Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Blog

Norwich – Namaste Village

I was pleased to be in Norwich for the Hike Norfolk monthly meal, where twelve of us went to the Rose before coming to the vegetarian Namaste Village restaurant. We had gone for a monthly meal here before and the standards were high, and it’s good to visit a location where there is plenty of choice for vegetarians (indeed, on this case, the entire menu).

It’s a large venue in a glorious setting, the former Methodist Church Hall which was constructed in 1887. Given that it was a Saturday night, I was surprised just how quiet it was, there wouldn’t have been a need to book in advance.

The poppadom dips were average and lacking in any particular taste, and the portion size provided for four people was insufficient. It seemed an odd thing to scrimp and save on, particularly when contrasting it with the hugely impressive Lowestoft Tandoori where I visited last week.

They had though made an effort to get some local beer in, the King Wazoo from Redwell Brewing (where Namaste also do the catering from time to time). That’s Gordon visible at the rear of the photo, I suspect being quite demanding. As for the menu, I must admit I’m not entirely keen on vegetarian restaurants having dishes such as “lamb rogan josh” or “prawn koliwada”, as there will be some diners who just drop in randomly without realising it’s a vegetarian restaurant, and for who those have English as a second language, there’s a possibility of being misled. Indeed, some of the restaurant’s reviews complain about the quality of the meat, so I assume they’ve not realised what they’ve ordered.

The vegetable labbabdar, which was nicely presented and the peshwari naan was slightly crispy, which is as I prefer it. One element I liked is that they don’t fiddle with the spice levels between dishes, if someone orders a meal that is meant to be served spicy, that’s what it will be. Having written that, there wasn’t much spice in the labbabdar, although it was marked with medium heat on the menu’s symbol guide. There was a depth of taste to it though, with the vegetables in the curry retaining some bite.

It was all convivial in terms of the atmosphere, with the staff at the restaurant being cheerful and pro-active, although the prices were pushing towards the more expensive end of the scale. The quality seemed reasonable, but unexceptional, but for those who are looking for vegetarian or vegan Indian food in Norwich, it’s one of the better options available at the moment. I’m puzzled why the restaurant wasn’t busier, but it’s an odd time for hospitality venues at the moment, a few landlords in Norwich have mentioned that the pub trade is all over the place, often quiet when it should be busy and vice versa. Anyway, it was all a lovely evening, with the staff never rushing us, with the reviews online generally very favourable, so they’re getting a lot right.

August 7, 2022
Lowestoft – Lowestoft Tandoori

Excuse the only occasional blog posting at the moment, I’m not doing anything of even slight note in the main, but travels will continue later this month.

As I’m around for a couple of weeks, Richard had a brilliant idea of suggesting going to the Lowestoft Tandoori. He had visited before and enjoyed it, and since it’s my favourite cuisine, it seemed worth a visit. Richard feared that it might not match expectations on his return, that’s always the danger of returning somewhere and it not quite matching up to previous experiences. However, it was well reviewed on-line and I was optimistic.

The welcome was immediate and felt authentic, with Richard’s idea of booking a table being most sensible since it was otherwise full. The relatively small space of the restaurant did surprise me slightly, but they’ve carved it up neatly so that no table intrudes into the privacy of another. We were offered poppadoms and I immediately said yes, forgetting whether to check with Richard, but he rarely needs much convincing on matters such as this.

This is the finest array of dips, condiments, sauces, or whatever you want to call them, that I’ve seen in an Indian restaurant. I’ve had something of an obsession with Indian food since going there many years ago, with my aim of visiting an Indian restaurant in every country only losing its pace since I keep going back to the same countries. I understand that the British version of Indian cuisine is inevitably different, but there was a passion here on detail and that was evident whether measured by the variety of condiments or by the quality of them.

And there was no shortage of cucumber and onion salad, and when we finished that one, they brought over another bowl. It could have done with some tomato in it, but that’s about as critical as I’m going to get with this post. I think we might have got a little swept along with the excitement of poppadoms, which is something that I think is a thing, and we (well, I, again without consultation with Richard) ordered more.

Indian restaurants should have mango lassi, this is a key element that I want to see. I feared they didn’t serve them here, but not only did they serve them, that presentation is on a level I’d expect from a fine dining restaurant. Even Th@li, a rather decadent central London Indian restaurant which is well reviewed other on Google for reasons unknown, wasn’t operating to these high standards. The taste matched the presentation, this was nicely done and the first time I’ve had a little umbrella on my mango lassi.

One of the interesting quirks of this restaurant is that they give quite a lot of stuff away free of charge, indeed, on such a regular basis that the owners must carefully price it into the rest of the meal. I say carefully, but the prices here are by no means expensive, indeed, I thought they were very reasonable. We each ordered a curry, a naan bread and a rice, but yet they came and gave us, without charge, a lamb & beef dish, a side of onion bhajis and a side of Bombay potatoes. Let’s just say that Richard took a doggy bag home with him, there was too much food for us to eat. But, I very much liked the concept of ensuring we had more than enough. It’s a concept incidentally that the Five Guys chain sort of have, they deliberately try and over-supply food to make it seem like extra value, although even they don’t give away quite so much.

It was rather difficult to photograph everything as they kept bringing more things, it was like a birthday with more presents appearing.

The peshwari naans arrived last, and I fear that we probably should have got one between us. But, back to the food, I had gone for the South Indian Garlic Naga Chilli Chicken, which wasn’t quite as spicy hot as I had expected, but it had a depth of flavour to it from the garlic, green chilli and peppers. The portion size was generous, although that is a slightly moot point given the number of sides that they brought over. The lemon rice was suitably lemony and the service remained attentive, polite and efficient. The onion bhajis were excellent, crispy on the exterior with a rich taste on the interior, and a generous side salad to go with it. I will confess to eating a chunk of that side salad, despite Richard promising to keep that a secret.

The first dessert which was brought along free of charge. Despite the restaurant being small, there were no noise issues, with the atmosphere feeling vibrant but not loud. Richard created quite a mess on the tablecloth, but like the professionals that they were, the staff didn’t say anything.

And the second free dessert….. There were also complimentary chocolates with the bill, just in case we hadn’t had enough. It’s such a clever concept, as those desserts likely don’t cost much, but it’s such a kind gesture that it is a final positive element to the entire visit. I wasn’t surprised that two staff members said goodbye as we were leaving, they were pro-active and efficient throughout the meal.

The reviews for this restaurant are some of the best that I’ve seen, it’s top on TripAdvisor for the local area and it’s sitting on 4.8 on Google Reviews. Given that they do deliveries and takeaways, which often get lower scores, it’s difficult to imagine any restaurant getting a higher rating. And they’ve sustained these positive reviews for years, so it’s no wonder that advance reservations are recommended. They have picked up a few reviews that they placed down items and demanded payment for them at the end of the meal, but I suspect those customers were mistaken, they just hadn’t realised how generous the restaurant was being.

I am keen though to ensure that standards are maintained, so I intend to go again, and I’ve already started hassling my friend Nathan to go there in a few weeks. Then I’ll start on other friends, as I feel I might be popping back here on a regular basis. I can think of few other restaurants where the quality of service is so professional, so all really rather lovely.

August 7, 2022
Norwich – Poor Pedestrian/Cycling Planning from Council on Prince of Wales Road

Just as one of my random complaints….. I’ve noticed two near collisions between pedestrians and cars here in recent weeks. The proposals for this piece of work were sent out for consultation in 2018, and Norwich Cycling Campaign noted in their official reply that:

“The footways are busy and there should be an unambiguous differentiation between the footway and the cycle track.”

This seems like a comment that shouldn’t even need to be made, but the council merrily ignored it, as least in part. Clicking on the photo above makes it larger, and it shows that they’ve added a cycle lane on the junction between Rose Lane and Prince of Wales Road. This is very sensible, but I rarely see any cyclists use it, and what appears to be about 90% of pedestrians crossing in this area here use it. That’s not ideal, the pedestrian crossing is off to the left of the photo. Because pedestrians think this is a crossing for them, they’re reliant on a cyclist showing caution and not ploughing straight into them.

There’s a three-way problem here, namely that it’s an unsafe place for pedestrians to cross because it’s a road where cars often speed, it’s increasing the likelihood of a collision between a cyclist and a pedestrian, whilst also putting off cyclists for using a track which was built for them. The cost of this project, which also involved the council putting a cycle track which ran into a tree (which the council initially said was fine), cost £2.6 million. I imagine they’ll have to rip it all up again within a few years…..

Anyway, complaint over and I hope that there are no serious accidents here (or indeed any accidents at all), as the council must be more than aware of the limitations of their little project.

August 7, 2022
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 299, 300 and 301

Scald Miserables

Grose’s dictionary refers to this as “a set of mock masons, who in 1744 made a ludicrous procession in ridicule of the Freemasons”.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

As this print from 1742 shows, this procession had been going on for a few years and it took place just outside of the boundaries of the City of London. I can’t imagine that the Freemasons were much impressed by this little show, but there were many even at this time who treated the organisation with some disrespect.

Schism Shop

On the subject of disrespect, those involved with the dissenting religions in the eighteenth century were often vilified by those who couldn’t believe anyone couldn’t accept everything that the Church of England said was true. The dictionary definition of this is “a dissenting meeting house”, whether that be Quakers, Baptists, Congregationalists or Unitarians, to name just a few. There’s something quite charming though in the abusive term, I like to think that some of the groups would have adopted it almost as a badge of pride. Looking at newspaper archives, the dictionary was ahead of its time, as the term was relatively rare at the end of the eighteenth century, but it became much more commonly used towards the end of the nineteenth century before it died out during the early twentieth century.

Scourers

There’s a myth that there used to be a lot more respect for the law in centuries gone by, but there were plenty of robberies in churches in the nineteenth century and no shortage of anti-social behaviour in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. That is also evident from this dictionary definition, namely “Riotous bucks, who amuse themselves with breaking windows, beating the watch, and assaulting every person they meet: called scouring the streets”. Crime as a whole was also high in the eighteenth century, partly through increased poverty but also through a greater opportunity given the newly wealthy classes. Much as I like city living, I think the rural life was probably safer and more peaceful back in the late eighteenth century when Grose wrote his book.

August 7, 2022
Random Post – My September 2022 Trip to the United States

Anyway, I have been absolutely inundated by people wanting to know my itinerary for my trip to the United States in a few weeks. By inundated, I mean a figure higher than zero and lower than three.

I had planned to include Las Vegas, where I always seem to end up for a few days, and Portland, which I’ve never visited and is a centre for craft beer. Unfortunately, it’s too expensive and fiddly to get across to the west coast, when my flights are to the east coast. That’ll have to be a treat for next year now….

This has left me instead with a visit to New York for a few days, before going to Richmond on the train, giving me a chance to visit Williamsburg and Jamestown for some colonial history. Then some faffing about (ie, I haven’t worked out an affordable way of doing this bit yet) to get to Charlotte for a flight to Chicago. Then it’ll be down to Carbondale, after at least two visits to Goose Island in Chicago, by train and then a couple of days later another train to Jacksonville. Then I’ll be going back to New Orleans, as I want to visit the National World War Two museum which I didn’t get chance to before. Then the train to Birmingham, for my first visit to Alabama, before a ridiculous 24.5 hour train journey back to Newark for my flight back.

What could possibly go wrong?

August 7, 2022
Thursday – Metro into Newcastle, Craft Beer and Peace at the Travelodge

Continuing on from the earlier riveting blog post, I was safely at Newcastle airport and ready to get to the city centre using the Metro system. I’ve used it before on a few occasions, but I’d entirely forgotten nearly everything about it. But, that’s the advantage in having a blog, the memories can all come flooding back.

Fortunately, there were plenty of signs saying which ticket to buy as well as numerous machines which were easy to operate. It’s formally known as the Tyne and Wear Metro, although often commonly referred to as the Newcastle Metro. The network isn’t as popular as it once was and it feels a little tired, it’s not really a surprise that passenger numbers are lower than they were in the 1980s when the Metro opened.

I like using different public transport systems and this one seemed to run regularly, although the signage wasn’t always particularly clear on platforms. The prices are also expensive, but yet the penalty fare for not having a ticket is set at just £20. They’ve already increased fares by 10% at the beginning of 2022, so they’re going to struggle to raise them again, or at least, they’ll price even more people off the network. However, they get some lovely shiny new trains next year, so that might boost ridership. It’s notable though that the £3.90 to get to the city centre is more than to get from Heathrow to central London, which is £3.50.

It’s quite a complex network, but the airport service goes directly to the city centre and there’s no need to change.

It was all clean and comfortable, although I didn’t see any staff on platforms or walking through the trains.

After having arrived safely into Central Station, the next task was to check-in at the hotel, which was a very reasonably priced Travelodge on the Quayside. I had forgotten just how many steps I had to go down to get to the hotel, which was a reminder of how many I’d have to go back up later on.

The standard Travelodge set-up, this was once seemed to have been modernised relatively recently and it had air conditioning which sort of worked. It was nice and bright, with everything working as it should.

The windows didn’t open, but I was pleased at the views over the River Tyne.

As the hotel was next to the Quayside pub, operated by JD Wetherspoon, I popped in there on my way by. It’s not the first time that I’ve been here, I remember going here with Liam a few years ago. The pub seemed organised and clean, but the real ale selection was the weakest I’ve seen in any Wetherspoon pub, just some generic options from the generic Greene King. It’s a quite a well reviewed Wetherspoon though (well, relatively), although I’m puzzled by the recent review:

“Can’t believe I’ve just been turned away from the Quayside for wearing shorts on a hot bank holiday weekend”

I can’t imagine how bad they must have been for a Wetherspoons to turn someone away, I’m quite intrigued.

There didn’t seem much point in staying at the Wetherspoon pub if there was nothing interesting in terms of beer, but I was more excited about the next venue, the Head of Steam Quayside which was just a short walk away along the Tyne.

Views over the Tyne to the Sage Gateshead, and a BAM hoarding for those with good eyesight (or just strong observational skills).

The beer list at the Head of Steam Quayside, which is one of two venues that they have in Newcastle and I hadn’t previously been to either of them. The pub’s Untappd list was out of date when I visited, but it has been updated since. There’s a decent selection of cask and keg, with a range of different beer styles.

A quirky interior, I liked it. All very laid-back and comfortable, this is a pub that I’d visit regularly if I lived a bit nearer to it. It’s not actually as well reviewed on Google as the Wetherspoons that I walked into and then out of again, which seems odd. It mostly seems to be reviews about the food and service times, customers seem much happier about the beer.

I thought that this was creative (the light, not the arrangement of safety devices at the back).

The barman complimented me on my strategy of ordering three one thirds, so I decided that I liked him and that he had excellent judgement. He was conversational and engaging, indeed there was an inviting atmosphere to the whole arrangement. I had the Jellyfish Nebula pale ale and the Spree & Easy IPA from Tooth & Claw Brewing, although the little star of this show was the Maris the Dank Engine 2 from S43, an 8.1% Double IPA.

There’s an outside seating area as well for those who like sitting in the street, although it’s not really my thing.

As there are quite a few more pubs for me to still write about from my evening’s meander around Newcastle, I’ll break that into a separate post. I would claim that it’s to increase anticipation, but it’s realistically just so I can make progress in a slow and steady manner in actually posting things.

August 5, 2022
Saturday : 2022 LDWA Summer Poppyline Walk

Eric Rolfe ensured that there will be plenty of photos of the Summer Poppyline event for Strider and elsewhere in due course, so this post is more about the organisation of the Summer Poppyline challenge event. It’s organised by Norfolk and Suffolk LDWA and it takes place most years, taking in a smaller part of the Winter Poppyline 50 mile event which is put on every two years. This year there was the choice of a 19 mile route or a 50 kilometre route, with this latter distance being chosen as part of the LDWA’s 50th birthday celebrations.

It was an early start, with Richard driving Stuart and I to the start of the event at Sheringham High School. You can spot them both to the right of this photo, with Stuart wanting to set off as soon as possible for fear that he might come in last or something. However, it’s all about completing the event and enjoying the view, so it wouldn’t have mattered. But it didn’t happen either, Karen and the other NEC members swept him along. Stuart, Julie, Bill and Sara were all very brave in taking part, not to mention that Karen was doing the longer event and is always brave.

The numbers were a little lower than usual, mostly due to external factors than any loss of interest in challenge events, but we had over 130 people signed up. I’ve trained Richard up to do everything that I used to do, showing just how good at delegation I am. I think in a few years that Richard might be able to cope entirely on his own. Registration went smoothly, particularly for those in my queue who enjoyed my professionalism and efficiency. Or something like that.

There’s Jayne, ready to set everyone off on the first wave and I note Katie, the organiser of the Norfolk & Suffolk group’s 100 event in 2025, at the front just bursting with enthusiasm to start. I like being at the start of the events, to see all the excitement and just a little trepidation about the adventure that was in front of the entrants. To some, the distances are easy, but to others they’re more of a challenge and I know we had plenty of people taking part in their first LDWA event.

There’s Eric on the left, ready for his day of walking and taking photos. There are plenty of hills near to the start of the walk, not least the challenges of Beeston Bump, but it’s good to have a variety of terrains as not everyone can cope with endless miles of flat in the way that I can. I’d add that it’s great to see so many local members volunteering at the event, it’s a highlight for many people who want to help support the walkers and runners around the event.

Jayne setting the runners off on their walk, or in this case run, with the weather being quite warm, but not overly hot and there was a breeze from the coast. It was a delight to see our marshal Simon H turn up, although he was doing a very strange walk due to a leg injury, namely because he has pushed himself so much to try and be an athlete like myself. He should know his limits, but I didn’t say anything of course, and I was very sympathetic and full of empathy.

Sometimes we don’t have access to all of the cooking facilities in the locations that we hire, but in this case that wasn’t a problem, Jayne and her crew were busy making a variety of wraps for the walkers and there was a handy self-service area. As an additional treat, there was Eton Mess and ice cream, along with a range of cold and hot drinks.

It was all peaceful at HQ during the day, although since I was the emergency contact, I received a phone call from a walker concerned to see a fire near checkpoint 2. This transpired to be quite a serious fire on farmland, but fortunately the fire brigade were on hand and they were able to put it out. It provided some memorable moments for walkers, who might have feared momentarily that they couldn’t access our checkpoint full of food and drink. We ensured that the fire brigade knew about the situation and Malcolm bravely went out to go and have a look at the situation in case it impacted on our walkers.

Some of the entrants from Hike Norfolk celebrating their success, it’s good to see a steady flow of walkers from that group doing so well on these challenge events.

It was positive to hear all the feedback about the checkpoints and the welcome that they had offered, not to mention the range of food and drink that walkers and runners enjoyed. I hope that all of the marshals enjoyed their day, with everyone at HQ having a marvellous time, especially when Jayne arrived with some extra lunchtime treats for the hardworking registration desk operative and also for Richard. We heard later that a few of our walkers encountered some wasps early on during the walk, not something that is ideal, but good humour and bravery got them through.

As for the NEC entrants, Karen swept in looking like she hadn’t even entered the event, whilst Stuart looked quite worn out if I’m being honest, which I was. I had a lot of sympathy for him, I know how he felt, but he had been very brave indeed. Julie, Bill and Sara looked suitably tired from their experience, but I’m pleased that they enjoyed the route. Tim was also going to take part, but unfortunately, due to circumstances mostly out of his control, he wasn’t able to make it to the event. But, we’re pleased to have been able to offer some hospitality to the NEC officers who did take part.

The next challenge event is the Flower of Suffolk on the first Sunday of October, sadly this will be one of the first local events that I’ll miss in years, namely because I hope to be in the United States. I do hope that Richard copes without me on that event, but there will support on hand if he gets overwhelmed without my calm influence to gently guide him back on track. I shall of course report back here in October with whatever gossip I’ve managed to pick up from overseas.

I’m not sure I’ll be walking any more challenge events this year, but I hope to take part in a few next year, especially as Richard has indicated that he’s up for trying an 18 mile event. He’ll definitely need my support, encouragement and positivity with that, so anyone with ideas on which is the best LDWA event for him to start on, don’t hesitate to let me know 🙂

August 2, 2022
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 296, 297 and 298

During lockdown, I started on my riveting (ahem) series of posts from the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. I was getting quite near to the end of the book, but then I managed to stop in February 2021 (having got to Rum Bubber), but now this is another project I want to see completed.

Saint Geoffrey’s Day

The dictionary defines this as “Never, there being no saint of that name: tomorrow-come-never, when two Sundays come together”. Arguably, there is a St Geoffrey, also known as St Godfrey, although that’s a slightly moot point here. This phrase was in use in the late eighteenth century, perhaps slightly into the early nineteenth century, and is another sad loss to the language. I think it’s got a nicer and more humorous edge to it than “a month of Sundays” which is the modern equivalent.

Sandwich

There’s very little interest to this definition itself, which is “Ham, dried tongue, or some other salted meat, cut thin and put between two slices of bread and butter: said to be a favourite morsel with the Earl of Sandwich”, other than the timing. This book was published in the late eighteenth century, so this would have been quite an on-trend word at the time that was just coming into popular usage.

This image is from Google Ngram and shows how frequently the word has been used in books. It slightly surprises me just how relatively rare the word was until the beginning of the twentieth century.

Scab

One word that I personally don’t like is the word ‘scab’ when applied to those who don’t take part in a strike, and I’ve read that some in the trade union movement find it an unfortunate word which exists more as a quirk of history. That is reinforced by this definition, which is “a worthless man or woman”, which seems to have first been used to describe non-strikers in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Google Ngram shows that it has been falling in usage over recent decades and I can imagine that it might be a word that eventually slides away in terms of its strike meaning.

August 2, 2022
Friday : LDWA NEC Walk

As some of the Long Distance Walkers Association NEC members were in Norwich for the Summer Poppyline challenge walk, I led a short walk around the city. And, all good walks need to start in a pub, in this case Brewdog in Norwich so that Stuart could tick it off his list. It was of course to see Julie and Stuart, especially given how far they’d come for the weekend, from Scotland and Wales respectively.

I haven’t been in the Red Lion at Bishopgate since the change of ownership during lockdown, it’s got a rather lovely river view and location. The beer choice isn’t as inspired as my other favourite pubs in Norwich and there was an absence of welcome which I thought was a shame. I think it’s more food orientated though, so perhaps that’s what they’re focusing on. However, it’s hard not to enjoy the rather lovely surroundings of the pub, with Bishopgate Bridge in the background. The bridge was built in 1340 and is still standing (I hope the bridge Liam is currently building lasts for 700 years), although the tower was taken down in 1791 as they were worried it was structurally unsound. The bridge was used for road traffic until the 1990s and it’s now pedestrians and bikes only.

Pulls Ferry, a fifteenth century building at the site of where a ferry operated until 1943. It’s also the entrance to where the canal was built by the monks in the late eleventh century to transport stone from the River Wensum to build Norwich Cathedral. And standing in front of the gate, one of the city’s dinosaurs.

What I thought the group needed was a nice hill and I expected Stuart to report back to Dave Morgan just how Norwich can deliver hills.

Liam, ready to start the trek up Gas Hill, along with Karen, Richard, Stuart and Julie. They were very brave to take on this challenge. It’s a lot steeper than the photograph suggests. The hill is named after the gas works that were built here in the Victorian period, but unfortunately they’ve recently pulled down the gas holder which I thought for heritage reasons should have been kept.

Nearly vertical and there was a lot of complaining about the extreme heights, the lack of oxygen and why were we walking up such a big hill. I ignored it, I couldn’t be dealing with that negativity. Actually, Karen didn’t complain at all, I’m not sure that she even noticed we had climbed a hill at all.

And the climb, which took nearly six minutes (which to me is the upper limit on any climbing challenge), was worth it, there’s Norwich looking rather lovely. Norwich Cathedral is the centre with Norwich City Hall standing just next to it. This is the view that Robert Kett and his army would have had during Kett’s Rebellion of 1549. Although he was executed for treason, they did at least name a road after him which leads up here.

The walk to the pub went via Norwich Cathedral as it would feel rather odd not to include this magnificent building in any sojourn around the city. But the main part of the weekend was the Summer Poppyline the next day, with some very excited NEC members ready for their big walk. Stuart was besides himself with excitement, especially when it was mentioned to him that the challenge event didn’t just go up Beeston Bump Mountain, but another two nearby hills as well. Anyway, I feel I’ve dwelled (or dwelt, depending on your personal preference) on the matter of hills a little too much in this post….

August 1, 2022
Thursday : From Prague Airport, Walk Across London at Night and Back to Norwich

Carrying on from the previous post, this is now late Wednesday evening. After a hot day of public transporting around Prague, I arrived four hours early at the airport, ready for my 21:15 flight back to London Heathrow with British Airways, albeit operated by Finnair.

The security process at Prague Airport is just before boarding, so I was able to get to the Mastercard Lounge quickly and without delay. The staff member politely mentioned that entry was only allowed two hours before my flight, but then she asked who I was flying with and when I said British Airways, she said I could enter immediately. I don’t know whether BA offer a higher rate than lounge pass schemes such as Priority Pass, but I was very appreciative.

I was here a few months ago with Richard, but that was a morning flight and this was one of the last flights of the day, so there was a different feel to the arrangements. It was all clean and organised, there’s a self-serve soft drinks machine, snacks in the fridges and self-pour alcohol. They had a separate beer fridge with a couple of choices in it, nothing exceptional, but perfectly acceptable given it was free. I’m not at all picky when stuff is free, I’ve noticed I’m more inadvertently generous on Untappd. Nathan would no doubt tut at my lack of consistency….

The two hot options were pasta and chicken drumsticks. It seemed an odd choice for a lounge, as the chicken was a little greasy and they were going to end up with bones dotted around the place on places. However, I wasn’t let down with the taste of the chicken, although the pasta was a bit bland.

The food menu and the meat platters were rather lovely.

It’s a relatively large lounge, although it wasn’t particularly busy when I was there. They have very few power outlets, although I was fortunate to find one as I did need my devices fully charged given that I might not get chance later on. They had views over the runways, although no power points in those areas of seating. They also have unlimited popcorn…..

The seating was comfortable, it was practical for those with laptops and the like, although there were some more comfortable chairs for people who prefer just to relax and not always sit and stare at a screen as I seem to.

The flight was showing as delayed by one hour, but after three hours in the lounge I thought that was enough, so I meandered over to the gate. There was plenty of seating available, with a few power points dotted around.

The boarding process was efficient and customers were called in group order.

There’s the Finnair aircraft, which BA are wet leasing as they seem to have managed to not have enough of their own, a situation which seems far from ideal.

And as it was the Finnair aircraft, I opted for my favourite seat with lots of legroom.

Excellent crew again, although the Finnair cabin crew nearly always seem very professional and personable. I had the entire row of three exit row seats to myself. Whilst I was in the lounge, I had received a message from British Airways saying that there would be no catering on board the flight due to operational reasons. I had another chicken drumstick to fill me up in case there was no mini bags of crisps and water on board. It transpired they had water, but no crisps, which I could manage without, although I’m not sure that the Club Europe passengers would have been quite so impressed as they get meals provided. The crew said that the catering lorry couldn’t reach the aircraft due to a crash at Heathrow, which meant that they didn’t have their food either, so they were wondering where they could eat at nearly midnight at Heathrow.

We arrived into C Gates of London Heathrow about thirty minutes late, although I was in no rush. It’s not ideal to be at C Gates usually, as it’s quite a walk as the internal trains don’t run when it’s close to midnight. But I was in no rush and I like walking.

The UK border was moderately busy, but their automated machines were rejecting a lot of people, including myself, which meant a bit of a queue as there weren’t many border control officers. They were doing some quite detailed checks on some people entering the country, but I was waved through after a cursory check of my passport. I tried to look and act as British as I could in case they thought I pinched someone else’s passport or something.

As my flight was arriving late, I decided against a hotel in London, which at the moment are ridiculously priced compared to what they were. I had a great idea of just getting the 06:00 train from London to Norwich, which was £10, and getting the night bus from Heathrow into central London. That meant I wanted my devices fully charged, so this was the arrangement I set-up for myself, I found the chair and moved it towards the power points and refused to leave (not that anyone asked me to) until everything had full battery. This travel isn’t as easy as people think when there’s a fear of devices without power….

The arrivals floor at Heathrow T5, not very busy at night. For anyone who wants to stay the night at the terminal, it’d be on this level, they remove people from the departures floor. It’s not particularly comfortable, but there’s power, wifi, toilets and I think one of the shops stays open overnight.

I was pleased that the weather was overcast and not too hot.

Heathrow still have no date of when pedestrians can walk into the terminal, something they’ve currently banned from doing, although cyclists can cycle in from next year when the tunnel reopens. The free travel zone has been scrapped and they’ve introduced this new drop-off fee, all adding to the expense for many people. But, Heathrow have shareholders who need cash…..

I’ve never caught the night bus N9, but it’s a bargain really at £1.65 to get from London Heathrow to Trafalgar Square.

The bus timetable if anyone should want it, but the services are regular throughout the night and it’s an 85 minute journey from one end to the other.

On time and not very busy.

The passengers who boarded were just using the bus to get to T3, so I was on my own on the bus for a while after that. Well, with the driver obviously as I’m not sure what my bus driving is like…. (although, I have driven a bus without incident when the driver let me near Cromer, but I’m not sure that was entirely within the rules so I best not go too far down that line). It was a very peaceful journey and it’s actually really quite nice to be able to watch the city go by without stopping at literally every bus stop. There was a mixture of night workers coming back from work, going to work, some early morning commuters, party-goers and travellers.

Sad to see the Admiralty pub like this, certainly different to the last time I was in it a few months ago.

The pub was badly damaged by fire a couple of weeks ago and it looks very serious in terms of the repairs that will be needed.

It was gone 03:00 by this time and I was surprised just how many people were still around Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square. It all felt safe and non-threatening, although I was careful taking photos as I didn’t want any mugging incidents.

The Royal Courts of Justice. I had intended to pop into the 24 hour McDonald’s on the Strand to kill an hour, but it was at near capacity and I didn’t want all that raucous noise and party excess. I’m over 30 now and can’t be dealing with that.

St. Paul’s Cathedral and it was a real treat to walk across the city when it’s so quiet, it feels like such a different place. Buses still shuttle around the city, so it seems alive and energetic, but yet with a sense of calm.

The Royal Exchange.

It took me around 40 minutes to walk across London, so I arrived at London Liverpool Street at 03:45. I’ve never seen the railway station all locked up, but the side entrance to McDonald’s was open so I thought that I’d get a little snack.

Back in the day, there used to be seating in this McDonald’s, but this is it now, just self-ordering kiosks. They were all switched off and I wasn’t sure what to do, but a security guard came up when I looked confused and got a crew member to come and take my order at the counter.

McDonald’s probably wondered what they’d do with the £1.80 I gave them for two burgers….. But just as I had finished, the gates of London Liverpool Street railway station swung open at 04:00.

It’s not often the concourse is so quiet.

By now it was 04:02 and the first train out is at 04:40 to Stansted Airport, which is where most of the waiting passengers were heading I think.

It’s very hard to get a photo of this statue as there’s often rubbish on or around it, and it’s also used as a seat or somewhere to lean against. I don’t entirely like this sculpture here, it’s not prominent enough and I hope they can rearrange things a bit. Note the uncomfortable seating behind it designed to avoid anyone homeless sitting on it.

Für Das Kind, or For the Children, designed by Flor Kent, which I’ve written about before.

I sat down for an hour in view of where the new Greggs will be opening soon.

There was nearly no-one around after the first train to Stansted Airport had gone.

I was pleased to see that this wasn’t the Stansted Express with no tables.

This wasn’t a busy service at all. I managed to fall asleep as soon as the train departed, but was conscious that the train guard was checking tickets nearly straight away as there were so few of us on the train.

And safely into Norwich Railway Station at 08:00. The blog will be quite quiet for the next month, with the exception of some odd random and irrelevant (not that they ever really cross the boundary into relevant) posts which I’m sure I’ll feel the need to make, as I’m doing nearly no travelling. Expect a few bits about the LDWA AGM weekend, the Summer Poppyline and some pub photos, but not much else.

July 31, 2022