got me back in time to take the 13:09 return train from the town. This meant I could see the England against Spain match, when I returned home.
92 Clubs – Day 39 – A Day Off
Perhaps I was just being lazy!
92 Clubs – Day 38 – A Day Off
This was another doctor’s day, essentially to have my INR levels checked. But there was a machine failure, so I’ll have to have them checked next Monday.
I should say that my INR levels and Warfarin intake has now been the same for nearly eighteen months.
92 Clubs – Day 42 – West Brom, West Ham
This should have been an easy day and it effectively was. But it could have been an absolute nightmare, due to signalling problems in the Wolverhampton area. Someone said it was cable theft, but I can’t find any reference on the web.
I’d taken the 10:23 from Euston and I knew I could change at either New Street or Sandwell and Dudley. I chose the first, which did mean a walk to Moor Street, but it was also a direct train to the station at The Hawthorns. The other route may well have been a couple of minutes quicker, but due to the signalling problems it might have been difficult.
West Brom ‘s ground is only a short walk from the station of the same name, with separately signposted routes for home and away fans.
West Brom's The Hawthorns Stadium
As with most grounds this week, because of the International break, it was all rather quiet, so I took a couple of photos and returned to the station.
The trains seemed to be running erratically, so I thought I’d take one of Birmingham’s trams back to the city centre. In some ways, these are the UK’s forgotten tram system and it could surely benefit with some limited expansion.
It was a wise move as the tram accepted my return ticket, due to the signalling problems and it was only about fifteen minutes walk to New Street for the train home. It would have been nice if the trams had connected to Birmingham’s main station.
I had plenty of the day left and I came home first before I took the Overground to Whitechapel before changing to the District line for Upton Park and West Ham‘s stadium of the same name as the station.
West Ham's Upton Park Stadium
The ground’s architecture is unusual to say the least. It seems to owe a lot to the Disneys of the world. I’d never seen this side before, as usuallyI’ve been to the stadium in the dark and the the away supporters are on the other side.
92 Clubs – Day 41 – Tranmere, Walsall, Watford
Tranmere should have been easy, as it was just a ride on the Wirral line out of Liverpool to Rock Ferry.
But it wasn’t, as the maps and signposting to the ground were virtually non-existent and the first few people I asked, didn’t seem to know how to get there. Perhaps, they were all Liverpool and Everton supporters.
Tranmere Rovers' Prenton Park Stadium
As you can see it is a surprisingly large ground.
I then recrossed under the Mersey back to Lime Street and then took a train to Wolverhampton, where I took a train direct to the station at Walsall ‘s Bescot Stadium.
Walsall's Bescot Stadium
The picture shows the stadium from the station footbridge, with the M6 and a rather busy road in between. I didn’t feel like braving the traffic, so made a quick exit back to the station. But it’s certainly one of the easiest stadia to find by public transport.
The train was delayed by a few minutes getting into the station and I just had time to buy a ticket before catching the train to Watford Junction for Watford.
I did cheat and take a taxi at Watford, as I was starting to cough badly and didn’t feel the exercise would help. But I have walked it several times in the past and Ipswich have never won.
Watford's Vicarage Road Stadium
The picture isn’t good, but it was about 20:30 and getting dark.
Afterwards it was back to the station to take the Overground back to Euston.
Am I On A Ferry?
I took this picture of myself by holding the camera, as far away as I could.
Am I On a Ferry?
But where am I? Judging by the water and the state of the sea, it could be on a cross channel ferry or perhaps one going to the Isle of Wight.
But remember, I’m visiting all 92 football grounds and teams are all on the mainland. I think the only football club that isn’t is Canvey Island, but they play in the Isthmian League.
So the picture was taken at Dawlish between Exeter and Newton Abbot from a High Speed Diesel Train. Trains are regularly sprayed with sea-water and being diesel powered it usually isn’t a problem. But if the line was electrified, who’s to say what will happen. After all, they’ve got forty years of running these trains in this sort of weather.
They couldn’t close the line, as what would they do when they needed iconic photographs of trains for publicity purposes!
Who’d have thought that the High Speed Diesel Train would live on because of the British weather?
92 Clubs – Day 40 – Swindon, Torquay, Tottenham
Swindon was surprisingly easy, as it was only about twenty minutes walk from the main railway station.
Swindon's County Ground
Or it will be when they finish the roadworks and sort out the pedestrian access around the station. There are a few maps and signs, but due to the location of the ground, the road signs are a great help once you get started in the right direction. They also have helpful distances on a lot of them.
I’d arrived on the 08:15 from London at 09:13 and had plenty of time to catch the 10:55 direct train to Torquay. I was surprised it was a direct train, but even more surprised that it was a High Speed Diesel Train on its way from Paddington to Paignton, via Swindon, Bath, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Exeter and Torquay. I hope that after electrification of the main line to Bristol and Cardiff, that they use these trains to run lots of holiday trains to the West Country.
I was meeting an old friend in Torquay, so I took a taxi to Torquay‘s football ground. I didn’t see one signpost.
Outside Plainmoor
I certainly needed the coat, as it wasn’t weather typical of the English Riviera. Afterwards it was back to the station to catch a train to London.
A Pacer at Torquay
Unfortunately, it was a Pacer to Newton Abbot for the High Speed Diesel Train to London, where I arrived soon after 18:00.
I still had time to visit Tottenham in the dark, by taking the train to White Hart Lane.
The Entrance to White Hart Lane
Afterwards, I was able to get a bus back from the ground to close to my house. Except for Arsenal, where I just walk, it is the easiest ground to get to from my home.
In some ways it was a day of three lessons.
- The High Speed Diesel Trains used on West Country services are a superb asset to the railways. Passengers like them and in some ways they are irreplaceable in serving the far-flung parts of the west and the Scottish Highlands. They may be forty years old, but engineers know how to keep them going for a few more years yet. Many of them will outlive me! I suspect too, that there is a strong cost benefit in keeping them running, rather than electrifying all the lines, where they run.
- The Pacers still used in various parts of the country are a disgrace. To make matters worse, they were a disgrace when they were built. They should be replaced with a modern train as soon as possible. The train used on the Overground from Gospel Oak to Barking would probably be an ideal replacement. And they would be built in Derby!
- The train from Liverpool Street to White Hart Lane station may have been thirty years old, but it had been well-refurbished. On that line it is the stations that are a disgrace which deny access to no-one but the fit to the railway. I wouldn’t like to try to tranport a baby in a buggy either on many of the stations. So perhaps, one of the priorities after the Tpttenham riots, should be to fix those stations.
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.
The Anonymous Widower 