How Do You Make A New Threadbare Carpet?
You could ask why you need one too, but here’s the paragraph from Modern Railways describing the sumptuous interior of the new Midland Grand Hotel, that is soon to open at St. Pancras.
Here is the grand staircase, made famous in a score of films, with a sumptuous new carpet from Brintons of Kidderminster – but wait, the carpet does not look that new. No it has been specially woven to look a little threadbare, to be in keeping with the age of its surroundings.
The hotel must also be unique in that it will feature a Ladies Smoking Room, where smoking will not be allowed.
The Telegraph has an article here.
Will this become the best station hotel in the world? If it does, Sir John Betjeman will be chuckling out loud. It is certainly attached to a station that the head of French Railways, once said was the best station in the world.
W H Smug
This was Private Eye’s name for W H Smith and I’m not sure if the magazine still uses it.
I find them an irritating store, as they do lots of things that annoy me.
Take yesterday, I paid for my copy of The Times by putting my subscriber’s voucher in the quick pay pot, as one assistant had told me to do a couple of weeks ago. Then I saw that the March edition of Modern Railways had arrived, picked it up and then went to pay for it. But I was then told, I’d have to pay for both items in the same place. So in the end, I left the magazine on the counter and walked to St. Pancras and bought it there. It wasn’t actually an extra trip, as I wanted to visit Boots to see if they had an Eat Nakd bar. They didn’t! Boots please note!
Paying for the magazine was then the usual No-No-No conversation, as I declined evething on offer and gave all the bits of paper back to the assistant.
Next time I travel, I’ll make sure I get my travel supplies before I leave home.
Off to York Today!
Today I’m off to York to see a old friend. This is the ticket, I used as a test to find the optimum time to buy. It’s so much easier to do trips like that from here, than where I lived in the country. It’s just a bus or a bus and a tube to King’s Cross. It just depends what number bus turns up first.
Is that playing Bus Roulette?
Welcome to IKEA
I finally got the spice rack last night at IKEA in Croydon.
It’s quite an easy journey by public transport, as I just get the 21/141 bus to London Bridge, a train to East Croydon and then the Tramlink to Ampere Way.
In a strange way, the journey summed up one of the things I like about London; friendliness. I chatted about my troubles and travels to a pleasant guy called Duncan from the Bank of England and then as I waited for the tram, I talked to the tram driver, who was to take my tram to Wimbledon. Incidentally, Duncan doesn’t have a car, so like me he uses public transport everywhere. Perhaps, we’re ahead of our time and in a few years or so, non-driving will be the normal thing to do.
The only problem, I had on the journey down, was caused by a slight lack of signage at East Croydon, my uncertainty about how to use the tram and which one to get.
Duncan pointed me at this book; The Brain That Changes Itself. I shall check it out!
I was then presented to this at IKEA.
Welcome to IKEA
Just look at those concrete benches, that are ideally placed to bump the shins of people with limited vision. It wasn’t the easiest walk to and from the tram stop, with some roads controlled by pedestrian lights and others that worked on the cross-quickly-and-be-lucky principle.
Coming back was quite easy, in that I took the tram to West Croydon and then took the East London Line to Dalston Junction. But there is no signage at West Croydon to the Overground from the tram stop. Supposedly, plans are in place for a better connection. At Dalston, I was even lucky enough to avoid the five minute walk, by getting a convenient bus along the Balls Pond Road.
The spice rack is now on the wall.
The Tuesday Night Football Test
So I can’t go to Derby for the Ipswich match on Tuesday night, but how many of the Championship grounds are possible to visit for an evening fixture and get back to London at a reasonable hour?
Here’s a list based on the current clubs in the Championship.
- Barnsley – No return train
- Bristol City – Into London at 00:33
- Burnley – No return train
- Cardiff – Possible if you miss the last 30 minutes
- Crystal Palace – Not relevant
- Coventry – Into London at 00:04
- Derby – No return train
- Doncaster – Possible with a taxi
- Hull – No return train
- Ipswich – I’ve done it after the Arsenal match.
- Leeds – No return train
- Leicester – Possible if you miss the last 15 minutes
- Middlesbrough – No return train
- Millwall – Not relevant
- Norwich – Possible if you walk quickly
- Nottingham – No return train
- Portsmouth – Into London at 00:30
- Preston – No return train
- QPR – Not relevant
- Reading – Easily done
- Scunthorpe – No return train
- Sheffield United – No return train
- Swansea – Just a bit too far
- Watford – Easily done
It should be said that quite a few like Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham have very early trains, where if you were a real fan you could wait for perhaps four hours in the station or find a B & B. But I was never that enthusiastic!
I think though it shows the need for the matches to be planned better. Perhaps local matches like Ipswich against any London club should be the ones for Tuesday nights. Although it could be argued that Ipswich to Derby is an easy drive and many fans will go by coach.
The Sunday Lunchtime Test
I was talking to a friend yesterday about my troubles on getting back from Derby after the football on Tuesday and he happened to say that it’s very difficult to get to some places in the UK from London by train for lunch on a Sunday. In some ways this isn’t something that is fair, as engineering works sometimes take place, but surely things like this should be possible most of the year.
Out of curiosity I decided to check some routes.
- Cardiff – Three trains before 13:00 – Two direct and one almost
- Liverpool Lime Street – Two trains before 13:00 – Both direct
- Manchester Piccadilly – Three trains before 13:00 – All direct
- Newcastle – Two trains before 13:00 – Both direct
- Norwich – Two trains before 13:00 – Both direct
- Plymouth – One train before 13:00 – Direct
- Swansea – One train before 13:00 – Direct
I have checked the next three Sundays and found that in some cases trains weren’t running due to engineering works, especially on the Norwich route.
Incidentally, I was surprised that Plymouth and Swansea are possible. Especially as the High Speed Trains are nearly forty years old. But they are still very comfortable, have windows aligned to the seats and are very fast. Incidentally, I checked and found that on the 12th of February you can get to Plymouth for £14.20 in Standard and £28.70 in First.
But if it’s granny’s birthday and you’re booking a few weeks in advance, it seems that the system is pretty predictable.
Seeing Ipswich at Derby is Impossible.
As Ipswich aren’t playing this weekend, I thoght it would be nice to see them at Derby on the Tuesday.
But there is no return train, so I won’t be going! I don’t fancy waiting up until four in the morning to get a train back to London either.
Obviously, Derby County supporters don’t live in London and go to the match by train!
Was This a Badly Placed Internet Advert?
I usually get notification of newspaper polls on the death penalty from a list I belong to on the Internet. This was the latest request I got.
Please help turn this poll around. Thanks! http://www.ydr.com/local It’s down on the left.
I voted appropriately. The paper incidentally is the York Daily Record.
But imagine my surprise that the placed adverts on the site were for theTrainLine.com, who I’ve recently used to buy a ticket on East Coast to York. And they were trying to sell me a ticket to York! Obviously, there’s an Atlantic Tunnel I don’t know about.
Seriously though, the advertising system was probably looking at my cookies and made an appropriate decision.
I’m not particularly bothered, but I can see that some people will be!
I hope everybody who reads this votes using the link.
–abe
Station Transfers at Kings Cross
I asked at the infornation desk how you get to Marylebone. I got a very unprofessional answer. Surely, when the new Kings Cross is finished, there should be information on how to get to the various other stations in London. I know all the links across London, and especially some that are not obvious, like Waterloo to Liverpool Street. It’s a 26 bus by the way.
I also hope when the new station is complete, that they sort out the buses as well. I use a 30 or 73 to get home from Kings Cross and there is a rather windy, unprotected stop in front of the station. Marylebone is also a station best got to from Kings Cross by a 205 bus. some of the buses are also good for getting to Euston, which has a rather terrible Underground station.
Perhaps though, Euston needs a properly designed pedestrian route from Kings Cross/St. Pancras, lined with cafes and shops and perhaps some form of light public transport, like bicycle rickshaws or small electric vehicles.
I’d possibly ban cars and trucks from Euston Road and run a low-floor bendy bus or tram from Paddington to Kings Cross and possibly all the way to Liverpool Street.
The Anonymous Widower 