UK rail trip – 2022
Day 30 – 2nd May, 2022
I checked out of the Holroyd Arms at around 09:00 to catch a bus to the Guildford area of Normandy. After getting the bus stops mixed up (ie: going the wrong way!), I hopped on a bus that would take me just over a kilometre from where I needed to get to. The remaining 1.3 km was a nice leisurely walk. It was sunny, not too warm (though a little humid). And, thankfully, there was a footpath most of the way down. The place I needed to get to was right by a railway line. I walked through the gates of a property named Purse Ryde Cottage. And what a nice property it was. There, I found Marcus, Oli and a number of wellwishers.
As mentioned in the previous post, Marcus and Oli are off on a round the world bicycle ride. As well as doing it for fun, they are also fundraising for School in a Bag. School in a Bag is a charity which provides school bags to children in countries where needed. Some children don’t have access to simple things such as pens, paper, a water bottle and so on. The cost of each schoolbag is £20. Please consider donating to Marcus and Oli’s cause, They had a bit of an issue with fundraising pages. Their original one was closed down when Virgin Money closed down their fundraising platform. As a result, they’ve had to start from scratch.
It was time to walk to the nearest station, which was Wanborough. It was only a 20 minute walk. I decided against catching the first train. I wanted to watch a few go by first. What else can an unreformed trainspotter do? 🙂
I caught a South Western Railway class 450 for the six minute trip to Guildford. A little faster than the trip I took this morning. Thinking about it, I could have caught the train rather than a bus. But that’s ok. It was an opportunity to take a different route.
A change of platforms and something to eat, I caught a South Western Railway class 444 for the half hour trip back to London Waterloo.
Depsite the half hour trip, it’s always nice to watch semi-rural become urban sprawl. Metropolitan London covers a lot of area. Travelling by train gives you the freedom of just being able to watch the world go by, without having to concentrate on driving.
For the next two nights, I’ll be staying at Prime Backpackers Angel again. So, I hopped on the London Undergound, checked in at the hostel, and then went out again. I decided to visit the Shad Thames area right near Tower Bridge. Instead of going directly there, I caught the London Underground back to London Waterloo and took a walk along the south bank of the Thames.
I arrived at Shad Thames. Why did I wish to visit here? The Shad Thames area was used as a filming location for 5th Doctor serial Resurrection of the Daleks as an old warehouse area. The plot included a time corridor operated by the Daleks.
Tomorrow, I’m off to Lowestoft – the most eastern settlement of the United Kingdom.