An account of my return journey from my Cornish excursion, including a very large photo gallery.
In this post I bring the account of my Cornish sojourn to a close with an account of the return journey.
TIMING PROBLEMS
I was booked on the train leaving Plymouth at 3:15PM and had to be out of my hotel room by 10:30AM at the latest. My hope was that I could find somewhere to leave my bigger bag and spend much of the intervening time exploring Plymouth, but my hotel was not an option, being a place that did not offer full service, and Plymouth station proved not to offer that option either. Therefore I spent a long time in the vicinity of Plymouth station until I could board the train.
THE JOURNEY ITSELF
The train set off on time. My booked seat was on the wrong side of the train for the very scenic Newton Abbot – Exeter section, but the train was virtually empty, so I moved across temporarily, moving back as we arrived into Exeter St Davids (I don’t think the reservations were actually being enforced, but one can never be sure). The train arrived into Paddington as per schedule, and aside from the inevitable overcrowding my journey on the Hammersmith and City line to King’s Cross was also uneventful. The last potential problem area was Kings Cross train station where platform details are sometimes confirmed at the last minute. Fortunately on this occasion that did not happen, and I was settled in a seat near the front of the train in very good time. I was due to arrive at King’s Lynn at 9:00PM, and the train stuck to schedule. I made it back to my flat in decent time as well.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are my photographs from this day…
The dragonfly sculpture in San Sebastian Square.The expanse of Armada Way.It is not quite to my taste, but I can see the architectural merits of this building.The beginning of the seaside section of the route.
An account of a day in Plymouth, my last full day away from home on my recent excursion.
This will be the second last post about my recent visit to my parents in Cornwall (I arrived home at about 9:30PM yesterday), and deals with a period for most of which I was not in Cornwall.
CONFUSIONS OVER DATES
I had booked my train tickets, to and from Plymouth, based on the dates of my parents holiday in Crete being from the 3rd to the 17th of October. The actual dates were the 2nd to the 16th, which meant something had to be done for the final night of my time away. Originally I was going to be at the backpackers hostel on Union Street, but further changes occurred while I was at my parents place, and in the end I was booked to into Ocean Stays hotel on Citadel Road. This is not a full service hotel, and does not have a reception area, so check in has to be done online, and it also meant the necessity of speaking to someone about depositing the larger of my bags there to free me up a bit for the time before I could take possession of my room. Fortunately this was achieved fairly quickly, and by about 9:30 I was able to begin my exploration of Plymouth.
STARTING TO EXPLORE PLYMOUTH
Since The Hoe was more or less on the doorstep of my hotel I started my explorations from there. I also took in plenty of other stuff as you will see. For lunch I had a recommendation of a Turkish establishment at Derry Cross, which is at one end of Royal Parade, a wide thoroughfare which also serves as the start and end point for all Plymouth based bus routes, and which in conjunction with the even wider and entirely pedestrianized Armada Way forms a giant T that effectively defines Plymouth city centre. Armada Way is also the beginning of the route to Plymouth Railway Station, of which more in the final post in this series.
Dunya, for such is the name of the Turkish establishment in question, lived up to what I had been told. I ordered from their lunch menu – mixed olives with feta for a starter and lamb kofte for main, which with a ginger beer added in came to £16, and kept me going for the rest of that day.
For the afternoon I returned to the Hoe, and awaited details of the two codes I needed to be able to enter the hotel – a door code, and a code for the key safe in which the room key is kept between customers (these key safes are located just inside the hotel). By the time I got the two codes I was ready to turn in. My room proved to basic, but very acceptable. It had a shower, and a fridge, both fo which proved useful, but no chair, let alone a table, so I did my photo editing sat on the bed, with the computer actually living up to its official designation of lap top for once.
An account of a trip on the Tamar Valley line, complete with large photo gallery.
Yesterday was the first full of my stay in Cornwall, and this post describes my main activity for that day. Today the weather is truly vile – high winds, lashings of rain and more recently to add to the mix fog as well so that the lighthouse that is usually clearly visible from my parents apartment is currently entirely shrouded from view.
A PLAN MISFIRES
I was dropped in Plymouth yesterday with a view to purchasing a Devon and Cornwall railcard (cost £12) to gain a 1/3 discount on all train fares in the region for a year. Unfortunately such a card can only be obtained if documentation relating to an address in the area can be produced and I had no such documentation. However I bought a return ticket to Gunnislake, northern terminus of the Tamar Valley Line, cost £7.90. I had over an hour before the next train to Gunnislake was departing, so filled some of the time by gaining greater familiarity with the environs of Plymouth station. Pedestrian access from the station to other areas of town comes by a way of path that leads under a roundabout. The central area of the under-roundabout path is dedicated to wild flowers and is pleasant walking. The hour of my journey arrived…
A SCENIC JOURNEY
The journey to Gunnislake could be described as a journey of two parts in two different ways:
For the first small portion of line (Plymouth – St Budeaux Victoria Road)the stops are frequent and the surroundings urban, specifically a commercial port area whose best days were long in the past, before the line then becomes very rural in character and the stops become much more widely spaced.
The route has a hairpin at Bere Ferrers, so that the train reverses its direction fo travel for the last three stops on the route (Bere Alston, Calstock and Gunnislake).
Also, as I failed to realize for the outbound journey the windows on the side of the train from which you board at Plymouth and at Gunnislake for the return journey offer much finer views than the other, which is why the majority of my best photos from the two train journeys were taken on the return one where I positioned myself correctly.
GUNNISLAKE
Gunnislake village is down a significant hill from Gunnislake station, and Tamar Valley is still further down (I did not venture right down into the valley). The Cornish Inn offered an acceptable pint, and also a view of what I suspect to be Gunnislake’s most intriguing resident, an African Grey Parrot named Ozzy, complete with warning notice written from his perspective.
THE RETURN JOURNEY
It was sufficiently warm that I removed my jumper while in Gunnislake. The train (a two coach crawler, and fairly basic, though less spartan than the laughably misnamed ‘sprinters’ that used to do the Sheffield to Barnsley run when I lived in that part of the world) was due to depart at 15:14, and it actually did precisely that. The return run went well, and I made up for not having had many successful pictures on the outward run as you will see. I think that if I make a second excursion on this line at some point I will book to Bere Alston, walk from there to Bere Ferrers and pick up the return train at Bere Ferrers.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are the pictures I took yesterday…
This one was taken through the window of my parentt’s apartment.A few pictures from Plymouth Station and its immediate environs.The Tamar Valley section of the gallery begins here.The view from Maker Heights on the way from Plymouth to Fort Picklecombe.The lighthouse mentioned in the introduction, taken from outside the fort yesterday.
An account of my journey from King’s Lynn to Plymouth yesterday, with a fine photo gallery.
I am in Cornwall, staying with my parents for a few days. I travelled down yesterday, and that journey will be the subject of this post.
KING’S LYNN TO LONDON
I was booked on later trains than I would have liked – leaving Lynn on the 1:42Pm and arriving into Plymouth where my parents would be meeting me at 8:13PM. I set off from my home in North Lynn an hour before the train was due to depart from King’s Lynn, and was on the platform with huge amounts of time to spare. The train suffered a couple of minor delays en route to London but I still had over 50 minutes to get from King’s Cross to Paddington. I arrived at Paddington half an hour before the train to Plymouth was due to depart, but it took a long time for the platform information to be confirmed, and I had only a few minutes to make my way to my seat by the time that happened.
PADDINGTON TO PLYMOUTH
I was on a train that was stopping at more places than usual for a journey to Plymouth – Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary between Reading and Taunton. I got some good pictures between London and Exeter, but it was dark by the time I got to the seaside section of route between Exeter and Newton Abbot, and that meant it was hardly possible to take pictures due to the interference of reflections owing to the extreme contrast between the brightly lit train interior and the near darkness outside. The train arrived into Plymouth almost exactly as per schedule, which I understand is not a frequent occurrence with GWR long distance services. Apart from the overcrowding on the Hammersmith & City line between King’s Cross and Paddington the journey went well overall.
Concluding my mini-series about my long weekend in Cornwall with an account of the return journey.
Welcome to the final post in my mini-series about my long weekend in Cornwall. This post deals with the journey back to King’s Lynn.
THE BEST LAID PLANS OF MICE AND MEN
I was initially booked on the 11:15 from Plymouth, which would have seen me get home by approximately 6PM. Unfortunately due to ASLEF having an overtime ban that service was cancelled, and I opted instead for the same train my nephew was travelling on, which departed two hours later.
PLYMOUTH TO EXETER
My booked seat on the new train was not a window seat, but I observed two seats on the other side of the carriage that had been reserved from Plymouth to London, and once enough time had lapsed to be sure that neither passenger was actually aboard I moved across so that I got the good views available between Newton Abbot and Exeter. Thus I went from annoyed at not having a window seat to relieved and delighted. I made full use of it, as the following shows:
The first three pictures were taken from Fort PicklecombeNewton Abbot- the best bit of the route is between here and Exeter St DavidsA stack close to the cliff edge – a view which tells a story of coastal erosion.
EXETER ST DAVIDS TO HOME
The train arrived into Paddington as scheduled, and the journey to King’s Cross was pleasingly rapid. I had a substantial wait at that station before leaving on the 17:39 to King’s Lynn. That service ran well enough, and I made a quick stop at Morrison’s for some bare essentials on the way home. I got home at about 8PM, unpacked and then cooked supper. Although none of the rest of the journey offers quite such views I still got some decent photos…
From the position of these floodlight pylons and the church in the distance I deduce that this is Taunton Cricket Ground.A white horse on a hillside (this is a chalk hill, so this would be constructed by removing grass and topsoil).A rainbow at Waterbeach
Continuing my account of my most recent visit to Cornwall.
INTRODUCTION
Yes, Plymouth is Devon not Cornwall, but my visit to the town was part of my stay in Cornwall, so it belongs in this very spread out series of posts.
THE WAR MEMORIAL
This particular memorial honours those lost at sea as well as those killed in war, because Plymouth is very much a naval town.
A first, distant view of the memorial
A series of close-ups – each vertical bronze panel around the base is a list of names.
OTHER PICTURES FROM HISTORIC PLYMOUTH
There were plenty of other things to see around the sea-front…
A quirky pavong arrangement…
…and an explanatory plaque
AN ITEM OF SHERLOCKIANA
It will be no news to followers of this blog that I am a fan of the world’s first and greatest consulting detective, so it was pleasing to acquire a photograph with a connection in that direction:
One of Holmes’ most famous cases takes place on Dartmoor, not far from Plymouth.
THE RETURN CROSSING
It was now time to recross the county boundary into Cornwall, one again on the Edgecumbe Belle.
The latest installment in my series “A Grockle’s Eye View of Cornwall”. This starts my coverage of Saturday in Plymouth.
INTRODUCTION
My nephew needed some things that we had to go to Plymouth for, and so he, my mother and I took the Cremyll ferry to Plymouth, attended to the shopping and then went up on to The Hoe (subject of my next post).
THE CREMYLL FERRY
Once we were safely aboard the ferry it was time for the camera to do its work:
THE SHOPPING PART OF THE EXPEDITION
We had a substantial walk from the ferry terminal on the Plymouth side to the shopping area, during which I saw a few things to photograph:
Depending on your viewpoint this is…
…either the first or last pub in Devon
The Greedy Goose, this is also the oldest house in Plymouth. I did not get to eat here, but it is a splendid building.
My account of the homeward journey from Fort Picklecombe.
INTRODUCTION
We have reached the penultimate post about my Cornish holiday – the last day. This post details the long journey home.
STARTING OFF
The length of time it took to get from Plymouth to Fort Picklecombe on the Thursday was playing on my mind, and I wanted to be sure that we were away before 9AM, since my train was due to depart Plymouth at 10:44, and I reckoned that a single ticket from Plymouth to London bought on the day (London-Lynn would still have been valid on the original ticket) woulkd probably cost more than my original ticket (in this assessment, to borrow from history, there was the proverbial “cubit of error my way that does not obscure the 99 cubits of error the other way” – actually said ticket would have been fractionally less. Nevertheless, I did get a few lasy pictures before leaving the fort:
A first for me – the first time I have captured a heron on camera.
On the journey into Plymouth I managed to snap two pictures from the back of the camper van:
I had some time to kill at Plymouth station and did so by taking photographs…
An avian passenger?
PLYMOUTH – LONDON
This train was a service called “The Cornish Riviera”, which starts in Penzance and snails up through Cornwall stopping pretty much everywhere and then makes up time by calling only at Exeter St Davids and Reading between Plymouth and London. Although I had an aisle seat on this journey, and no opportunity to move to the window seat I was not going to be denied at least some photos. I got a good few between Plymouth and Exeter and a handful thereafter…
Exeter St Davids (two images)
This chalk horse, carved directly out of the hillside, is visible at distance at a time when the train is at full speed.
Reading station
Royal Oak – the Hammersmith & City line’s last station west of Paddington. The next station towards Hammersmith, Westbourne Park, used to offer an interchange with mainline railways but nowadays Ealing Braodway is the last mainline station before Paddington. Back in the old days there was a connection – the first locomotives to run over what was then The Metropolitan Railway were supplied by the Great Western, while this extension to Hammersmtih opened in 1864, only one year after the original.
LONDON TO KING’S LYNN
I crossed to the Hammersmith and City line platforms, nos 15 and 16 of the main station, and waited a long time for an eastbound train, then discovering that it was terminating at Edgware Road (very odd indeed for a train from Hammersmith), so I had to change again. I arrived at King’s Cross and was just in time to catch the 14:44 to King’s Lynn, which was not overfull (as the 15:44, the next service, certainly would have been). This means that I was at home and unpacking by 5PM.
This picture was the cause of minor quarrel – I was challenged by another passenger as to why I was taking pictures of his friend, and it took my a while to get the point across that I was not, and that it was this map which was my target. His friend’s hat did appear in the uncropped version, but no face was visible, and my only interest was the map. I was perhaps a little harsh as I was fully expecting to miss my intended connection at Kings Cross due to the delays on this leg of the journey.
The platform from which the train to King’s Lynn was l.eaving was revealed with a mere eight minutes to spare, and if you going to Lynn you have to go to the front of the train (or else get out and dash along the platform at Cambridge).
To explain the title of this post, Kernow is the Cornish name for Cornwall, and that is where I am at the moment, staying for a few days in my parents new home. Here is a map to start things off:
My parents new place is near Kingsand, towards the bottom centre of the map.
In this post I will tell you about the stage I left the November auction in, describe my journey down from King’s Lynn and finish with a few pictures from the new house.
JAMES & SONS NOVEMBER CATALOGUE
I had booked Thursday and Friday as leave, and in order to be as up to date as possible before going on leave I agreed to work Monday as well as Tuesday. By the end of Tuesday the imaging was as complete as possible, and I had given my colleague Andrew a start towards the printed catalogue, with a front cover image selected and placed appropriately on the page and the back cover completed. I offer links to the files and also screenshots:
Why two versions of the front cover? Well my employer did not like my initial choice of front cover image, requesting the coin book in its place, and being me I kept both versions.
KING’S LYNN TO CORNWALL
The first part of my journey was on the 9:54 train from King’s Lynn to London, which mirabile dictu ran to time. As far as Cambridge I had the company of Jo Rust, Labour candidate at the last two general elections in my constituency. Ely Cathedral was, as often, a target for my photographic attentions:
On arrival at King’s Cross I headed down to the Circle/ Hammersmith & City/ Metropolitan lines to get a train across to Paddington. The first train was heading for Uxbridge, therefore not one for me to take, but the second was bound for Hammersmith, and hence going by way of the right Paddington, the one that is structurally part of the mainline station, as opposed to the Circle/ District line station that should revert to it’s original name of Praed Street.
Looking across Paddington from the H&C platforms (these are platforms 15 and 16 of the main station).
Having a had a decent but not stellar connection at King’s Cross I arrived at Paddington with just under an hour to go before my train for the long-haul section of the journey was due to depart. Although careful to stay close to the information screens that I would not miss the platform number for my train when it came up I did get some photos while I waited for this information.
I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked during the train journey to Plymouth, as my camera’s battery ran out of charge just beyond Exeter (so no pics from Newton Abbot, Totnes or the approach to Plymouth). The train arrived in Plymouth exactly on schedule, making it a jackpot-like two train journeys in Britain on one day that had run to time!
The first stop out of Paddington – from here there was a long fast run to Taunton, then Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes and Plymouth.
Some Cornish refreshment from the on-train bar, although at prices that would have made the proprietor of a plush central London pub blush (£4.50 for a half-litre bottle!)
A first glimpse of the sea on this journey.
Picklecombe Fort, wherein my parents have their new apartment is about 2.5 miles from Plymouth as the crow flies, but the road journey is so roundabout that this portion of the journey took almost the same amount of time as King’s Lynn – London had at the start of the day!
THE FIRST CORNISH PICTURES
This morning, with my camera battery fully charged I took some pictures here at Picklecombe Fort.
The guest bedroom has an ensuite bathroom cunningly disguised as a set of cupboards.
Mean spiritedness from the previous owners.
My parents library.
Three views from my bedroom window…
The rest of these pictures were taken from the balcony, and show the apartment’s #1 selling point – the sea views.
The third picture I took featuring the lighthouse.
Letting people know that I will be visiting Cornwall in the near future, and a few other bits and bobs.
INTRODUCTION
My parents have recently moved to a place near Plymouth, and all they are currently out of the country travelling they will be back for a month or thereabouts from late October. I will be visiting their place in mid-November. I have asked for leave on the 9th and 10th of November so that I can go down on the 8th and come back on the 13th.
THE JOURNEY
To get from King’s Lynn to Plymouth (nearest station to my parents’ new place) by public transport one needs to to travel from King’s Lynn to London King’s Cross, get a Hammersmith & City line train from King’s Cross to Paddington and then travel from Paddington to Plymouth (I already knew this). The journey takes in the region of six hours (I expected this to be the case but until I investigated did not know for certain). This why I requested leave for the two days concerned because the two days on which one travels are not going to be much use for anything else.
THE TICKETS
I discovered via www.thetrainline.com that tickets were available for £57. Thus I have made the booking and picked up the tickets.
COLLECTING THE TICKETS
Having made the booking I was assigned a code I could use to collect the tickets:
I decided that memorising an alphanumeric code of eight characters would be a bit of an ask even for me, so I called in at the library where I could screenshot the email containing the above, paste into paint and edit as appropriate before printing at a cost of 10p.
From there it was a short walk through the park to the station to pick up the tickets.
Outbound ticket
The Homebound ticket
The receipt.
The email giving me the code to collect my tickets also included itineraries for both journeys.
This is a little stretched out, but I for one would not care to be on a train the was due to arrive at Kings Cross at 12:35 when I had to make a connection at Paddington at 13:05 – given British public transport’s usual “punctuality” that would be courting disaster.
The journey back could be a little quicker – but note that since there is no pre-booking on the London to Lynn line it is merely an annoyance should I miss the 14:44.
THE BRILLIANT.ORG 100-DAY
SUMMER CHALLENGE
I recently received (by email) my certificate for having attempted all 100 of the problems (almost 50,000 people attempted at least one of these problems, of whom 1,797 attempted the whole lot).
Before moving on to the photographs that will conclude this post I offer you…
A PUZZLE OF MY OWN CREATION
Archaeologist and adventurer Idaho Johnson is near to making the biggest find of her life, but to do so she needs to get past the “Door of Death”:
Can you fill in the missing fourth vertical panel of numbers and get Ms Johnson through the “Door of Death”? As a bonus question can you identify the real door that I have used to create the above image?
aspiblog 