My 2023 in Review

 

2023 was my first whole year as an idle sod (officially) so I've taken a look back through my calendar to see what I actually did and pick out some highlights.

January Started with a week of Rail Strikes so travel opportunities were a bit limited but after that managed to get out and walk from Catford to the Thames along the River Ravensbourne. I also paid a Sunday afternoon visit to Hanwell, and managed a trip to see the Winter Lights at Canary Wharf and made my only visit to the Tower of London thanks to a Christmas present of a year's Historic Royal Palaces membership.

February Saw a boat trip around Portsmouth Harbour, a visit to the shopping mall that is Battersea Power Station, a day down at the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and a trip to Hackney for the great Urban Good relocation map giveaway from which scrummage I bagged a decent number of maps of London and a couple of other cities. The big highlight of the month was my Hidden London tour of Shepherd's Bush Underground station, which turned out to be a personal tour since by coincidence I was the only customer to book that particular time slot on that day.

 

To finish the month I had a belated Xmas Drinks with some of my former workmates where vast quantities of drink were taken, resulting in a rather uncomfortable ride home by rail Replacement Bus!

March saw my first trip away of the year and despite a weather warning for snow had a good stay in a working water mill in Wookey, Somerset. From which I visited Wells Cathedral, Burnham On Sea, and a spectacularly wet Glastonbury. The HRP membership got me inside the spectacular Banqueting House on Whitehall and LT Museum Friends membership into the Depot Open day at Acton.

April 5th saw me take a midweek afternoon ride route 465 - Transport for London's most un-London Bus Route. On the 21st I hit the big six-oh and took my HRP membership card for a ride to Kensington Palace

May was the month for my big rail trip to the far north of Scotland which had been delayed since March 2020 when something screwed up my careful plans. It was worth the wait, nine days away stopping in Edinburgh, Inverness, and Thurso and finally setting foot in my original target of Wick on a very quiet Saturday 13th. Second highlight of May was going to Worcester to see Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp in concert. 

June brought another bus trip, the Route 65 and 71 Heritage Event between Ealing and Kingston and Leatherhead. I also went away to Happisburgh in Norfolk to explore childhood holiday territory and visit the North Norfolk Railway again and the East Anglian Transport Museum for the first time, the latter fulfilling an ambitions a good fifty years old.

July Featured a trip on the LT Museum's Heritage 1938 Stock Tube train from Acton Town to Oakwood and back. 

 

In between industrial action on the railways I managed to squeeze in a "pick a random city you haven't been to" trip away. Which this time was Nottingham for the trams, the Trent, and the castle.

August began with the Freddie Mercury exhibition at Sotheby's and then majored on buses, with a visit to the Oxford Bus Museum followed by an incredibly busy Imberbus Day

 

 

Right at the end of the month into the beginning of September I got away for a long weekend in Paignton for some seaside walking and of course a seaside steam train.

September brought my second Hidden London tour of 2023, the newly introduced one at Baker Street station. I had to share this one but it was still good.
September saw Open House London run over two weekends and this year I managed visits to The City Churches: St Mary-le-Bow, Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene Church, Paddington, and Fitzrovia Chapel on the first and National Audit Office (former Imperial Airways Terminal) and Lewisham Arthouse on the second. I went to the second LT Museum Depot open weekend of the year and finished off the month with a trip to the Chelsea Physic Garden which was having a free entry day as part of Chelsea Festival.

October was a bit quieter. Not entirely quiet as I went to Basingstoke and saw Toyah and Robert in concert again. Also a visit to Gunnersbury House to see the rather good Exhibition "Set to Stun: Designing & Filming Sci-Fi in West London". The end of the month marked the 1 year anniversary of my exit from wage-slavery.

November was mostly car related things. I spent the 5th standing at a Sussex roadside taking pictures of the VCC London to Brighton Run and at least this year it didn't piss down with rain.
I went to the Classic Car Show at Birmingham NEC for the first time in years, travelling up by train and staying in Coventry as it was easier - and cheaper - than finding a suitable hotel in Brum. Finally I saw Show Of Hands on their last tour, in Basingstoke again.

December is never up to much. The highlight of the month might have been putting four new tyres on the car but was edged out by meeting some former colleagues for beers in Reading. Lots of beers but fortunately no rail Replacement Buses this time. I made the LT Museum Friends AGM at Covent Garden and Barry Le Jeune's entertaining talk afterwards. In fact now work doesn't get in the way I've been able to attend many more of the Friends' meetings this year. Xmas? Meh. I had a good lunch on the day with family but I'm not really a Christmas person.

So ends another trip around the sun. Skimming the calendar to write this blog post I realize I've done more than I first thought. I've only included the more notable events here, there have been many other minor excursions. 2024 will likely be similar.