Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Afternoon Update)

    St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Afternoon Update)

    St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

    As day zero of this week of walking St. Cuthbert’s Way continues, we approached the afternoon. Sarah and Andy were in Melrose having alone time, as I think the hotel staff had said they could do what they wanted in their room. I didn’t ask. Gordon was now furious at the garage music being played in Carriage B of the train, Steve was listening to music in the quiet coach and Susanna was phoning her daughter in Carriage B. I was quite content as I had a beer.

    I was leaving Galashiels having popped into the Wetherspoons for the aforementioned beer, ready to get the train into Tweedbank. There’s some interesting stuff about this line, it’s a reinstated railway service now known as the Border Railway, but it was formerly known as the Waverley Line. The line was shut in 1969, but reopened again in 2015, although only as far as Tweedbank. It was never extended to Melrose, which seems a bizarre decision to me given that it’s a tourist town of some importance (and also as that’s where I wanted to go). But, at least something has opened here and what a lovely service it is.

    And here’s Tweedbank railway station, the end of the line.

    I decided to walk along the link path which connects Tweedbank to Melrose, which is a clearly marked river path by the Tweed which went through some scenic countryside.

    The photos above are all of the walk into Melrose, really quite a lovely little meander and just over 1.5 miles in length.

    I checked into my little room at Burt’s Hotel in Melrose, before heading out for a little explore around this historic market town. More on the hotel later as it’s also where our night’s meal was, as well as where Gordon came out with some quotes that I’ll write about later. As an aside, it’s now 23:00 in Melrose and there’s certainly a vibrant nightlife that I can hear from the hotel window. Indeed it’s very vibrant indeed, and I’m not entirely sure I mean that in a positive manner. Anyway, I like the sound of nightlife, so it won’t disturb or annoy me.

    These photos were taken at Priorwood Garden, which is now a National Trust for Scotland site (there was meant to be an admission charge, but they don’t seem to be collecting it and I’m a member of the National Trust anyway). They note that “the gardens have been part of the abbey estate, a kitchen garden for a grand house and a valuable market garden during the Second World War”. The house was lived in by James Curie, an archaeologist who also oversaw the excavations of the nearby Roman fort of Trimontium.

    Melrose Abbey is closed inside at the moment, but is a former Cistercian monastery which was the main religious house in Scotland until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. A lead container has been found which is said to be the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce and numerous Scottish Kings are buried here.

    A sign of the times……

    This is Harmony Garden, also run by the National Trust for Scotland, with the house here having been constructed by Robert Waugh in 1807.

    I then walked down to the River Tweed and had a look at the listed structure that is the Melrose Chain Bridge. This was opened on 26 October 1826 by Redpath Brown & Co of Edinburgh and was restored in 1992. It also has the little problem at the moment that social distancing means that if anyone is on the bridge, then you have to wait for them to finish crossing. There was an elderly man who was walking slowly with a stick (a local I assume, not Gordon) which caused a little bit of a traffic jam at one end, but everyone remained friendly and patient.

    This is an interesting little structure, although not much is visible under that scaffolding. It’s an eighteenth century doocot (or dovecote) and over the years it hasn’t been well cared for, with some rickety old iron structures being placed against it. These are being fixed and the building restored under the supervision of Historic Scotland.

    But, it was at this point as I got back to the hotel that the main event started to unfold. Steve, Gordon, Susanna and Susanna’s baggage had reached Tweedbank. Finally, the six of us were nearly in one place and there had been no delays with the rail service. But then there was the challenge of meeting up…..

  • St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Lunch-Time Update)

    St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Lunch-Time Update)

    St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

    Apologies for those who have little interest in this exciting trip that six of us are on, but my blog rarely has riveting content, so I’m sure readers can just ignore the irrelevant bits. I’ve discovered that Sarah and Andy have flown up to Edinburgh, whereas Susanna, Gordon and Steve are getting the train from Norfolk. Above is Gordon and Steve, note that he’s on his bloody phone again. You take him out and he sits and messages people, it’s all very anti-social. Steve didn’t say anything about it, he’s very tolerant.

    Susanna arrived on the train in Attleborough to meet up with Steve, although Gordon was still on his phone apparently so didn’t notice. Susanna had 23 bags with her, but like a gentleman, Steve offered to help her.

    Whereas I’m getting the train from Edinburgh, and this is the lunch-time train to Tweedbank. I wondered whether I’d meet Andy and Sarah on the platform, but they managed to jump off the inbound train. I’m not quite sure how they managed to do that, but a very lovely surprise. They then got off the inbound train back onto the same train to go outbound. I didn’t ask what on earth they were doing.

    Here are Andy and Sarah on the train and we had a good gossip about Gordon, my 100 (have I mentioned I walked 100 miles?) and numerous other things.

    Here I am with my Pret peppermint tea which I’m hoping will calm my nerves before Gordon arrives. The excitement was starting to mount with half the group now nearly at the start point of Melrose and as Alan Partridge would say “it’s all happening now”. Then some exciting news came in from Gordon about Carriage B on his train from Peterborough to Edinburgh. He noted “f****** awful – jungle beat music playing, might have to move carriage”. Seems like there’s a raucous traveller in Carriage B playing music and annoying him and Susanna, but it’s fortunate that Steve is in Carriage A. It’s important that the walk leader is well rested.

    Andy and Sarah got off at Tweedbank and got the bus to Melrose, as for reasons unknown Andy wants a haircut (even though his hair is already short) and I’ve got off at Galashiels (the photo above is of the river – I think the Gala Water – running through the town) as there’s a Wetherspoons in the Good Beer Guide that I wanted to visit. I’m getting back on the train soon and will then be getting off at Tweedbank and walking to the hotel in Melrose. Andy and Sarah got the bus as they’re lazy.

    So, that’s the little update for the moment, we shall see what develops when the three travellers from the south finally get here later today.

  • Edinburgh – Bow Bar

    Edinburgh – Bow Bar

    It’s been a little difficult visiting the local pubs in the Good Beer Guide, as many of them have been closed or are operating on heavily reduced hours. It transpired that Bow Bar has only just reopened as well, due to a staff member having Covid-19 last month, which must have been a blow after they were finally allowed to open. However, they certainly seem to have been honest and open about the situation, and everything is back to normal now for this bar.

    There was a very friendly welcome from the staff member at the door, she was conversational and welcoming. I did wonder whether this small bar might be a little cliquey, but it absolutely wasn’t, there was a nice relaxed atmosphere inside.

    There’s an interesting decor in the bar. I would normally meander around and take a couple more photos, but under the current situation, that wouldn’t be sensible.

    I don’t drink whisky as it’s too, er, powerful in flavour, for me. I like beers that have been in aged whisky casks, but the whisky itself does nothing for me. There were some tempting options here in the whisky month that the pub was running, with I note numerous flavours similar to those that can be found in beers. There were some very decadent options as well, so I can imagine Richard might well have been tempted by them (especially the expensive ones). It’s great to see such a wide selection available for whisky drinkers though, a few customers were drinking through some of the options on this list.

    There is a beer board, but it’s at the other end of the bar. The enthusiastic staff member checked whether I was a whisky or beer drinker, before carefully explaining all of the different beer options. I have a problem that I can’t remember a list of options, I just stop the staff member when they tell me a beer that sounds interesting. I liked the enthusiasm of the staff member as well, she must have to repeat the beer list a lot, but she remained helpful and willing, seemingly to genuinely want people to get a drink they’d like. Never scripted and never routine, I like it, although I did wonder whether it’d be easier to just have a print out of the beers they had. But, it was a good way to allow the staff member to engage, so all was well.

    My new drinking partner who spent the entire time ignoring me and looking the other way. I have some friends like this to be fair and it’s very annoying when I want to tell them about craft beer. The bar has put these giant teddies on some seats to aid social distancing, a really nice idea. Non confrontational and adding to the atmosphere, rather lovely. I did name the teddy, but I won’t put the name here….

    The beer that I chose was the Mochaccino Stout from Pilot, which is a micro-brewery from Leith, in Edinburgh. It had a rich flavour and had a smooth chocolate and coffee edge to it, although the aftertaste seemed to dissipate a little quickly. A really pleasant beer though and for some reason, it seemed appropriate for the bar that I was drinking it in.

    Looking at the reviews, the bar certainly seem to be doing something right as they’re nearly all very favourable. There are a few really idiotic comments levelled at the bar and they do sometimes reply in quite a punchy manner. I like that, genuine complaints treated with respect, but idiocy dealt with accordingly. Like the person who felt appropriate to leave 1/5 as they wouldn’t let his 17 year old daughter in, even though that is what the bar’s licence states.

    And someone who complained that they didn’t serve Guinness. I love the bar’s answer:

    “I see you have edited your review to now complain that we don’t serve Guinness. If we wanted to serve something that tasted like Guinness, we would serve Guinness. However, we support smaller independent breweries, and we have an alternative stout for the dark beer drinkers. If you don’t like it, that’s not our fault, and I don’t see how you can get so upset over it. It’s just beer at the end of the day.”

    Someone also complained that they paid £5 for a pint. The bar’s response was moderate, adding “PS, we are not Wetherspoons” at the end. Fair play, there’s a place for JD Wetherspoon as far as I’m concerned, but there’s even more of a place for brilliant little independent bars like this who focus on great customer service and beer from small, local breweries.

    I really liked this bar, primarily because the service was personable, pro-active and simply welcoming. This is certainly one of my best pub experiences of the year so far that isn’t in a chain (well, in a Brewdog) and it absolutely deserves to be in the Good Beer Guide. It’s in a touristy area of Edinburgh, so I imagine they get a real mix of locals and visitors from further afield, but the welcome seemed authentic to all. All very lovely.

  • St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Introduction)

    St Cuthbert’s Way Trip – Day 0 (Introduction)

    St. Cuthbert’s Way – Resources and Index

    Later today (Friday) a group of us will be gathering to walk St. Cuthbert’s Way, a long distance path (here’s the LDWA web-page about it) which goes from Melrose in Scotland to Lindisfarne in England. The walk is 62.5 miles and we seem to be taking a week to walk it. Yes, that isn’t a typing error, we’re taking a week to walk this (I did wonder why we can’t walk it in one go). I have to remember that some of the group are quite elderly though and can’t rush along it. And it’s sometimes nice to walk very slowly and enjoy the surroundings of our 8 miles in one day.

    I have permission to blog this trip in some detail. By permission, Bev has told me that I can, and indeed, I must. She can no longer come on this trip due to extenuating circumstances, so she’ll just be interfering from afar. This means that we have the following people going along:

    Sarah and Andy – Sarah is a stalwart of walking trips, and Andy is coming along to support here. I have to be polite about Andy as I don’t really know him yet.

    Gordon – I’ve been told not to mention Gordon’s considerable wealth, so I will just note here that he’s on an above average pension. He is very energetic at social events, or at least the ones he turns up to. He is also the most likely to employ legal counsel to start any libel claims, so I will be very careful in what I write. There was confusion when someone thought that Gordon was 74, but he isn’t, he’s 66, he just acts a bit older than his years.

    Steve – The most photogenic member of the group and one of the best drivers I know. Although that’s a bit irrelevant as he’s not driving on this trip. Steve is leading the trip and taking responsibility for any little disasters along the route.

    Susanna – Aged just under 50, Susanna is smooth, subtle and I can’t say she’s got more energy than Bev (not after I mentioned that before anyway).

    Julian – Well, that’s me. The group’s official blogger, photographer and fact taker about anything that goes on. Bev has mentioned that what happens on the trip should stay on the blog, so that’s that sorted (and it might be good for readership numbers).

    Anyway, we’re all in different places at the moment. I’m already in Edinburgh, whereas Gordon, Steve and Susanna are getting the train up together from Norwich today. I have no idea where Sarah and Andy are, I’ve got so muddled up about that situation that I daren’t ask now. I was going to meet them in Edinburgh later today and get the train to Tweedbank before walking the 1.5 miles to the hotel. However, Susanna has a bloody great wheelie bag and Gordon is infirm, so they need to get public transport as they can’t carry their excessive luggage (I think Gordon is carrying some of his money **). They’re paying people to move their bags for them (as in an official company, not Steve or I).

    Privately, it comes to something where they have to get a taxi or bus to the start of a walking holiday as they can’t walk 1.5 miles, but I didn’t say anything. Steve is doing the sensible thing, and not bringing 18 changes of outfit to carry along with him. Along with me, he’s the tough one of the group so far.

    I’ve got the Cicerone Book for this route on my phone, written by Rudolf Abraham. Normally I then promptly don’t bother to read any of it during the week, but this time I’ll try and read some of it to get some extra bits of history. But, the real focus of this blog is to surprise and delight my readership about what the group are getting up to. Luckily, I guess only Steve and Bev will read it, so I can write what I like.

    ** – Can I just note that Gordon might not be carrying money, so any criminals reading this, please don’t mug him en route to the start of the walk.

  • London – Still No Refund from Accor

    London – Still No Refund from Accor

    Well, this isn’t ideal.

    A few weeks ago, Accor managed to book me into a hotel that was shut. They booked another hotel for me (for which they wanted a second payment), and said they’d call back the day after to resolve the matter. Two different staff members said that I would be refunded for the new stay as it was Accor’s fault. At the time I thought this was handled well and they mentioned they considered it very serious (they seemed to consider it more serious than I did) and seemed keen to help.

    I’ve been refunded some points by the closed Mercure Heathrow hotel for incidental expenses (which I kept to near zero, which was again generous of me given the circumstances), but haven’t heard a thing since (and they didn’t tell me that they had done this either). What is particularly annoying is that if I had booked with a third party booking site such as booking.com or hotels.com, then I would never have had to pay for the second hotel. As it stands, I’ve still paid for two hotels for three nights and Accor have refunded neither.

    I’m in the difficult position that Amex have said that they can arrange a chargeback to force Accor to respond. However, these are exceptional times and Accor have a lot of staff furloughed, so I’ve been giving them longer, although they’ve ignored me for a month. I asked Novotel Heathrow for help, but they’ve decided they won’t be responding at all. I can’t blame them, the Accor press office hasn’t replied either, so this seems to be a new cultural thing within the hotel company.

    Hopefully my £255.55 might be returned soon. It’s definitely not ideal.

  • Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Edinburgh – Brewdog Edinburgh Lothian Road

    Given that I’m working my way through all the Brewdogs in the UK, it’s probably about time that I started visiting some of their Scottish outlets, given that’s the country that they come from. They have two outlets in the centre of Edinburgh, but I started with this one as it’s the only one of the two which offers unlimited chicken wings on a Wednesday. The other Brewdog is in Cowgate and has a menu similar to the one that we had in Clapham a couple of weeks ago, offering food such as pizzas and cheese boards (Richard would be pleased).

    I was seated near to the bar, in what I considered to be a rather good location since I could see what was going on. The welcome seemed genuinely friendly and the staff members were always polite, but they weren’t pro-active in talking about the beers in a way that some other Brewdog bars have been. But Brewdog set themselves a high bar in terms of their engagement, so there was nothing wrong here, just other venues in the chain have their staff talk about the beer in quite a natural way even when customers have already ordered it via the app.

    This is the rear of the bar, which they’d closed off when I visited as they didn’t have sufficient customers to need it. This is a large Brewdog outlet and they also have a fair amount of space outside, so finding a seat is usually not a problem most of the time.

    The beer fridges.

    Indeed I did….. Actually, this reminds me that I booked 16:45 because 17:00 was unavailable. I’m not sure I understand Brewdog’s logic here, since they had no more customers in at 17:00 than they did at 16:45, as can also be noted from the closed off rear area.

    I went for two drinks, just getting thirds of each as usual. This is the One Day Maybe Never from Verdant Brewing, which was a little disappointing as there was nothing particularly exciting about this beer in terms of flavours or the depth of taste. The brewery is from Cornwall and I’ve had a few of their beers before, including the Even Sharks Need Water, Bloom and Maybe One More PSI, but this was the blandest that I’ve had from them in terms of the flavour.

    I then followed this up with Cosmic Raspberry from Overworks, which is Brewdog’s own brewery. This beer didn’t hugely excite me either, it was just tart, without much smoothness to it. The taste of raspberry wasn’t unpleasant, but I had expected something a little more sophisticated.

    I’m not helped here either by having nearly run out of different Brewdog beers to try, I might have to put a gap in between my next visit so that they can rotate the guest beers that they have to choose from. They do change their guests relatively frequently, but the guest beer menu in Edinburgh was similar to what they had in their London bars.

    I went for the unlimited chicken wings again, since I haven’t had them for two weeks. Served at the usual very hot temperature where I have to let them sit for a few minutes, they were different in shape to other Brewdog outlets, which slightly surprised me as I wasn’t sure that there were many different options in this regard. I didn’t let it bother me….

    And more…. And quite a few more that I didn’t take photos of. The service was always efficient and I was never left waiting for long, so the whole bar felt well managed. it was well staffed, indeed to the point that I wondered if they’d been expecting more guests.

    Anyway, obviously there’s a limit to how unique Brewdog bars are when comparing them to each other, but this was a perfectly pleasant experience. I was never rushed and I liked the engagement from staff, with complete compliance with the current Covid rules. It wasn’t overly busy, although they were getting a steady flow of customers, and the bar is genuinely pretty well reviewed. So, all fine for me and no issues.

  • Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    Edinburgh – Conan Doyle Pub

    The Good Beer Guide hasn’t been able to achieve much for me today, as every pub in it that I tried to visit was shut, including those which were meant to be open. I’m moderately confused by this, as Edinburgh is busy and other pubs seem to be doing well. Anyway, that meant an opportunity to just try some other pubs and see what I could find. The Conan Doyle takes its name as it’s near the birthplace of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born at Picardy Place on 22 May 1859. For reasons unknown (or at least, unknown to me), the home of his birth was demolished in the early 1970s.

    The pub is Nicholson’s, so arguably I could have just stayed in London as they have no shortage of venues there. The set-up is the same, although I’ve had to download a different check-in app, as the one I’ve been using is created by NHS England. There was a staff member at the entrance to guide me through the process, all efficiently managed. I didn’t have to fight to use the app here, they didn’t seem to object to me using technology rather ordering through them.

    There’s apparently usually a wide selection of real ales, but at the moment it’s limited to just Nicholson’s Pale Ale or Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. I got my 25p off half a pint, making the price £2.20, which isn’t unreasonable given the location. The beer was all that a pint of Landlord could be, it was entirely adequate and well kept, but not really anything more. The surroundings were relaxed and the pub was relatively busy, although it was never full when I was there. Unlike the Nicholson’s pubs that I’ve been visiting in London over the last couple of weeks, this one seemed to be serving a fair amount of food.

    I did look at the menu on-line (although I was saving myself for Brewdog food) and thought frickles were some local speciality. They’re actually stocked throughout the Nicholson’s chain and I’ve just never noticed, but they’re beer battered gherkins and that is something I’d very much like. I might e-mail Greggs, they need to stock decadent products like this. There is though some localisation, as the pub stocks haggis, neeps and tatties, as well as the dishes of Stovies and Balmoral Chicken. They also have the dessert of Cranachan, which I’d never heard of until Andrew ordered it when we were in the Isle of Skye a few years ago. As an aside, one customer complained that they weren’t happy with their small portion size of haggis (I would have been, I don’t like haggis) and the pub replied in a review they would have been give more free if they had asked. Handy tip for anyone visiting in the future…..

    As a pub, this was all fine, as it was clean and comfortable. Nothing exceptional, but the environment was welcoming and there were a few customers sitting on their own, usually a sign of an accepting environment. I had a little look through their reviews on-line, which are broadly positive. I quite liked the one from last year:

    “Obviously you get the odd ignoring while waiting at a bar for service wherever you are, but this was just blatant. I must assume it was because we were English, as the bar was full of Scottish indy stuff. Bit ironic as I fully support the Scottish Nationalists”.

    I’m a bit bemused by that one, as I’m not sure that staff in a pub in central Edinburgh are going to turn against anyone who sounds a bit English. I also didn’t see all the Scottish independence stuff that is mentioned, just a sign for Scottish malts. The pub didn’t bother replying to that review.

    Drifting off the subject somewhat (but I’ve become judgemental reading these reviews), a customer complained that they were given an unsuitable wonky table for two and asked for a larger one which was more convenient for them. The pub reply was “this is standard practice as you would know, having visited so many restaurants before”. I’m not sure it is, I’ve seen very many venues sacrifice larger tables to please their customers, thereby avoiding the negative review that this pub ended up with. The pub has a few negative reviews similar to this one, but there we go….

    I did though like the pub’s reply to a customer who complained that he was patient whilst waiting for his beer, but was then charged over £5 for it. The reply was “unfortunately in Scotland this doesn’t entitle anyone to a change in the price. You have yourself a wonderful day!” and that seemed a most suitable response.

    I was also amused by an angry Canadian who was furious he had to go to the bar in the pub to order and then carry the drinks back himself to the table. I’m not entirely sure that he got the spirit of pub culture in the UK. Anyway, I’ve now got entirely distracted from my initial aim of writing a few comments about the pub. All was fine, but nothing exceptional, but it’s nice for Sherlock Holmes fans to visit.

  • London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    London Euston to Edinburgh Waverley – Caledonian Sleeper

    I needed to get to Edinburgh this week and I looked at numerous different options. Annoyingly, it was just as cheap to fly, but it’s not very environmental to fly domestically and so I decided against that given there were alternatives. There were some cheap fares to get between the two cities, but then I remembered the sleeper service which operates from London Euston.

    The concourse of Euston railway station. Fun fact, this dreadful station was actually designed to have no seating to prevent people from loitering. Welcome to the world of British Rail customer service. This decision was later reversed and seating has been installed, but there isn’t much for what is a substantial mainline station. Anyway, I’ve digressed already.

    The handy thing I discovered is that the sleeper service can be boarded over an hour before its departure. The platform number was announced, so I thought I might as well board. I’m always early for flights, trains, coaches and indeed everything, so this was all quite handy.

    Here we go, departing from platform 15.

    The train looked modern and clean. I hadn’t realised that the service didn’t operate for a couple of weeks in June due to a strike over staff pay. I’m not getting involved with commenting on that, but that’s a very disappointing state of affairs that must threaten the viability of a service like this moving forwards.

    I must admit that I found all this quite exciting, probably evidence that I need to grow up. A member of staff met me at the end of the platform just to check that I was in the right place and they then directed me towards a steward. He checked my ticket and then guided me towards where I needed to go on the train.

    I had just booked a seat rather than a cabin, as I’m not made of money…..

    One of the carriages with seats, which in normal times might feel a little packed. There was a policy though of having just one person per row, and no-one directly behind, which made arrangements feel really rather spacious.

    I was pleased to get the front seat as that had quite a sturdy little desk arrangement. There was a guide to the service on the table, as well as a little amenity pack.

    Some instructions on how to get to sleep. I’m not sure about this avoiding heavy food, avoiding alcohol, avoiding coffee and avoiding phones is useful, I’d rather just stay awake.

    There is an eye mask and ear plugs included in the pack. There wasn’t really much noise in the cabin, although a couple of English football fans going to Carlisle were politely told to shut up by the steward. He didn’t actually say that directly, he suggested that they go and sit in the buffet car, but it had the required effect.

    There’s a safe above every seat, although they’re not particularly spacious. I just shoved my bag on the floor, it’s currently so heavy that anyone trying to pinch it would just assume I’d padlocked it to the ground. The carriages are professionally fitted out, there’s been some considerable money spent here over the years. The quality of the interior was better than I had expected, so although it’s not Amtrak, it’s really not too bad at all.

    A steward (that’s the name they use, not one I’ve decided to describe them by) came by to offer everyone a menu, with the pricing seeming to be quite moderate.

    I don’t normally feel the need to take photos of toilets on trains, but on this occasion I thought that I would.

    I slept reasonably well and woke up to discover that we were in Carlisle. A few passengers alighted there and I don’t think we picked anyone up. I suspect that I would have been quite uncomfortable if the train had been full with passengers, as there isn’t really enough space to stretch out (not that I ever worked out the reclining function, since I don’t use it). Covid-19 doesn’t have many advantages, but this is one of them.

    This is, I believe, the River Sark, which is the border between England and Scotland. I was quite pleased to be able to get this photo as the train does move at quite a speed.

    There was a screen in front of me informing me of the train’s progress. Carstairs is a relatively small location, but it’s where they faff about doing something with the train and it heads back out in the other direction. The train operates on the West Coast Mainline, although it can also be diverted to the East Coast Mainline if engineering works require.

    As we approached Edinburgh, a plan of the railway station appeared on the screen. I thought that this was really quite useful. I understand that it’s possible to stay on the train for an extra hour or so, to allow for some extra sleep if required, but I had the need to find some snacks at the railway station.

    And safely in Edinburgh Waverley, with an engineer jumping out to fix something (or just to have a play on the track for all I know).

    That was really quite lovely as an experience. The price wasn’t the cheapest, at just over £60, although it meant that I didn’t have to get any accommodation for the night. As is usual, because I’m never in a rush I was hoping that the train might be 30 minutes late into Edinburgh, as then I’d have got half my money back. Unfortunately not though…..

    The service was professional throughout, the stewards were helpful and the train was on time in and out of every stop. I’m sure that the cabin option is much more comfortable (but it’s also much more expensive), but I got sufficient sleep and would use the service again. I just hope they sort out this strike action, as if staff keep going on strike (for whatever reason) then the train is perhaps in danger of being withdrawn forever. As it stands, there are just two sleeper services in the UK, the other one is the Night Riviera which goes down to Cornwall. Anyway, I’m very pleased that I tried the service.

  • London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    London – Southwark (Borough of) – UEFA Football Village

    My modern day football knowledge isn’t great, but since Ross had popped down to London for the day (and his football knowledge is rather more substantial) we thought we’d pop into the UEFA football village which is located by Tower Bridge. It’s free to get in and there are places to watch matches (other than the England match, which isn’t shown here), get food and drink, look at a giant ball and numerous other experiences that I didn’t really entirely understand.

    The aforementioned giant ball.

    The large screen and there were football fans from numerous different countries watching the match. It was a convivial environment and there were lots of volunteers around to help and assist visitors. It wasn’t a large space and there were a limited number of tables, but there was social distancing and it was carefully laid out.

    This is a real person dressed up, all adding to the occasion. Anyway, nice atmosphere and a pleasant place to walk around, all a good idea to add some excitement to the Euros.

  • London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    London – Tower Hamlets (Borough of) – Canary Wharf – Manjal Indian

    A few weeks ago, I went to Hard Rock Cafe on an offer with The Fork (who annoy me, but we won’t go there today) which gave 50% off the food and £20 to spend at another restaurant. I was sceptical whether that £20 offer would actually arrive, but it did and I decided to spend it at the Manjal Indian at Canary Wharf. I also forgot that Richard was coming down to London for his decadent purposes, which made things more confusing but, fortunately, nothing that the restaurant couldn’t handle.

    The view from the restaurant. Indian cuisine is one of my favourites and I’ve had a long-running project of visiting an Indian restaurant in every country that I’ve been to. Unfortunately, I haven’t added many restaurants to my list over the last couple of years as travel has been just a little impacted. I’ve decided that India do the best Indian food, which is not really a revelation that I will send to a local newspaper….. The United States and Poland also manage to deal with Indian food very well. Anyway, I digress.

    The entrance is a little fiddly as there’s an Italian restaurant on the ground floor, which has to direct customers to the Indian one upstairs. Perhaps they’re jointly owned, but the signage really isn’t entirely clear here. When diners get upstairs, there’s a seating area (see above photo) for those waiting for their meals. The welcome from the staff member was polite and he was able to understand my exacting requirements of £20 off for me and charge Richard what they like (I didn’t put it like that, but that was my priority).

    The interior of the restaurant, all clean and comfortable. They also had a private dining room which had glass doors facing the main part of the restaurant, although this wasn’t used when we were there.

    The mango lassi, one of the better ones that I’ve had. Very mangoey (is that a word?). Richard had a cocktail. I didn’t like to ask why.

    Richard’s food is cluttering up my photo here, mine is the peshwari naan on the left, pilau rice and chicken chettinad. Richard had a cheese naan as it makes him sneeze, more rice and some egg curry thing. My naan and rice tasted as they should, although there was perhaps a little too much rice (but not enough for us to have shared one). The chicken in the curry was thigh meat, which was tender and rich in flavour. The curry had a depth of flavour and comprised of yoghurt, turmeric (which is where the restaurant name of Manjal comes from) and spices, with a decent amount of heat behind it. I’m sure that Bev would moan that it wasn’t very authentic, but I liked it.

    The reviews of the restaurant are broadly positive and that’s what gave me confidence to book it in the first place. Service was efficient, but we were never rushed and I was delighted to get a little chocolate at the end (I always feel the need to mention these little touches) because I’m easily pleased. The restaurant also managed to give me my £20 reduction without any issue, so my meal cost £5 including the service charge (which they added automatically and without advance notice), which I thought was very reasonable. I’d merrily recommend the restaurant to others, which must be struggling at the moment given the reduced number of people currently coming to Canary Wharf.