Great train journeys of our time
Mar. 31st, 2003 10:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarielYesterday, Mr Altariel and I actually left the house, to go to my niece's christening, in Rotherham. We went by train, since neither of us drive.
For those not familiar with the geography of Britain, Rotherham is in Yorkshire, which is a way north of Cambridge, although on the same side of the country (which theoretically makes train journeys a little more straightforward). We were due to arrive in Rotherham at 11.38am, and the christening service was starting at 12.30pm.
We left the house at 7.15am, and reached Stevenage at 8.15am. Stevenage is slightly further south than Cambridge. This actually makes sense in that it's where you pick up the mainline service heading north. Our connecting train was slightly late, and we left Stevenage at 9.15am. It was going to be tight make our connection at Doncaster (where we needed to change to a branch line to get to Rotherham), but we thought we could do it.
You can see where this is heading, can't you? Yes indeedy, the train crawled along the track, and I looked up from my book at around 9.45am to see, with some dismay, that we had reached Huntingdon - which is about... 15 miles north of Cambridge. As we struggled on, the guard announced that this train would be going no further than Peterborough and that 'to continue our journey northwards' we would be required to board the next train that was coming up the line, which was an hour behind this one. We would get to Rotherham shortly after the christening had started. I rang my sister. She is one of the nicest people alive. "It would be mad of you to come any further. Get off at Peterborough and go home."
So we got to Peterborough - which is, under normal circumstances, 50 minutes by train from Cambridge. Here was where we learned that there were engineering works on the line, and that since there was no service running between Peterborough and Cambridge, we would be required to catch a coach back. Traffic being well, this would take about an hour and a half.
Traffic was indeed well, at least through March and Ely, and it was a sunny Sunday morning and the fens looked beautiful. When we hit Cambridge, however, the traffic was not so well, it being a sunny Sunday morning, and a lot of people having decided that a nice way to spend it would be in a very lovely historical city. We crawled through traffic to the station.
Please be aware of the extra irony that we had come into Cambridge from the north, that the Altariels live right on the very north side of town, and that pretty much the first thing we saw on arriving in Cambridge was the roof of our house as we passed it by...
We got to the station shortly before 1pm. We did then stroll into town and, it being a nice sunny day, had a very nice lunch sitting outside King's and then a pleasant stroll around the town centre, but the upshot of the day was that we had spent £86 on a five hour train journey to Peterborough and back. We shall, indeed, be writing to get a refund on our tickets.
For those not familiar with the geography of Britain, Rotherham is in Yorkshire, which is a way north of Cambridge, although on the same side of the country (which theoretically makes train journeys a little more straightforward). We were due to arrive in Rotherham at 11.38am, and the christening service was starting at 12.30pm.
We left the house at 7.15am, and reached Stevenage at 8.15am. Stevenage is slightly further south than Cambridge. This actually makes sense in that it's where you pick up the mainline service heading north. Our connecting train was slightly late, and we left Stevenage at 9.15am. It was going to be tight make our connection at Doncaster (where we needed to change to a branch line to get to Rotherham), but we thought we could do it.
You can see where this is heading, can't you? Yes indeedy, the train crawled along the track, and I looked up from my book at around 9.45am to see, with some dismay, that we had reached Huntingdon - which is about... 15 miles north of Cambridge. As we struggled on, the guard announced that this train would be going no further than Peterborough and that 'to continue our journey northwards' we would be required to board the next train that was coming up the line, which was an hour behind this one. We would get to Rotherham shortly after the christening had started. I rang my sister. She is one of the nicest people alive. "It would be mad of you to come any further. Get off at Peterborough and go home."
So we got to Peterborough - which is, under normal circumstances, 50 minutes by train from Cambridge. Here was where we learned that there were engineering works on the line, and that since there was no service running between Peterborough and Cambridge, we would be required to catch a coach back. Traffic being well, this would take about an hour and a half.
Traffic was indeed well, at least through March and Ely, and it was a sunny Sunday morning and the fens looked beautiful. When we hit Cambridge, however, the traffic was not so well, it being a sunny Sunday morning, and a lot of people having decided that a nice way to spend it would be in a very lovely historical city. We crawled through traffic to the station.
Please be aware of the extra irony that we had come into Cambridge from the north, that the Altariels live right on the very north side of town, and that pretty much the first thing we saw on arriving in Cambridge was the roof of our house as we passed it by...
We got to the station shortly before 1pm. We did then stroll into town and, it being a nice sunny day, had a very nice lunch sitting outside King's and then a pleasant stroll around the town centre, but the upshot of the day was that we had spent £86 on a five hour train journey to Peterborough and back. We shall, indeed, be writing to get a refund on our tickets.
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 02:21 am (UTC)You see, it's all much better if you just don't go outside.
Re:
Date: 2003-03-31 02:27 am (UTC)'Ridiculous o'clock', I like that!
And you're damn right, it just confirms everything I'd ever suspected about leaving the house being A Very Bad Move.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 03:15 am (UTC)The weather seems great though. *dying to go to Europe*
Re:
Date: 2003-03-31 03:34 am (UTC)The weather is lovely here right now - a bit cool still, but bright and sunny. Spring is sprung!
no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 06:25 am (UTC)That's never stopped me.
Iain
no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 06:33 am (UTC)Usually doesn't stop me, but this was so ludicrously Not The Plan that we decided you just gotta laugh.
Is your blog down, btw, Mr Happy? I keep going to look and read, and leave as Ms Unhappy.
no subject
Date: 2003-04-01 04:45 am (UTC)Iain
Re:
Date: 2003-04-01 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 10:34 am (UTC)Too bad there's no way to get your wasted time refunded as well as your money.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-31 11:19 am (UTC)Actually (*guilty face*) we don't usually see Sunday mornings, so we ended up with a net gain when it came to time...