Imberus 2025

16th August

August means at trip to Salisbury Plain to ride bus route 23A to the “lost” village of Imber, requisitioned by the military during the second world war and now only accessible to the public on a very limited number of days each year. Imberbus began in 2009, initially attracting mostly Men Who Like Buses but now also attracting large crowds of other people as well to take a ride on vintage and modern buses to Imber and other villages nearby.

Most arrive by train at Warminster where long queues form past Lidl to get on the buses to Imber and then on to the other destinations. I have previously done so too but last year and in 2023 those crowds returned to Warminster in the evening to find that GWR had cancelled most of the trains, leading to long delays at the station or trying to find another way home. This year I decided instead to repeat what I did in 2022 when the railways were on strike and there were no trains at all, I stayed overnight Friday and Saturday at the Green Dragon in Market Lavington, catching the first bus from that village at 1025 on Saturday morning having breakfasted well. This was a much less stressful way of doing things.

There was already a bus load of passengers waiting at the temporary bus stop when I arrived at 1010. At about half past ten a brand new double-decker appeared and began loading. It was joined a couple of minutes later by a vintage Routemaster so I got on that and both buses departed for Warminster via the interchange at Gore Cross and Imber village, where I alighted.

I have been inside the church at Imber before (I’ve been coming to Imberbus since 2018) so didn’t need to join the very long queue to see it again.

Instead I took some photos and video of the village, and the various vehicles either parked or in service and then joined the queue in the hot sun to get a bus to the village of Chitterne via Gore Cross, correctly estimating that it would arrive about midday and that the King’s Head would be open. It’s important to keep hydrated after all on such a sunny summer day 😏

The pub was doing a roaring trade but I found a shady spot in the garden to drink my beer. Refreshed I walked back to Chitterne Church which is where the buses stop and turn around. I didn’t need to wait too long before I was on another Routemaster back to Gore Cross. It was an open top bus but I know how low the trees are coming out of Chitterne so wisely rode inside - I like my hat to remain on my head 😃

Gore Cross is a roughly square patch of dust and gravel set amongst open fields on the edge of Salisbury Plain. It can be a bit windswept and there’s no shelter. Wearing a hat or bringing a parasol is recommended. Here is the interchange where the buses to and from Warminster and Imber, Chitterne and Tilshead, New Zealand Farm Camp, and Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons converge. This makes it a good place to photograph and video buses and there were a lot of people doing just that.

Including me until I took a ride on an open top RT to New Zealand Farm Camp - inside to get some respite from the sun. There is nothing much at New Zealand Farm Camp apart from an opportunity to look at the view and or hop off for a photo opportunity before returning to Gore Cross.

I had intended to go to Warminster and back, mindful that I’d need to be on a bus back to Market Lavington not too late but a different opportunity presented itself. For a couple of years I’d seen the blue and white British European Airways Routemaster KGJ 602D visiting Imberbus as it was being restored. This year it appeared to be in service albeit not displaying a route number or destination blind. Enquiries confirmed that it was running and that it was going to Brazen Bottom and The Lavingtons.

Ideal, I could ride back in comfort - there are not many Routemasters with so much leg room, and on what is now a very rare vehicle. It’s in terrific condition and inside carries notices in English, French and German advising passengers to fill in their boarding card before arriving at the airport because these buses used to carry passengers from the West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road where they would check in, to Heathrow Airport. Their luggage was carried in a closed trailer towed behind the bus. Having been born and lived near Heathrow I can actually remember seeing these buses with their trailers running on the M4 motorway before the Piccadilly Line was extended to Heathrow Central in the late 1970s, after which the central London check in and bus service was ceased.

No motorways here, or luggage trailer, but some narrow lanes across the military training areas to the remote temporary bus stop at Brazen Bottom (which is actually quite high up) and then down a long steep narrow hill to Market Lavington. Here I alighted and after watching BEA2 depart and a couple of other buses come and go I finished my Imberbus adventures for 2025 and headed for a cool shower, dinner, and beer. A much more civilised end to the day than waiting ages on a crowded station platform to board an packed two carriage train hoping none of my connections would be cancelled. I might do it again next year.

There’s a lot more photos in this Flickr Album.

Eyam

 

3rd August

On my way back from Scotland earlier this year I stopped overnight in Stoney Middleton in the Derbyshire Dales. At the time I decided it would be good to come back with some more time to explore and since I was going to Market Harborough to the tank show and would therefore be half way there anyway I booked a holiday cottage for a few days in nearby Eyam.

Eyam’s main claim to fame is the story of how the village chose to go into isolation so as to prevent infection spreading after bubonic plague was discovered there in 1665. Following the decline of the local mining and associated industries the main local economical activity is tourism with Eyam being promoted as “the plague village”. The story may well have been embellished by various writers since the early 19th century but it’s a good one to bring in the punters. I have visited Eyam before as a day tripper but as for staying there, well it’s been 370 years since the last case of bubonic plague so I reckon it should be safe enough 😏

My accommodation was just off the main street so couldn’t have been more conveniently located for exploring the village with its church, village green complete with stocks, and signs outside the houses listing the names of the 17th century plague victims and other historical notes. Most of the buildings are picturesque and built of local stone, save for one large house built in red brick near the village green, appropriately named The Brick House.

Being Sunday it was quite busy but having settled in I waited until early evening to go for a wander round, by which time it was much quieter. The Miners Arms owes it’s name to the former source of the villager’s income and is a decent local pub, good beer from local breweries too.

Monday morning was remarkably wet, very much not walking weather, more reading a book weather. Around three in the afternoon though it brightened up considerably so I took a walk over to Stoney Middleton. It might have been sunny but it was also very windy on the top of the hill, with strong enough gusts to make holding a camera steady difficult. The tail end of Storm Floris which was giving Scotland a good seeing to I suppose. Some great views up there though and a steep climb back up “Jacob’s Ladder” to Pretty Wood and back to Eyam via the Riley Graves, a small plague graveyard now looked after by the National Trust but open to all to visit and admire the views to the south. In a bit of poor timing I arrived back in Eyam before opening time and couldn’t be bothered to hang about for half an hour so went back to the cottage via the village shop to buy something for tea.

Tuesday promised changeable weather with scattered showers all day. I didn’t fancy my planned walk so postponed it and got a bus to Bakewell about 20 minutes away. Bakewell it turns out has an excellent local museum in The Old House. Of course if you are visiting Bakewell you have to get a Bakewell Tart or a Bakewell Pudding. Or er, one of each 😋 Having explored the town I took advantage of being a buswanker for the day and stopped off for a pint in the Red Lion in the town centre, which either hadn’t taken down all the Xmas decorations or had started putting them up early. Then dodged the rain showers at the bus stop before riding back to Eyam.

Wednesday was much improved weather wise so I put on my boots and backpack and headed north out of the village up a steep path past the site of an old mine and up onto the ridge of Eyam Edge where I turned West and followed the lane to Bretton with long scenic views to the north and south. There was a nice cool dry breeze up there and it was a pleasant walk with hardly any traffic. Beyond Bretton the track ahead was subject to a long term temporary closure but I was heading downhill to the village of Foolow anyway. I arrived in Foolow near the simple church and village green with its very circular pond.

I sat on a bench for a while in the shade watching two MAMILs comparing bicycles. The sort of bicycles that cost the sort of money that would get you a fairly good second hand car. The breeze had gone and the sun was now quite hot. Also it was midday and my holiday let host had recommended the Bulls Head Inn so… I sat outside in the sunshine with a pint, watching the world go by and fending off the occasional jasper. Very pleasant it was too. Like being on holiday.

Suitably re-hydrated I carried on on a footpath across the fields - and several drystone walls with a variety of stiles - to get back to Eyam. It had been a rather nice hike, only about four and a half miles albeit gaining nearly 700 feet in altitude in the first six tenths of a mile, and warranted a lazy afternoon to follow.

On Thursday it was time to go home. For a change I plotted a route avoiding motorways and therefore also avoiding the M42 around Birmingham and the M25 around London. Surprisingly this added only about 20 minutes to the journey time, being a more direct route. More pleasant too.

Yes, there’s a Flickr Album with lots more photos 😀

 

 

Operation Market Harborough

 

2nd August

I enjoyed this big military vehicle show held on the Market Harborough Showground last year so made a repeat visit in 2025. For convenience I stayed at the nearby Premier Inn and convenience is the only good thing about it. They have a big pub/restaurant attached but you’re not welcome there at half past five on a a Friday evening if you’re on your own. Their loss was the St. Mary’s chippy’s gain. And a very nice chippy tea it was too. 

Next morning I drove to the showground, waved my QR code to get in, and got on the outside of a breakfast roll. Then had a wander amongst the static exhibits and stalls until the action started in the main arena. 

The advantage of Operation Market Harborough is that compared to many shows it has an absolutely huge arena area which means there’s space to really drive tanks properly rather than plodding round in first gear. Also big holes and steep humps can be dug out and piled up. This is good for the tanks, good for the spectators and frankly a lot of fun for the owners and drivers.

This video gives a flavour of the action 

 

I had a great day, as you can see the weather gradually improved from “are we going to get wet?” (No) to “Ouch, sunburn” and I stayed until after five o’clock before heading into Market Harborough to get food before heading back to the hotel rather tired.

Many photos were taken, they're in this Flickr Album 

London Loop Section 20, Chigwell to Havering-Atte-Bower

10th July

You’d have to be slightly unhinged to go hiking when the temperature was forecast to reach 29° C, wouldn’t you?

So a week after completing Section 19 I was back at Chigwell Station to carry on along Section 20. I wasn’t the only hiker out but they must have been going somewhere else since I didn’t see any of them on the trail.

I walked up High Road to rejoin the Loop at the junction with Chigwell Rise and carried on northward past St. Mary’s Church before turning right up an alleyway on a footpath signposted as Epping Forest Countrycare walk. This came out on Vicarage Lane, which I crossed and went through the gap opposite, climbed over two fallen trees and walked through a scruffy bit of woodland to find a Loop waymark and a realization that it would have been easier to have carried on up Vicarage Lane and turned left up a much clearer footpath. Here I turned left through a small open field then through a gap to follow the path along the edge of a field of wheat about ready to harvest.

OpenStreetMap showed the Loop going diagonally right through this crop but there definitely isn’t a footpath there so I’ve edited it to show the correct route as per the guide directions. Which say continue to a meeting of several paths near Old Farm then turn right down a track and then left onto a green lane. This led gently uphill around two sides of another field of ripe wheat to cross the Chigwell Brook. You wouldn’t know you were crossing a brook unless you checked the map though, it seems to be partly culverted and the ditch by the hedge was dry. At the end of a hedge I bore left to follow the footpath across the next field. Which had been ploughed up.

Too much trouble to run a tractor wheel across to make a path obviously. Just keep filling in the forms for the tax handouts and complaining about townies coming into the countryside. I made it across but it was treacherous to walk on and twice I almost turned an ankle. Also it was getting quite hot. On the far side I joined the path along the outside fence of the Chigwell Water Treatment Works. A path goes left off the drive to the water works, behind some unseen houses then left at what was a stile into a paddock, under some trees to a gate and through part of the garden of the house on the left then past another stile (the stile-free alternative route in the Loop guide seems currently to be unnecessary) to go between fence and trees to eventually reach Chapel Lane.

At the end of Chapel lane I paused to look at the Victorian chapel before crossing over Lambourne Road and turning left then right through the recreation ground to the edge of Chigwell Row Wood. The route turns right after a short distance into the wood over a small wooden bridge. Or in this case beside a small wooden bridge because a sizeable working party, complete with roadworks signs, were rebuilding it. Fortunately the ditch which it spans was completely dry. I met other members of the working party clearing undergrowth and tidying up as I made my way through the wood to emerge at the A1112 Romford Road dual-carriageway. There is no pedestrian crossing here, you just have to take your chances crossing first the northbound two lanes to the broad central reservation then the same for the southbound. Once across I found the squeeze stile and entered Hainault Forest Country Park. Follow the path through scrub. Bear right on reaching a more open area by an isolated oak tree. says the Loop guide. This might be easier to follow at a different time of year but with several overgrown paths leading into, if not necessarily out of, the scrub I couldn’t say for sure if I took the right one(s). The one I did take at least passed a fallen log under a fairly shady tree (did I mention it was hot?) and so there I stopped to eat my picnic lunch, accompanied by the calls of Chiffchaffs and Blue Tits.

After lunch I carried on through the wooded part of the country park until I reached the Boating Lake, which appeared to be free of boats but not of Canada Geese who all chose that moment to get out and walk across my path while giving me funny looks. Being in the middle of a flock of geese is a little intimidating.

The section through the country park is a bit short of Loop waymarks and having followed the track uphill along the edge of the woods and looking back for a distant view of that London in the heat haze.

I inevitably then took the wrong left turn through the woods, eventually doubling back at the top of the hill to find the entrance to the golf course on my left rather than right.

I crossed the fairway noticing a huge column of thick black smoke far to the south and followed the path along the length of the narrow strip of woodland called Mile Long Plantation. There are a few Loop markers through here along with yellow paint marks on the trees to mark the footpath - although there’s no consistency as to which side of the path the painted trees are which is erm, helpful. Before crossing the final fairway and leaving the golf course I had a rest on a bench beneath a tree. Diagonally across the next field and then by field edge paths I came out on a metalled track that led through Lower Park Farm and its barking dogs and left onto another farm track, crossing the River Rom and heading up a long slope.

The way ahead continued to rise steadily, turning left at Clockhouse Lane with more views of London and then into the woods of Havering Country Park. The way through the woods lies along Wellingtonia Avenue, with Giant Sequoia tress either side which were planted in the 19th century so not quite as giant as Giant Sequoias can get. Although it was partially shaded in the woods there wasn’t a breath of wind so the long slog up the slope was hard going in the afternoon heat. Eventually the path levelled out and left the country park, passing St. John the Evangelist church and somewhat bizarrely Den’s Nosh Burger Van (open Thurs - Sun 0930-1600) with its very welcome cold drinks fridge. I bought a bottle of Iced Tea and went and hid in the shade behind the bus stop while I waited for the 375 to Romford.

London Loop Section 20 tick.

If any of the embedded photos in this post fail to display it will be due to Flickr’s increasing unreliability. At the time of writing even I can’t see them. Apparently they are aware of the problem and have added my account to the list of those affected. Here’s a link to the FlickrAlbum for Section 20 but whether you’ll be able to see it is anyone’s guess.

Here's an alternative link to the album on Google Photos just in case Flickr remains broken.

London Loop Sections 18 & 19

 Enfield lock to Chingford and Chingford to Chigwell

3rd July

Hey, the temperature has dropped back below “bloody scorching” so time to do some more London Loop. I headed back to Enfield Lock station to start Section 18 to Chingford and if things went well, Section 19 to Chigwell. Things went well, although not in any way that I could have anticipated.

I left the station and walked back down Bradley Road, a little less litter-strewn today than last time, to begin Section 18 at the little bridge over the Turkey Brook. The water was hidden in a deep channel full of vegetation to begin with although further along this thinned out to reveal patches of not-very-inviting stream before the path bore away from the brook and up over the A1055 via a long footbridge. From the top of the bridge you are supposed to be able to see the Sewardstone Hills ahead but mostly there seems to be trees in the way. After crossing the bridge the path brought me to the actual Enfield Lock on the River Lee Navigation.

From here I walked along the towpath past Swan & Pike Pool and along by the River Lee itself with quite a few Coots and Canada Geese swimming in the flowing water. This year's Coot chicks are now almost as big as their parents but fuzzier.

Two further footbridges took me across first the River Lee and then the River Lee Flood Relief channel and at the same time out of Greater London and into Essex. In this picture London is on the left and Essex on the right.

Leaving the river(s) behind the route passed first through Sewardstone Marsh, although with the recent weather the paths were dry, then along a side street and across the A112 Sewardstone Road before striking diagonally across an empty car boot sale field and carrying on along a gravel track uphill to Sewardstone Park Cemetery and “Gardens of Firdaus”, an area set aside for burial of those of the Islamic faith. Passing through a strip of woodland I reached the top of the hill and turned back to look at the view over the King George V Reservoir.

Shortly after leaving Enfield Lock I’d notice and passed another Loop walker - we’re easy to spot, standing looking about and reading from a folded sheet of A4 paper trying to work out which way to go next - and she had been not far behind me for some time. Standing looking at the route instructions was what I was doing, trying to work out where the “faint path across the field” went and was it through the building site that wasn’t mentioned at all? Now there were two of us trying to work out where the “faint path across the field” went and was it through the building site that wasn’t mentioned at all? Having decided it was “that way” which turned out to be too far to the left we found ourselves at the edge of a woodland hunting for a disused stile and the entrance to a path through the woods. With two sets of eyes and helped by my having the route marked on Organic Maps on my phone we eventually regained the route, the faint path across the field we should have taken only being obvious from the bottom of the hill but not the top, and the disused stile entirely hidden in a bush. We carried on through the woods to Bury Road.

Now I normally walk alone but I’m not entirely antisocial and since we were both heading the same way we walked on together. Besides with two of us surely we could halve the chances of getting lost on a Loop section with rather sporadic way-marking. Since my new-found walking companion was very pleasant to be with there aren’t very  many photos to accompany my words in this blog - a lot of chatting ensued and snapping was rather forgotten 😀

We turned down the main drive to the Scout Association HQ at Gilwell, turning left at its large “Leopard Gates” through a long section of woodland first west then turning south, passing through a meadow, back into the woods to a turning east which is a lot clearer on the map than it is on the ground so we almost missed it, and then alongside a golf course, mostly heard rather than seen to Bury Road again. Crossing Bury Road we turned south through the woods parallel to the road and then through a car park to a three-way London Loop sign on a lamppost near the Holly Trail Cafe and that was Section 18 ✅

And it was only about twenty-past one.

Section 19 began by heading north east onto Chingford Plain for a short way then forking left up hill towards some trees, keeping an eye out for somewhere shady to sit for lunch. The area behind the Epping Forest Visitor Centre was filled with several hundred (so it seemed) uniformed schoolkids but we managed to bag a picnic table under the trees behind the Butler’s Retreat cafe and they didn’t come out and complain about us sitting there eating our picnic lunches and putting the world to rights. Suitably refuelled we set off again across and then east parallel to Ranger’s Road past some very old oak trees, with a little diversion around where some roadworks had closed the path. There were some young Duke of Edinburgh’s Scheme participants along here, heading in the opposite direction and a bit nonplussed by the barrier across their intended path so we pointed them in the direction of the diversion we’d just taken.

Crossing once again the border from London into Essex gently uphill along a broad open grassy strip with a near constant stream of DofE walkers going the other way we reached Epping New Road and waited for a gap in the traffic to cross it. And waited. And waited. If anywhere along this section needs a pedestrian crossing this is it. Eventually we made it across, through Powell’s Forest, and across High Road too, coming out into a residential street, North End, where the route instructions had us puzzled and the way-mark mentioned couldn’t be seen.

It had become a running joke between us that the way-mark you can’t find is probably quite obvious ten paces further on and so it proved again here although when it’s high on a lamppost and only visible from alongside rather than as you approach it, it doesn’t help. The next turn took us between some houses and felt as if you were about to walk into someone’s back garden but there was in fact a footpath entry hidden in the corner which lead between the gardens, one of which contained a remarkably large Willow tree. We went along the edge of the trees by an open area, did some more head scratching as to which of the paths across the open field was the right one, picked the wrong one and as a result I now realise looking at the map more closely did two sides of a small triangle before dropping down into the Roding Valley to cross over the Central Line via a high metal footbridge.

A short walk along Thaxted Road and its classics suburban semis brought us to the turn right onto the Green Walk between the residential roads and past Roding Valley Cricket Club to the un-named lake which is a flooded gravel pit, used to supply the building of the M11 motorway. Here we paused to admire the view of the scattered clouds and blue sky reflected in the water. I actually remembered to take a photo.

Skirting the southern side of the lake we crossed the River Roding and followed it for a short distance in the welcome shade of the riverside trees before looping around the back of the sports centre to reach Roding Lane. The last stretch was roadside, over the top of the M11 and down Chigwell Rise to the end of Section 19 at the mini roundabout where it meets High Road. Turning right towards Chigwell Station I was a bit disappointed to find the pub was closed for refurbishment because some liquid refreshment would have been welcome right at that point - the forecast overcast skies had not materialised.

At least we hadn't got lost despite the missing way-marks 😀 

Section 19 ✅ 

At the station having worked out which direction each of us needed to go in we said our goodbyes, agreeing that it had been a fine afternoon’s walk improved by the company. We parted expressing the thought that maybe we’d see each other out on the Loop again and headed to our respective platforms.

And all the way home I kicked myself for not seizing the opportunity to give her my number to make that more likely 🙄

Such is life.

A Day in Cornwall

As I was going to St. Ives…

No, we’re not getting into that argument. Having arrived in Penzance on the overnight sleeper train I had all day to explore a bit of West Cornwall and 5 hours before I could check into the Western Hotel in St. Ives. My plan was first to take a walk along the coast to the picturesque harbour village of Mousehole via the fishing port of Newlyn. It’s a pleasant 3.6 mile stroll. At least it would be in nice weather. Unfortunately this morning the weather wasn’t nice. Grey skies emitted a fine drizzle into a light breeze making it just wet enough to need a waterproof coat while at the same time being warm enough to make wearing a waterproof coat uncomfortable. I set off trying to convince myself that it would brighten up imminently.

Organic Maps routed me out of Penzance centre via back roads and alleyways which at least kept away from any traffic before returning to the coast where the Larrigan River meets the sea, near a desolate looking and weed filled Mennaye Boating Lake. From here I walked along the causeway above the beach to the outskirts of Newlyn and passed the fishermen’s memorial statue “Throw Me A Line”.

Newlyn is a working fishing port and has more wet fish shops than I’ve ever seen in one town centre. It hadn’t brightened up yet. I climbed out of Newlyn via Fore Street which at least afforded a good view of the busy harbour, the many boats injecting the only colours into the scene.

This walk follows the route of the South West Coast Path long distance trail and for a while diverts from the motor road along a foot and cycle path next to the sea below the cliff. At the entrance to which I was nearly hit from behind by a lycra-clad bell-end-on-a-bike determined to get through the entry point before me. There are probably some good views along here but they were hidden behind the worsening drizzle on this morning. Thankfully at least some philosopher with a ladder and a pot of yellow paint had been out to brighten up the scene 😀

The path climbed up and rejoined the clifftop road with fine views along the coast and I could even see St. Michael’s Mount in the distance. When I say see it I mean there was a slightly darker shade of grey where it was located. See if you can spot it 🔍

Past Penlee’s disused Lifeboat Station the drizzle eased off a little so I could clearly see St. Clement’s Isle and intermittently unzip my coat to cool off a little on the way down into Mousehole, which I reached at about a quarter past ten.

"Mouseholians" it seems are not early risers. The only places open at that time of the morning were an upmarket looking restaurant and a twee tea room, the latter was full. This despite the fact that the village was busy with visitors most of whom had had the good sense not to walk there. At least the drizzle had stopped so I could take off my coat and steam gently by the harbour. I had a mooch about the village, laughed at what I assume was a joke about Mousehole property prices (the blackboard against the lean-to building reads "Compact + Bijou Home with lots of potential. Offers over £100k")

and joined the queue for the bus back to Penzance.

The M6 bus between Mousehole and Penzance runs every twenty minutes during the day. It was not a pleasant experience because they use vehicles not much bigger than a mini-bus with seat spacing that appears to be designed only to accommodate children so I was jammed sideways into a seat on the back row. The bus was almost full leaving Mousehole and picked up more passengers on the way resulting in some juggling of people, seats, and baby-buggies along the way. I was hot, damp, and the windows didn’t open. Even the little old lady next to me remarked on how unsuitable the vehicle was though she said occasionally they go completely to the other extreme and you get a double-decker. Which must be very interesting when they have to turn it round in the centre of Mousehole. I was relieved to get off that bus in Penzance Bus Station I can tell you. I went and found a bakery and had a very large coffee and a sit down. Then since breakfast had been 5 hours ago I went hunting, I got a large Cornish Pasty because when you are in the county why wouldn’t you? This I took to the railway station platform and ate it while waiting for my next train. A big yellow thing started to appear in the sky and a big feathery greedy bastard appeared on the platform nearby. The sun was welcome, the seagull could bugger off. Also it is still a mystery to me how they get Cornish pasties so hot and how they appear to get hotter while you’re carrying them so that when you come to eat it it’s like biting into a volcano? It was a very nice pasty though - the very antithesis of a Ginster’s 😁

As I arrived at Penzance station so did one of GWR’s Intercity 125 HST “Castle” trains. These are soon to be retired and I can remember them when they were first introduced on BR’s Western Region in the 1970s. I was tempted to skip a departure to have a brief ride on it to St. Erth for old times sake. In the end I got the next boring Hitachi IET instead which gave a shorter wait for the St. Ives train at St. Erth.

I was glad to see that summer time four coach train arrive into the crowded platform at St. Erth (outside the summer there are only two coaches). Anxious to get a good seat I forgot that the views were on the right hand side and indeed that side of the train quickly filled up with people, although not the polygamous, sack of cats carrying kind. Anyway, as we rode down the branch line the weather finally improved and we arrived at St. Ives in bright sunshine.

St. Ives was very busy. I walked from the station to the harbour and from the harbour to the Western Hotel, located in the town centre. What can I say about the Western Hotel? Here’s the review that I posted on booking.com which I think sums it up:

Good location, comfortable, not cheap, not very organized.

Liked · Nice big room, comfortable bed. Good central St. Ives location.

Disliked · Arrived to check in at reception, reception is a phone on the desk. Call was answered and waited for receptionist to come and complete check in. I was handed keys and given directions to my room. On finding my room it was immediately obvious that it was already occupied by someone who was fortunately out at the time. Return to reception, call, wait, wait, wait, eventually allocated a different room and given keys. No explanation other than “the booking system made a mistake”. Inconvenience aside this error has security implications if they are giving out keys to rooms already occupied. And of course when I went for breakfast the restaurant staff had not been advised of the room change.

However the room was pleasant, overlooking the Royal Square (bus stop) outside and I was glad to have a shower after which I had a nap for a couple of hours, dunno why I was tired. Later I went for a wander around St. Ives. It was still very busy. Hmm, that’s a lot of clouds and yes, those are spots of rain.

Cue retreat to hotel with snacks and a bottle of cider. Later: there is music downstairs let’s go and investigate (and get another cider). Ah, Tuesday Night is Jazz Club Night. 

Nice 👌

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The audience demographic was pretty much exactly what you’d imagine, the band was four old white men, it was heavy on the double bass, drums and trumpet. I caught the last half hour which in jazz terms means three tunes. What’s with the applauding half way through a song? Is it a jazz thing? At ten past ten they finished and most of the audience rushed across the road, bus passes in hand. I went to my bed and slept like a log.

The next morning I rose, showered, dressed and headed downstairs for a cooked breakfast which was pretty average and preceded by a discussion about why my room number wasn’t on the breakfast list.

I checked out, by which I mean left my key on the empty reception desk as instructed, and made my way to St. Ives station in hazy, humid sunshine with just a trace of fine drizzle. There was quite a crowd on the platform awaiting the train to St. Erth. I remembered to sit on the left side for the views.

 

 At St. Erth my train to Reading appeared on time and I settled down into my seat up the front in 1st Class. What? You can’t take it with you, you know. Anyway it was only eighty quid Advance Single with a railcard, half what the trip down had cost.

The Americans appeared. They seem to be travelling with everything they own, they put all their huge suitcases in the wheelchair space, whined when told they needed to move them and complained about there not being enough space for their luggage. There was plenty of space under and between their seats. As soon as they got aboard they started stuffing their faces and wanted to know when lunch would be served - it was ten-thirty in the morning at this point. Then they started spreading out the John Lewis tote bags of food onto adjacent seats because their table was full. As the coach filled up through the journey they had to retreat and at last went quiet and disappeared into their devices. Deport them to El Salvador I say 😉

For once the rest of the journey was unremarkable and I arrived home at four in the afternoon, about 46 hours after I’d left.

Would I do the night sleeper again? Well I’ve done it, don’t regret it, don’t need to do it again. It’s always nice to visit Cornwall though, however briefly so if you’re short on time it’s worth considering finding out if you can sleep on a train.

For anyone who avoided spoilers in the previous post here’s a FlickrAlbum of photos from my trip.

The Night Riviera

The Night Riviera is a sleeper train which runs from London Paddington to Penzance in Cornwall (and from Penzance to Paddington) 6 nights a week. I’d long fancied trying it to see what it was like so booked a brief trip to Cornwall to find out.

This is what I found out:

I booked just over a week in advance with a Railcard and paid £57.70 for a Super Off-Peak Single London Terminals to Penzance plus £89.00 for a sleeper cabin. You can forego the cabin and get an airline-style seat for no charge if you want to try and sleep in a chair in a room full of strangers instead. A cabin also gets you use of the lounges and showers at Paddington, Penzance, and Truro and a complimentary breakfast served to your cabin. Although the Night Riviera picks up passengers at Reading I opted to start at Paddington because who wants to hang around on Reading station at twenty to one in the morning, especially given that nearly everything on the station is shut by eight-thirty in the evening? That was another £21.20 for an off Peak Single with a Railcard but worth it. The 1st Class lounge at Paddington provided free hot drinks and snacks too.

As usual the train I intended to catch to Reading for a connection to Paddington was cancelled and the following one would just get me there in time - assuming it ran at all. Not wanting to risk it I left home early and got the previous departure, itself running twenty minutes late, and arrived in London with quite a bit of time to kill. So I went for a stroll around Tyburnia and had a pint before heading back to the station.

The lounge is located on platform 1 which is from where the Night Riviera usually departs but tonight we were directed to platform 8 instead.

I walked up to the front of the train to get the obligatory photo of the locomotive and then back to find my cabin in Coach F. Once aboard a nice lady came and checked my ticket, gave me the low-down on the train’s facilities, and took my breakfast order and what time I’d like it delivered to my cabin. Once settled in I went to explore the train along the very narrow corridors to the Lounge/Bar coach. This was very busy so I didn’t stop longer than necessary to drink a Coke.I went back to my cabin just as we departed Paddington at 23.46

The cabins have two bunks but for single occupancy the upper one is stowed away. The bunk is fairly narrow but because it runs across the coach it is plenty long enough for someone 6’5” tall - hence the narrow corridor in the coach. There’s a bedside table that lifts up to reveal a sink with hot and cold running water (and it is hot too) and a rubbish bin beneath. Light switches, 240v AC, and USB power outlets are located by both bunks along with a room service call button. Yes, room service is available all night if you don’t fancy going down the corridor to the lounge car in the night. There’s a connecting door to the adjacent cabin that is locked unless a party of more than two books adjacent cabins. What you will need to go down the corridor in the night for is the loo. Two are located at the ends of the coach. The sign outside your cabin will point to the ones in your coach but if your berth number is above 15 it’s almost certainly closer to the toilets in the adjacent coach and the coaches are all walk-through connected.

I sat on my bunk with the window blind open and watched the night slide by. Quite slowly especially since there were some track works going on. Not that the Night Riviera is a fast train. It takes about eight hours including stops to reach Penzance, a daytime express will do it in around five. After the stop at Reading I closed the window blind got under the duvet put my head on the comfortable pillows and prepared to nod off.

I might even have done so for a few minutes at some points in the next six hours. I have discovered something and that something is that I can’t get to sleep on a moving train. I wasn’t uncomfortable or anything like that but sleep refused to come. I think a lot of the problem was the novelty of the situation which wouldn’t let my brain switch off. The train trundled on through the dark stopping occasionally at a signal raising the question “I wonder where we are now?” and of course the temptation is to check on the map on the phone or take a peek out of the window. The tracks to the West Country are mostly smooth but not always straight and lying horizontal across a train in the dark subjects you to some odd G forces, with no visual references you feel like you are first being gently pointed head down then a moment later feet down. Onward to Devon, occasional sections of jointed rather than welded track for traditional ta-tum-te-tum train noises. At Exeter the train paused and reversed, I heard the locomotive run around the train, passing my window before re-coupling to the other end with a jolt. Clumsy bugger, doesn’t he know people are trying to sleep? 😀 A consequence of this manoeuvre that didn’t occur to me until later was that my cabin window which on leaving London had been on the left side of the train was now on the right so wouldn’t get any spectacular sea views along the coast at Dawlish 😢

By 6 a.m. it was getting light outside (although the window blinds are very effective) and I concluded that I’d had any sleep that I was going to get so cancelled the alarm I’d set on my phone, got up, washed (blimey that water is hot!) and dressed. I opened the blind and watched a very grey Cornwall passing by. Because of course the bright sunny weather we’d had all month had vanished as soon as I set off travelling - payback for having such unseasonably good weather when I was in Scotland I suppose.

We stopped at Liskeard, we stopped at Bodmin Parkway, and as we approached Par the nice young lady knocked on the door bearing a tray with a very welcome pot of tea and a sausage bap on it. Also brown sauce, tomato ketchup, and for some reason some sweet biscuits which I kept for “Ron”. 😋

I watched stops at St. Austell, Truro, and Redruth pass by and resisted the temptation to pull faces out of the window at the few early morning commuters on the opposite platforms. At Hayle I tried to get a photo of the river but mostly got the back of Asda. The penultimate stop was St. Erth where I noted the way to the platform for the St. Ives Bay Line that I’d be on later. I also noted how wet the platforms looked.

Finally at ten past eight we arrived at Penzance - that was actually 15 minutes late so I might try my luck for Delay Repay 😄 I gathered up my luggage, which consisted of one 30l backpack, and alighted onto the platform with a lot of people who had obviously come equipped for a six month expedition to the outback. I headed directly to the coffee machine in the customer lounge and a seat on which to plan my next move.

I was in Penzance at 8.30 in the morning with five and a half hours to kill before I could check into my hotel in St. Ives. What the bloody hell am I supposed to do now?

Find out in the next “exciting” episode!

 

 Spoilers: Flickr Album of my photos from my Night Riviera  trip to Cornwall

EDIT 4th July. Got £14 back in Delay Repay for being 15 minutes late at Penzance and £21.20 (the full ticket price) back for the delay caused by the cancellation on the Sandhurst to Reading journey. Result!