Great Western Coffee Shop

Saturday 23rd September 2023 - Day trip for myself plus three guests doing a whistle-top day in London and, it seems, the rest of the world.  We got a lift (thanks Lisa) to the station just (thank you, slowest guest!) in time to catch the 08:00 train - 2 car 158 to Swindon; good number getting on - no time to count, busy-ish train.  20 minutes in Swindon, connection into the 9 car 08:46 London service at Swindon.  Every seat taken, even in the rear quiet carriage "A" - probaly that busy because the train ahead into London was cancelled. Managed to grab three odd seats, and two of our guests squeezed into one of them (being of slight build and hanging out into the aisle, to the unamusement of the gent they were sitting next to!  There was a tiecket check before Didcot, but no sight, sound or smell of a trolley.

On time, into platform 2 in Paddington and a queue for the barriers with a number of passengers struggling to open the gates and being unfamiliar with the system. Then on to the Hammersmith and City platform - 5 minute wait (Barking train).  Stood by the route diagram; noting steady flow of people looking up where they were going - clearly lots of newcomers / occasional traffic.  And to on to Baker Street.

Non-transport gap. Walked up to 221B Baker Street which seemed to be drawing crowd and charging an arm and a leg to look around.  With a group of four of us on a whistle stop tour, we skipped going in to paid attractions but rather took in the London scene as a whole for the day.

205 bus, Baker Street to King's Cross; came along as we got to the bus stop.  The annual special train to Hogwarts had left a fortnight earlier, but that wasn't stopping people queueing to have their pictures taken getting onto the platform.  Crowds, crowds, crowds - to get in the shop as well as to have pictures taken.

Circle line to Tower Hill ... walk around the outside of The Tower of London, and along the tiverside to Tower Bridge.  Piccies, etc - happy crowds, and the bridge up to let a masted schooner through.  Across the bridge to the South Bank and walk along to London Bridge station - stopped in one of the arches for a break and lunch.

London Bridge has changed out of all recognition since I commuted throught there 50 years ago; I just about know the layout these days and was able to guide my party through the maze and up to the bus station / forecourt for the no. 17 to St Paul's Churchyard.

Look inside St Pauls?   They would have loved it but no sign of prices except "you may come in for free if attending a service" ... and then we found a sign with a headline price that was in excess of what we had paid for our fares for the entire day.  Sad decision not to join the queue (clearly doing a roaring trade!!) to have bags searched before entering what is a church!

Walked down Ludgate Hill to pick up onward bus to Trafalgar Square outside City Thameslink. But buses few and far between - some terminating Aldwych and others for Waterloo. Gave up on the 15 which we planned and took the 76 over Waterloo Bridge.   Turned out that buses were turning short due to demonstration.

And so on foot - South Bank past the London Eye (another eyewatering price tag) and over Westminster Bridge past Big Ben and Parliament Square where a "reverse Brexit" demonstration was in full swing and the roads closed to vehicles, along to Birdcage Walk, across the Park and The Mall up to Lower Regent Street and a shop called "Zara" which apparently has a massive pull for two of our younger guests.  Mum and I looked around and found somewhere - eventually - for a cup of coffee.  Then on via Carnaby Street and Berwick Street to Oxford Street, and the Elizabeth line at "Tottenham Court Road" - I say that in quotes because the endtrace we found seemed to be half way between TCT and Oxford Circus!  Quiet train - least densly occupied of all day - back to Paddington.

Tired, headed home, 17:32 Cheltenham Spa train sitting a platform 1 and we hopped on headed for Swindon and a change for Melksham.  Just 5 cars, pretty busy, and passengers playing "musical light" to find green rather than amber or red seats. Train Manager announces that due to staff shortage there is no catering on the train.   Tickets checked as we arrive into Swindon.

And so the longest wait of the day - no onward train to Melksham for 75 minutes, and we went out of the station / walked to McD for a quick bite. The number of empty shops and reconstruction work in Swindon are a sad, sad sight and a contrast to what we saw in London; the look and feel of a different country.

Eventually, busy train back to Melksham - reported elsewhere, and I have reported on the flows of people and onward travel from the station there. A busyness of walking, cycling and being picked up by private car or taxi.  As far as I could see, no-one was collecting their own car, nor catching a bus (there isn't one).

On my own, I would have probably walked home - as it was, Lisa picked us up. A question though - "why?".  Why did we not park at the station in the morning and hen collect the car at night?
* Because the train service is so unreliable that we wanted to have the fallback option of "please collect us from [Chippenham?]
* Because the car parking system in Melksham still has an awful name for people being fined if they don't get it exactly right.

Would I do it again?   Yes - what a fantastic resource we have in London.  I recommended that our guests take a day themselves just to see one or two attractions if they wish - "sampling" very expensive.  We paid around £150 in rail fares and £100 for food and drink during the day - but we could so easily have spent an extra £500 on entrances to - say - 3 attractions.  We used split tickets and day travel cards - I think the day travel cards are coming to an end - not sure what the best ticketing will be after that; it might changed the hop-on hop-off habits.  And our guests who have been with us for quite some time now - in limbo from Ukraine - are looking ahead to there futures and are planning to move on soon.

Some pictures from the day - click to enlarge

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Entry into St Paul's Cathedral is just over £20 a pop at the full rate if you buy in advance. I'd say it was well worth it if you are fit enough to walk to the top - best views in London IMHO:

(https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/st_pauls.jpg)

...though if catherals are your thing, you could try this one in Coventry! It's free, and has a very relevant story to tell for these times:

(https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/coventry-cathedral.jpg)

And on the way there, you get to pass through one of the best modern stations in the country:

(https://bristolrailcampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/coventry-station.jpg)

COV "one of the best modern stations" ???

Hmmm....on what measurements?

Tim Dunn explains it better than I can in Series 4 - Episode 5 of The Architecture The Railways Built

Indeed - planning a day to specifically visit an attraction is so much lower in cost.   As a further day, yes, good thought should we do another London day.  But times and people are moving on and our guests are now looking at the next steps in their lives beyond Melksham and their focus is shifted from settling here about; yesterday something of a Swanson, I expect.

I "discovered" that unexpected Dean Street entrance on Saturday - but as an exit from the Elizabeth Line. Note to self: there are signs on the EL platforms telling you (more or less) which exit goes where, but they are some way from the exit and not repeated at it.

Since I was trying to follow, by memory, a walking route (to Crown Court) I'd last used a year earlier, starting from somewhere unexpected was not helpful. But what was really aggravating was the "legible London" street plans that are oriented to have "up" in the direction you are facing, but no indication I could see of where north is on the map. So if I know my destination from having looked at a normal north-up map and want to know which road to go down from here, they are not much use. And that is why I needed to look at one, of course, especially since my destination was outside the main map. If I know the direction to my destination from my current position I know which direction to set off in already.

Apparently there's a "small north arrow set into the base of the sign" - but I didn't see one, and I'm not even sure what that means. And the first thing I need is the orientation of the map, not the sign, anyway.

+1 for Coventry Station. A fantastic example of 1960s Modernist architecture. Worthy of its Grade II listed status.

Don't be too hard on St Paul’s. That's a very expensive building to maintain and it doesn't seem unreasonable for those who visit it for its architecture to contribute to the upkeep. As you say, it's still free to attend a service.

I can recommend the sung evensong. Beautiful acoustics under the dome.