Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Hertfordshire

  • Cheshunt – Lee Valley YHA

    Cheshunt – Lee Valley YHA

    Being 43, I’ve decided that I’m too old for youth hostels (although I’m frequently the youngest there if I’m being honest), but they have had some impressively cheap private rooms on offer this year. Lee Valley YHA is conveniently located a two-minute walk from Cheshunt railway station, which is just a £4 fare from London Liverpool Street on the Overground.

    There are a series of lodges in addition to the main building, which are probably much in demand during the summer by cyclists, walkers, canoeists and sociable people. During the winter months there is a different dynamic, but it’s a quiet location which feels like it’s in the countryside.

    My private room, which was basic, but functional. There were sufficient power sockets, although no wi-fi is offered in the lodges, although I didn’t need it. There’s also no television in the rooms, although there is one of the communal area and I never watch it anyway.

    YHA are really not good at communicating on site what they offer in terms of meals and facilities, so I was aware that they did do meals and drinks, but I have no idea what they are, or when they’ve served. In terms of running a bar cafe in the day, it’s a marvellous idea, but I’m unsure why they have to keep these things most secret than they need to. I didn’t see a menu on the wall, on tables, in the rooms or communal areas, although I was told they did breakfast. To be fair, the YHA do though put the menu on their web-site, although not with anything useful such as opening times.

    The welcome was friendly and the staff member seemed keen to help, engaging in a positive manner. The set-up of lodges within the complex is useful, as it means that groups can privately hire one if they like, without disturbing the operation of the rest of the hostel. Each lodge can cater for a maximum of twenty people, with the hire fees being from £199 per night (although this price doesn’t seem to actually ever be available, despite on-line bookings running ahead for fifteen months). There’s also car parking on site, not that this was of much relevance to me.

    The private room, with en suite, that I was in cost £17 per night, which seems very reasonable to me. It’s around a ten-minute walk to the centre of the metropolis that is Cheshunt, with the security at the site seemingly quite tight. At this price, it’s all rather lovely.

  • Cheshunt – The King James

    Cheshunt – The King James

    There appear to be no Good Beer Guide pubs in Cheshunt, so my first port of call instead was The King James. It’s an interesting location as part of a shopping arcade, being relatively small inside for a Wetherspoons. CAMRA note that “the pub takes its name from King James I, whose royal place – Theobalds – stood about 1.2km away”. I’m not sure when it opened, but it was around 2000, so not one of the earlier pubs operated by the company.

    There were no dark beers available, although the member of bar staff recommended this winter ale, which is Rosey Nosey from Batemans. It was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, but no real depth of flavour or interesting taste. I’d struggle to complain about the price though, as with my 50p off CAMRA voucher, a pint cost the grand total of £1.49. And when having a sample of the beer the member of bar staff also poured the best part of a third of a pint, so extra value was provided there…..It was entirely drinkable though.

    My usual go-to meal of southern fried chicken wrap and chips, costing the grand total of £4.69 including unlimited coffee. Pretty decent quality as well, the chips had some firmness to them, the chicken wrap was evenly filled and everything tasted as it should have done. Although I’ve never seen a coffee machine in Wetherspoons so rarely used, I only saw a couple of customers use it in the over two hours that I was in the pub. Anyway, everything was clean, the pub was organised and there was a relaxed feel to the location.

    Onto TripAdvisor….

    “To the staff who work there…you could not cut it, in a normal pub..sooner The James closes, the better. You arent up to JDW standards.”

    The above punter seemed displeased, although I thought that the staff were performing well as they smiled, made eye contact and seemed genuinely helpful. There are a fair few reviews complaining about other customers, but everyone seemed entirely well behaved to me.

    All in all, perfectly acceptable.

  • London – London Liverpool Street (Overground)

    London – London Liverpool Street (Overground)

    Heading to Cheshunt, I realised two things, that firstly there was a direct Overground service there and, also, that it departed from London Liverpool Street railway station. Network Rail, with their usual quality of customer service, didn’t seem to have much information on where I could catch this service from. Although, fortunately, it transpired to be much easier than I had expected as the Overground service uses the standard platforms.

    There is some Overground signage on the platforms, although it probably needs better signage around the concourse, with my train departing from Platform 1.

    The service got busier as we progressed towards Cheshunt, but not dramatically so. The carriages could probably do with an upgrade at some stage, but they’re clean and sufficiently comfortable given the short journey length.

    Disembarking at Cheshunt.

    And, here we are, the journey takes around 30 minutes and it ran perfectly to schedule. The journey is meant to cost £4 via London Overground, although it’s possible to go by train which is slightly quicker and also more expensive. I’m hoping that my Contactless card was charged the appropriate amount, with I assume the lower amount always being charged. Although, I’m unsure how that works exactly….

    Personally, I’d rather that this service was returned to the rail network as I can’t quite see what benefit Transport for London are adding by operating this journey. It was run by Abellio Greater Anglia until 2015 and there appears to have been nearly no investment in the service since. If it had continued to be part of Greater Anglia, then perhaps it would have received new carriages with power and more comfortable service.