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I’ve decided to do this set of reports on more than just the trains. I want to write this more like a journal of the trip.
Bold = Haulage, RED = Winner, All others are sightings.
An early start for the wife and I as we headed to Selhurst Station. We thought this whole trip might be a bit of a mistake when the 06:40 changed from ‘on time’ to ‘Cancelled’. When the train turned up the driver confirmed it was going to go to East Croydon after all. That didn’t stop some rude man having a rant at the poor driver.
2J05 Selhurst to East Croydon 377309, 377319 non winners [0m 77ch]
At East Croydon we had to cross from platform 5 to platform 2 to be able to head up to London. Mr. Ranty carried on shouting on the ramp, but we ignored him. Let’s hope his day got better.
9R06 East Croydon to Farringdon 700116 non winner [12m 11ch]
Thameslink has over the decades provided passengers with an essential link from South to North of the river. Likewise, since its opening, the Elizabeth Line has opened up East to West travel.
Farringdon station is a nice interchange, but I must be honest if you arrive on the Northbound Thameslink platform and you have a large case (we did), then you have to go UP in the lift to the ticket hall level then use another lift to go down to the Elizabeth line platforms. This, if it is busy, can take a good 5 to 8 minutes. So always allow at least 10 minutes interchange at least with luggage.
9Y49 Farringdon to Paddington 345021 winner [3m 44ch]
Paddington’s Elizabeth line platforms have good lift options, and we made use of them to get to the Mezzanine level Then trough the ticket barrier and onwards to the platforms level. I know many people love Paddington but it’s just one of those stations I find a little uncomfortable at. Even when they had the class 50s and HSTs in and out of there it just wasn’t one of my favourite stations.
We had now over an hour’s wait as the trains had all been on time. We had also allowed time to grab a bit of food at the station for the long trip to Swansea. There isn’t a lot of choice food wise. I grabbed a Cornish Pasty but with the wife now having to be careful about her diet, she went in to the little Sainsbury’s and got something she could eat there.
Our train was due out at 08:48 so at about 08:30 we headed towards the indicator boards. A check on traksy said our platform would be one of the higher numbers and most likely 14.at 08:46 the finally changed the indicator boards to show platform 14 and there was an almighty rush of hundreds of people to get on the platform in time before it departed. Platform 14 is at the far end of the station and if you haven’t had to use it before then it is quite a confusing platform to get to. The gate line staff weren’t in any hurry to get people through and on to the train either. So finally we made it on the train and it left 5 minutes late.
1B07 Paddington to Swansea 800004 winners [190m 67ch]
The overall trip was quite nice although it did pick up more delays on the way and at one point it was 10 minutes late. Luckily it arrived in to Swansea on time.
Swansea (Abertawe) is the second largest city in Wales and until this visit we had hardly explored it. Visits only to the shopping centre (with the daughter) and our favourite diner. So this trip, with the wife, was the perfect opportunity to have more an explore as it was also more than a day trip.
When leaving Swansea station the road that leads away towards the main centre and shopping area is less than appealing and could really do with some love from the council. A number of shops are boarded up and if they had the boarding replacers and a lick of paint it would feel a lot better.
We managed to get a room at the
The hotel is just enough out of the way to be quiet but also close to the shopping centre and the bay. The outside looks a bit more like an office block, but it was clean and well presented. The reception is small but clean and tidy and is adjacent to the restaurant. We didn’t book in for any meals there as we were generally getting early trains. Our room was on the second floor and was nice. I did feel it could possibly do with a little bit of a refresh. It was not as tired as some places we have stayed in the past. It was clean and there were extra pillows and towels.
Once we had ditched the excess items off we went to Denny’s for our lunch. And it was well worth it!
While stuffing our faces, we opened Google maps and decided to have a walk down to the Bay area. We never realised that Swansea had a beach! In fact, it has a lovely five miles of sandy beach that stretches from the docks and marina to Mumbles Pier and Bracelet Bay. We walked down from Denny’s and past the National Waterfront Museum. A note here; that that there is some grassed area before you get to the museum that has the appearance of railway tracks and a buffer stop in place. I surmise that this used to be an old good yard area.
Just past the museum is a nice pub called the Pump House (we did visit on the Thursday) and the marina. Within five minutes we were on Swansea Beach. Once on the beach we walked al the way along to Brynmill and found a lovely bar and kitchen called The Secret. We did luck out with the weather, so we sat looking over the beach and had a couple of drinks. Whilst relaxing the wife checked out the buses to Bracelet Bay and we worked out to get one and then walk back to Mumbles Pier. The bus only took about 25 minutes to get out but it was all up through a housing estate and a uni campus. Had it just taken the road long waterside then it may have only taken about 10 minutes!
There was not a lot to see at Bracelet Bay. Mumbles Pier was mostly blocked off and there was a small amusement arcade there which the wife took advantage of. When walking back in the general direction of Swansea we did stop for an ice cream. Checking the bus times, there was a bus in about 20 minutes that stopped at “The George” pub to take us into Swansea so we decided to catch that. Sadly both the timetable and Google were wrong. We stood at that bus stop for over an hour until a Number 2 arrived and took us back. By this time, we were pretty hungry, so a quick internet search revealed a Indian restaurant adjacent to the Castle. The Raj Kitchen was very nice, and I can honestly say it was a good Balti for me. It had been a very long day so we headed back to the hotel for well earnt rest.