Friday, 31 May 2024 to Monday 3 June

A Train Adventure

WIth our overnight bag packed Earl and I set off to get the train from Clapham Junction. Our darling daughter, afraid we would not cope alone, walked to the station with us. We booked our tickets on Trainline, a wonderful app that gives you all the information needed. On this App we had our tickets with bar codes. I tried to tap in the same way I do with a credit card but this did not work. Fortunately, their was an attendant at the barrier. He showed us where to tap and we were in. Only ticket holders may pass through the barrier. Once on the other side we stood still and confused wondering which platform we had to find. Clapham Junction is huge! I am sure we would have got it right but Lollz asked the attendant if she could please assist her aged parents to find the right place, He very kindly agreed! It really was lovely to have her guide us to Platform 16 and see us safely onto the train.

Trainline is quite new to me. I had not investigated all its functions but once on the train I perused it and found that it tells you which platform to leave from, tracks your journey, informs you which station comes next, whether there is a delay, and what your ETA is. It would take just over an hour to get to Tring, but we would have to change at Watford Junction. We would have eight minutes to get from Platform 8 to Platform 10. But then the app informed me there was a slight delay and we would only have five minutes! Would our ancient legs move fast enough as we also had to drag a bag along with us! And being the train novices that we are we had no idea how far away this platform would be. Fortunately, the steps were not too difficult to negotiate and we made it down and then up with a minute to spare! What an adventure!

My BFF met us at Tring station. We have been friends since we were seven years and although we have only had brief spells of living in the same city or country we are still soul mates!

What a joyful reunion it was! The weekend was full of lovely activities including country walks, a visit to a quintessential English village, and an excursion to Bletchley Park.

Click on the first photograph then use arrows to see the slide show.

After having a lovely lunch at an Italian restaurant on Saturday we visited Aldbury.

On Sunday we visited Bletchley Park which was an incredible experience. Bletchley Park was kept a secret for many years and those who worked there signed the Secrets Act and it would have been treason to tell anybody where they worked or what they did. It was here where all the code-breaking efforts took place during World War 2. The most brilliant person at that time was Alan Turing who worked tirelessly to decrypt the Axis powers’ communications, significantly contributing to the Allied victory. The Victorian Gothic mansion and picturesque grounds were chosen as it was far enough from the city to be safe from bombing. Critical wartime intelligence work took place there and nobody was aware of it. This museum is well worth a visit. You could spend hours there and still not take it all in.

Before leaving we had lunch at the Bletchley’s restaurant and I was amused to see some posters from the war days.

The sun goes down very late at this time of year. At about 7 pm we set off for a walk along the canal to see the narrow boats and water birds and ended with a drink at a pub.

On Monday my brother who lives just half an hour from Jen came for a short visit and then gave us a lift back to London. Lollz joined us for lunch and then we took a Black Taxi back to Battersea.