Part 5 – Onwards to London

Arrival at Paddington

When we pulled into Paddington Station, it was immediately apparent that we weren’t in sleepy Cornwall any longer. The station was packed with people, all charging about at high speed. It took a few minutes to barge our way through the crowds and out to the 215 bus stop. I had our Oyster Cards ready. It was rush hour, and the bus ride to Euston Road took quite a while. No matter – we were in the City, and it was all good to watch.

London

What did we do in London? Just about everything!

We arrived on a Friday. Saturday was spent just getting our bearings and riding around town on Double Decker buses.

I can say that I had lunch at Buckingham Palace – because we did! We took the full tour, then paused for sandwiches in the garden. To my amusement, a flock of Canada Geese were grazing on the Queen’s lawn, where all the garden parties happen. There are lots of references to Canada in London, but I never expected to find Royal Shithawks on the Palace lawn! anyways, while Queenie was not seen, the lunch in the outdoor cafe was above par.

After Buckhouse, we rode the London Eye – a great ride. Then we wandered over to Picadilly Circus, to find most of London out on the streets for the afternoon. On Monday, we did some shopping and found Soho, Carnaby Street, Notting Hill Gate, Belgravia, Pimlico, Regents Park, and Abbey Road….among other things!

These photos are in no particular order – it was all wonderful to see!

One evening, I took the camera to try and capture some shots of the new Routemaster double deckers. The original Routemasters still ply Route 15, and the new ones with their rear staircase and artsy staircase windows are just about everywhere. They are very cool.

While riding the buses, I happened to look up at random and noticed a familiar banner on top of a building. It was the former headquarters of the Grand Trunk Railway, later occupied by Canadian National Railways and now housing flats and a bus tour company. It was sobering to think that some key GTR personnel had left this building for a tragic ocean voyage on the Titanic.

Canterbury

On Wednesday, we took a very speedy commuter train – a Class 395 Javelin, the fastest train in Britain – to Canterbury, to visit the Cathedral there. It was an amazing church – full of history and heritage. It was also a stunningly huge structure. Jan lit a candle, just to contemplate the many things we have to be thankful for.

One final day of (rather excellent) trains

Very early on our final Tuesday in London, I rose especially early, and tiptoed out of our hotel room, leaving Jan to sleep and explore on her own for the day. I walked through quiet, empty streets up to Saint Pancras and over to Kings’ Cross Station. As I arrived at Kings’ Cross, the moon was just setting over the St Pancras trainshed.

Even at that early hour, Kings Cross was bustling. My mission on that morning was to connect with two other travellers, Jim Brown and Greg McDonnell, who were on their own railfan expedition around the UK. We connected just in time to grab a northbound Virgin HST, which took us to Doncaster.

What a pleasant way to share some time together – full English breakfast in the first class car, while the train sped northwards at a steady 125 mph!

Doncaster was fogged in on our arrival, but the trains were non-stop. I began to understand why for many British railfans, photography is not really a core pursuit. It’s simply too busy to be able to consistently stake out the right vantage point to take photos; logging them is as good as one gets. I was out of position for some, but there were so many trains it hardly mattered – we managed to get plenty of great shots mostly out of plain luck.

After taking our fill at Doncaster, we hopped yet another Virgin HST to York. The photography was even better here, thanks to the amazing train shed and an equal frequency of activity. We made friends with the station’s Constable, who graciously pointed us to a pub that offered an especially inexpensive and tasty lunch. Trust a copper to know the cheapest place to eat!

After lunch, we took in the National Rail Museum. It’s simply too chock full of stuff to absorb in a single visit. The back warehouses were especially intriguing, for their row after aisle after aisle of artifacts. It was a great place to try some detail shots of the beautifully restored and preserved rolling stock. Eventually, we retired to the Museum’s outdoor observation deck for some further photography.

Finally, after a full day of trains, it was time to head back to London. I grabbed a non-stop HST, while Jim and Greg headed north to Edinburgh. As luck would have it, my southbound train was headed by the Flying Scotsman locomotive, which had begun its day in Kings Cross, right in front of my camera, and passed us in Doncaster.

Finally, we head home

Our very last sightseeing jaunt took us to Ye Olde Mitre – one of the oldest pubs in London, and also one of the smallest. It took a while to find, because it’s down a back alley with very little to identify it. Once there, we had lots of fun. The patrons were lively and there for good conversation.

While I was in the UK, I took shots of just about every pub beer label that I sampled. One day, I will paste them all into a mosaic. For now

After lunch at Fuller’s Brewery, we stumbled by pure chance on one of the most interesting places we found in London – the Smithfield Meat Market. It’s the main meat terminal in London. Hidden behind the ornate Victorian gratings is a very modern and up to date refrigerated meat warehouse.

Smithfield has a long history in London, and it’s not all pleasant. It was where a man could take his wife if he no longer wanted her – wives were bought and sold here, once upon a time. Contract killers could be hired here, too.

The ornate ironwork and red telephone boxes were as good a symbol as any of the wonderful time we had in London.

What did we enjoy best about the UK? Definitely: the out of doors. Walking, hiking, camping, or just taking the dog for a stroll was the most prevalent pastime we encountered. Gardens and gardeners were everywhere. Even in the City, people lived with one eye on the weather, and their consciousness of the natural environment outside their door was wonderful. We took in very few museums, but we walked miles and miles. And then, most days we found a pub.

It’s hard to believe but – it has been 35 years since our last short visit to the UK.

We returned to Toronto exhausted. It was a long trip, but it passed in a flash. Now that we have our bearings, we will be back. There is so much more to see.