Tag Archives: trains

A Travel Adventure with Our Children – Life-long Friends

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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.

Looking across to Platform 17 – On the trains you are always warned to MIND THE GAP
We do not do trains in South Africa!

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.

Off for a country walk
An old Norman Church
Graveyard a little neglected but how sad that these parents lost two children
Cute garden decor
We need the bees!

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

The quintessential English village of Aldbury
Imagine having a post office and a post box again!
Red hot pokers and pink roses growing in an allotment garden
Common Wood Pigeons
Blackbird – female

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.

All the guides and stewards wear color and tie
The Mansion
This is where Alan Turng worked
Deniston’s Office
The LIbrary
I wonder if this was obeyed!
Only housewives?

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.

Canada Goose
Narrow Boat coming through a lock
A juvenile Eurasian Blue Tit
Greylag Goose
Swans and cygnets
Robin Redbreast

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.

Best Friends Forever – We even cross our legs the same way!
Lunch with Nicholas

JusJoJan

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As it is a New Year and I have been erratic with my blogging, I have decided to start the year by joining in the JusJoJan challenge – Just Jot it January. Linda gives us the daily prompt

Today’s prompt is ‘train’.

The word train has featured quite a bit in my life. I remember my mother saying that it was her duty to train her children. She needed to train us to have good manners, be obedient, and master certain skills. Strangely enough, I also remember her telling me that she had to train my hair to grow a certain way. Well, in training us to be well-behaved and become law-abiding citizens she certainly was successful but as far as training my hair was concerned – total failure there!

When I left school, I went to a college to train as a teacher. That was the best decision I ever made in my life and I believed I was trained very well.

Another part of my life where the word train featured was where it refers to a mode of transport. Oh yes – I rode a train throughout my childhood. In the days of my youth and in the part of the country where I lived riding a suburban train was the best mode of transport. I seldom rode on a bus and when I did it was a huge novelty and quite an adventure. I knew the names of all the stations from Fish Hoek where I lived to Simonstown and back to Fish Hoek and then all the way to Cape Town. I rode that train on my own from a very early age. I was seven when I knew how to look up the train timetable, which platform to wait on, how to purchase my ticket and where to get off. In those days it was perfectly normal and safe for a small child to travel unaccompanied by an adult on the suburban train. I would take the train to visit my grandmother – a half-hour journey, to go to the movies – a 15-minute journey and to go to my swimming lessons – a 10-minute journey. My friend and I also travelled on our own all the way to the city for her orthodontic appointments when we were just nine years old! Then for my last two years of school, I went to school in the city – an hour’s journey – and travelled by train to get there and back. What a great way to travel. These days the suburban train service is not as reliable as it was back in the sixties and seventies and crime has been a problem too. Things are in place now to rectify this but one would certainly not allow a small child to travel unaccompanied on a train.

When I went away to college the mode of transport to get there was an overnight train. In fact, the train took two nights. Sometimes this journey would involve changing at a place called De Aar in the middle of the Karoo. Four times a year there and back I would take this train and oh what fun it was! There were, of course, other students riding the train and travelling Second Class you would share a compartment with five others, the bunks being top, middle and bottom on each side! In the compartment was a single wash basin which we all shared. The loo and shower were a short walk down the corridor. Some of us would pay a little extra to get bedding while others would bring a sleeping bag. If you got bedding a steward would make up your bed for you each night. 

There was also a dining car and the food served there was not bad at all. Of course, as we were poor students we would choose the cheapest items on the menu.

The last time I slept on a train was in 1973. The last time I rode the suburban train was in 2004 when I took my grandsons on a train just for the fun of it! They were six and seven years old and had never been on a train in their lives. The look on their faces when the train rumbled into the station was priceless. And they loved it! The next time they went on a train was in their teens and we had to carefully explain how to use the train timetable, how to buy a ticket, which platform to wait on etc. 

Of course, when I travel abroad I use public transport and find it totally awesome. The freedom to just hop on a subway train or a bus and get to your destination without worrying about traffic is beyond amazing. 

Recently I hosted two young German tourists who had been travelling through Africa. They used public transport in every country but in South Africa, they hired a car because our public transport system is so unreliable. Oh if only our trains ran like they did in the sixties – how awesome that would be!