Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi

I am looking for a day out on Saturday in Bradford-on-Avon and was wondering will there be enough to do and if it is a nice town to visit?

I will hopefully be travelling on the 09:54 Exeter St David's to Westbury, arriving at 10:59, changing to the 11:08 Westbury to Bradford-on-Avon, arriving 11:19 and return on the 15:47 Bradford-on-Avon to Westbury, arriving 16:01, changing to the 16:23 Westbury to Exeter St David's, arriving 17:33.

My other question is are any of these trains likely to be busy or am I pretty much guaranteed a seat on all of these trains (I am especially concerned about the long distance trains)

Look forward to replies - Many thanks

DevonTrains2008

I have no experience of the trains, but I can say that the town of Bradford-on-Avon is lovely - having visited it several times.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_on_Avon and http://www.cotswolds.info/places/bradford-on-avon.shtml  ;)

I recommend the Barton Farm Tithe Barn buildings, and the various craft shops there, and the old town centre, including the Kennet and Avon Canal  lock and bridge.

Also several good pubs and restaurants for lunch.

Have a good day!  ;D

Bradford on Avon is a great place to visit which I often do, but I wouldn't say that there is a huge amount to do once you have had afternoon tea in one of the tea shops. There are some small specialist shops to look around. If you like walking you can take a walk along the canal to Avoncliff which is nice.

With regards to seating Westbury-Bradford on Avon, sadly there have been a number of short formed 158s running on the Cardiff-Pompey route over the past few days so if you are unfortunate to catch one of these short formed 158s it could be a bit of a squeeze. I'll leave it to others to let you know about loadings betweent Exeter and Westbury.

Even when the trains aren't short formed the Westbury/Bradford trains can get VERY crowded. If you are really fussed about getting a seat I would suggest you get the 1119 from Westbury. This is an SWT train from Waterloo to Bristol, as it is following the FGW service it normally has tons of space.
Your train back to Westbury will probably be very busy with shoppers from Bristol/Bath going home.

I am more interested in the section of the journey on HST from Exeter St D - Westbury and vice versa but may consider using the SWT service - thanks for that!

Your HST to WSB and return shouldn't be a problem seating wise. And I concur with Timmer that a walk along the canal to Avoncliff is worthwhile. So maybe get a return from Exeter to Avoncliff then return from there to WSB. You will need to look at your times again though!

Not sure if you're old enough, but if you are then (1) apologies! and (2) there's a very nice pub on the river in Avoncliff called the Cross Guns which could be worth a visit depending on the time of day!

weather looks good for Saturday.

Thanks for the replies.

How long is the walk (in miles) and how long will it take (hours/minutes)

Look forward to replies

Many thanks

DevonTrains2008

Bradford is a nice town.  The Tithebarn is very impressive (you will recognise it if you ever watched Robin of Sherwood) and it is next to the river and canal.

If you walk along the canal to Avoncliff, it will take you about half an hour or so (it is about a mile and a half of towpath walking).  The cross Keys Inn very close to the aquaduct and station is recomended if you fancy a pint.  If you are plannign to walk only one direction, check the train times as not all servcies will stop at Avoncliff (which I think is a request stop) and it might be safer to get the train out and walk back to Bradford. 

The chippy just outside the station is pretty decent.

If you've had the 'Boatman's' then you'll have trouble walking.

http://www.thelockinn.co.uk/breakfast

Bargain!!!!

the Icelandic ash cloud isn't going to mean tomorrow's Paddington line trains from Exeter will be packed, I hope?  ???

Air Southwest's aircraft have a capacity of about 18 people from memory, so I think you might be OK.

OK then  ;D

Likely to be packed anyway, what with the fairly decent weather we've been having and end of easter school holidays.

I'm not sure if the train will be packed towards Paddington in the morning if it is mainly people coming from the West going home.  I would have thought they would wait until later before going home.

Depends what time their holiday let tips out.

as i_b says, many caravan parks kick out at 10am or so, so most people will leave in the morning.

Surely most people travel by car ; and the train I am travelling on leaves Exeter at 09.54 - I don't know wether to go for it or not?

What's the worst that can happen? You end up on a busy train between Exeter and Westbury. Not exactly the end of the world, is it?

Sorry DT2008, but my crystal ball's on the blink at the moment so I'm afraid I can't predict the future and make the decision for you right now.

No sorry just don't fancy having to stand for an hour but we should be likely to get a seat!

Pay a tenner and upgrade to Weekend First. That'll almost certainly guarantee you a seat.

That's the best I can get out of my crystal ball!  ;) :D

Actually they operate Bombardier Dash 8-311 50 seat aircraft on its Newquay/Plymouth to London City/Gatwick routes,still not a problem though given a HSTs seating capacity.

0954 out of Exeter is often busy, especially due to the fact that it calls at Westbury.