Battersea & Kensington Gardens

Today's photo album

After a night of rain, it had stopped for today's travels and hopefully, there wouldn't be too many showers through the day. All of today was outside and rain doesn't do me much good at my age.

There had been some problems with the earlier trains but we arrived on time just after 10 am. Waterloo Station was eerily quiet for a Saturday due to this virus so got some photos from the upper level before topping up the Oyster Cards and catching two buses into Battersea. It would have been better to get off the train at Clapham Junction on the way into Waterloo but this would mean changing trains and probably platforms, it's just to much hassle getting on and off with the ramps.

The old Battersea Power Station is now being turned into luxury apartments with high-end shops so it's mostly a building site around here at the moment but a short walk down the side of the famous dogs and cats home brings you into the first of today's park, Battersea.

Battersea Park

Peace Pagoda

Battersea Park opened in 1858 from reclaimed marshland and covers 200 acres and has been home to several festivals since the early 1900s, this was also where we caught the first glimpse of some of the wild parrots. 

There's also a large lake with plenty of wildlife and paddle boats you can rent although they are not working at this time of the year, they even have a children's zoo in here.

We headed north through the park past some formal Gardens and fountains which weren't is switched on at the moment and came out at the peace pagoda which is a large Japanese style structure, from here we took a walk along the banks of the Thames until you come out at Chelsea bridge then caught a bus a few stops before we jumped on another one that took us into Chelsea. After having a spot of lunch in McDonald's we decided to head off because it was busy around here and most of the pubs overcrowded and expensive.

Kingston Gardens

Kensington Gardens gardens were only a short bus ride and we entered the park by the Albert Hall where a very large monument greats you. This park covers 270 and was a lot quieter than the previous one. 

Wild Parrots

The main reason for coming here is wild parrots of which there are around 6000 breeding pairs which will gladly take food from you. I had bought a banana but they weren't to keen on that so ended up with some monkey nuts that somebody gave to feed them. Oddly the weight more than I thought they would but didn't get bitten or pooped on.
it was surprising how many people were here, they must be the most well-fed birds in London.
After spending around 30 minutes or so trying to get some all decent photographs it was time to head to the north side of the park to the Italian Gardens which have fountains set above a lake. It's a great place to relax around here. 

Italian Water Gardens

Things went a bit pear-shaped from here, after leaving the gardens we caught the first of 2 buses without too much of a wait only to get stuck in traffic on the second. After 20 minutes or so of going nowhere, we decided that nothing was going to move in the near future so got off the bus to walk it. The driver did tell us that the problem was the roadworks at Hyde Park Corner that were causing all the problems and he suggested we walk to there then catch a bus that was nearer the front of all this traffic.

After about a mile of walking, we got down to where the problem was crossed many lanes of traffic then jumped onto another bus to take us to the pub, time was starting to get on now.

So, what should have taken us around 25 minutes on a couple of buses ended up taking almost an hour.

The Pub

We finally arrived at the Willow Walk pub just after 4.30 and managed to find a place to sit, most Wetherspoon pubs in London are always busy so getting a seat can be a problem. After spending 90 minutes in there it was time to make a move, this would give us just over an hour to get back to Waterloo Station. As always I end up walking in the wrong direction to the bus stop, even with GPS and a map on my phone. 

Homeward bound

As it turned out we didn't have long to wait for a bus so was back at Waterloo Station with around 30 minutes to spare which gave me time to take some photos of The Shard, unfortunately, these didn't come out very good. 

The train ride back was uneventful but now the bus leaves Fareham slightly earlier so we just missed that although this gave us just enough time for a swift beer in Wetherspoon before crossing to the bus station.

Camden

Today's photo album.

It's been a while since we have been able to spend a full day in London and this trip would mark 1 year since we started going to places on the train. 

I won't bore you with the details of how we got here as we always get on the same trains now, at least everything was on time and he eventually turned up with a ramp for the train. Even though the off door was locked for the passenger assistance it turned out he was hiding inside.

Primrose Hill 

We arrived at Waterloo Station just after ten o'clock and headed out to the bus stop and caught the 139 then changed to the 274 at Baker Street which brought us to the bottom of Primrose Hill about 40 minutes later.
Primrose hill sits just north of central London, at 213 feet it gives you extended views back into London with most of the famous landmarks like The Shard, London Eye and Saint Paul's visible even though today was cloudy. You also get to watch the planes going in and out of Heathrow at a low altitude but just as we got to the top they changed the flight path so I wasn't able to get the photos I wanted.
Something I didn't know was that Paddington Bear was filmed around here.

Regents Canal walk & Camden

It was only a short walk back down the hill and on to the Regent's Canal which was completed in 1820 and runs eight and a half miles from the Grand Union Canal to the River Thames. 

The section we walked was from London Zoo to Camden Lock which is around half a mile, the lock used to have stables and a range of warehouses that have now been turned into overpriced trendy bars and restaurants. Bizarrely, it was extremely crowded in these but the Wetherspoon pub was relatively quiet, it also helped that beer was a lot less expensive than I thought it would be so it was time for a couple of beers the Ice Wharf before heading to Macdonalds for some lunch. 

The best way to describe this area is manic, it's that bad it's hard to walk down the pavement with so many people so decided to catch the bus one stop to Camden Market, we didn't hang around here too long as it was far too crowded.

Disused station

Just across the road from Camden Market, we caught the bus; the plan was to head down to near Westminster then have a couple of drinks in a pub before taking a walk along the Thames after dark but with some time to kill we decided to get off in Holborn and go in the Shakespeares Head which has the added benefit of being right next to the bus stop.

After about 90 minutes in here, it was time to move on as darkness was approaching so hopped on another bus unfortunately, I got my bridges mixed up so ended up getting off way too soon, I did think at the time it should have taken longer to get where we're going. This worked out better in the end as we were right by one of the old disused tube stations on The Strand that I've wanted to look at for a while now and even though it was dark still managed to get a few photographs. 

London Eye

It was too far to walk to the where we needed to be on the river but there are lots of buses that run along The Strand to Westminster Bridge so only had a short wait then a 10-minute ride.

For the past few years, the London Eye has sponsored by Coca-Cola and illuminated in their colours of red accordingly but from the middle of February, a travel company took the sponsorship over with their colours being pink and this was just good an opportunity to miss a photo that you can call pink eye!

Like most places in London, this area attracts lots of tourists so was crowed but I managed to find a space to set up my small tripod on the north bank looking across to The Eye for a few good shots of it lit up.

It's an impressive sight at 442 feet and takes around 30 minutes to complete a full rotation in one of the 32 pods but im not sure if I would pay £30 for the ride.

Super Moon

Today was also a super moon and at 99% full it was the perfect opportunity to get some good closeup photos. I had bought myself a new camera a couple of months ago but the weather had been so bad every time I had a day off so I hadn't had a chance to get to use it for any length of time. I was very impressed with the quality, its surprising how much technology has moved on since I bought my last bridge camera over ten years ago.

Now was time to start making a move back to Waterloo Station to get the train home in about 40 minutes, this should have been plenty of time and we could have even walked it in about 15 or 20 minutes but decided to catch a bus which would be a five-minute ride if all went well, it didn't. 

Instead of having plenty of time to get a sandwich from the shop we had to wait for ages for a bus and only had about 10 minutes to spare, it didn't help that this was an extra-long train and they decided to put us all the way down at the far end. Being put in coach  3 of a 12 coach train wasn't the best idea when you have to walk to coach 6 to find a working toilet which caused a bit of problem for Jane with the shaking from side to side but with a bit of planning you can make it most of the way when it stops at stations.

And so ended another day trip to London.

Clifton

Today's photos
Today we were heading west to Clifton in Bristol, we had planned on coming here on our last visit a couple of months ago, but didn't have the time and with today's fine weather it looked like it was to be a fantastic day. There's plenty of engineering work on the line this weekend, which actually benefits us, normally the train that we get is always packed, but due to it starting at Fareham there weren't that many on it plus it was only going as far as Bristol Parkway instead of Cardiff so that would help on the way back, I hope.

We arrived in Bristol only a couple of minutes late, but as sod's law dictates that was just enough time to miss the bus, they are supposed to be every 8 minutes. We promptly boarded one about 15 minutes later and as this is a very popular route everyone was now crammed onto the bus. It doesn't help when most people don't have any idea of where they are going to even though these are the sort of people that will moan like on social media when Google Maps could provide you with everything you need to know.

After a 25-minute ride through the congested street's we arrived at Clifton village, then took a 10-minute walk to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, today had an amazingly clear sky with no wind at all. We first followed the path across on the northern side of the bridge which gives you spectacular views north up the river and gorge. It's a bit tricky the footpath on the bridge as the pavement is only about 4 feet wide so you need to squeeze passed oncoming people. Once on the other side, it's just a short walk to the visitor centre, which I think has only recently opened and is free to enter. There are so many fascinating facts that you can learn about the bridge and a wealth of photos of the construction.

The bridge opened in 1864 and has a span between the two towers of 702 feet and at 331 feet above the River Avon is a dizzying drop when you look down. 

We returned across the bridge via the south walkway which then gives you fantastic views over Bristol, it also helped to be on this side as the sun was shining on that side of the bridge which made for some cool photos from the southwestern viewing area.

A short walk from here down a steep hill is the Clifton Rocks Railway and although it's not fully open or even part of the heritage open week this year they were running free tours every 20 minutes so. This railway has only 2 stations and the tracks run diagonally down through the cliffs via a tunnel about 400 feet in length to the bottom station which is about a 200 feet below the top station. It was mainly used to transport guests from the river to the adjoining hotel next door at the top back in its heyday.

The site originally opened in 1893 and struggled for many years until it finally closed in 1934, it was then used again during the war by the BBC and other government departments who weren't very sympathetic with their construction work so not much of the original bottom station is left inside. After the war the railway was once again abandoned and soon fell into disrepair until 2008 when it was taken over by a charitable organization who has partly reopened it to visitors but much work still needs to be done, you are only able to take a short tour of about 20 minutes around the top station but there are plenty of items to see that have been uncovered during the restoration project. They will also be offering a full tour in the future again after some safety work has been carried out which will then take you from the top station, down a walkway tunnel that runs adjacent to the tracks and into what is left of the bottom station. This is something I would like to do in the future and although there is a fee it's less than £10 per person.

By now it was around 1 o'clock, we had planned on having lunch in the Brunel Pub a short walk from the railway, strangely they only do food on Sundays it would appear so had a couple of drinks before heading round the corner to a chip shop which I wish we hadn't bothered with as the sausage and chips were overcooked.

From there we crossed the road to the bus stop and as per usual, there wasn't a bus for about 15 minutes then 4 turned up. I was hoping to get to a pub part way back called the Berkeley, which has an amazing ceiling at the back but by now the time was around 3 o'clock and if we had to wait too long to get a bus later on we probably wouldn't get to go to the pub near the station so decided that the best course of action was just to head straight to Temple Meads station and go in the pub there.

It was a fairly hair-raising ride back to Temple Meads station on the bus and there was also plenty of horns blowing from the driver, he's probably going to give himself a stroke if he carries on like that. Once there, it's only a short walk around the back to the Knights Templer for some apple pie and a couple more drinks, it was busy here, but it's a big pub with plenty of seating and lots of staff serving behind the bar.

Our train was leaving at 17:22, so we left the pub just before 5, it seems to be standard practice now that there is never anybody on the platform for the assistance that we booked which makes you wonder why you have to call and book in the first place but at least we arrived back in Fareham on time to catch the bus home.

Thames Barrier & Greenwich Park

Today's photo album

Today is going to be a warm one which makes a change for a bank holiday weekend, even at 7:30 when we left home it was warm.

So after a quick dash down to Gregg's in Fareham to get something to eat on the train it was back to the station to get the 8:28 train, as normal there was nobody in the assistance office so you have to get the train guard to get the ramp out which makes the train late, that's why they pay people on the station. I think he was there when we first arrived, but then locked up the office, they do have a list of who has booked so you would think they would at least have a look when the train is due.

Normally we have caught the bus on previous visits but today we were heading out further and the only way to get there is on the Tube & DLR, this takes some planning as not all stations are accessible, but I worked out what needed to do so after doing battle with the machine to top up the Oyster Cards trying to use Android Pay I gave up and just used my bank card to load the credit on, I really don't know why these touch screens are so unresponsive!

From there it was down 1 elevator, then through the ticket barrier to the next one onto the Jubilee Line to Canning Town then change to the DLR to Pontoon Dock, this part of the trip is really well signposted so that makes a change. Unfortunately, the elevator was broken at Pontoon Dock so it was down a few flights of stairs before you can cross to the other side the get the elevator on that side to the street.

Just round the corner from here is the Thames Barrier Park and it's a little bit of an escape from people, in fact, there were only about 10 other people that we could see so a welcome relief.
After spending about an hour there we had some lunch in a cafe Bonnane just round the corner, I thought this place would be expensive, but at £3.50 for a sausage and egg sandwich, it's not too bad. The next idea was to just walk down the road which brings you out at the end of the runway for London City Airport & watch some planes land, as they had been going in every few minutes this should have been a quick stop but nothing turned up for about 30 minutes so gave up & caught the bus to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel.

This is the longer of the 2-foot tunnels under the Thames and at 1654 feet long it takes about 10 minutes to walk through plus has elevators at each end to save you climbing the stairs. There are also signs to tell you if the one at the other end is working and both were today. The other option to if the elevators break or the tunnel is closed is to use the Woolwich car ferry which I believe is free for pedestrian passengers.
One out on the south side of the river we watched the car ferry unload and chilled out for a bit by the river, then took a 10 minute walk into Woolwich town centre which pretty much looks like any other town centre anywhere in the UK, the main reason to come here was to go to the pub so spent an hour so in there.

Next, we caught the 180 bus, which was packed. It really didn't help when they drive like a maniac & you are getting thrown about then it sits at the stop for ages because he's early now & the relief driver hasn't got here yet, plus it's boiling hot as well so that was not the best 25 minutes we spent on public transport today.

Once off the bus we headed up into Greenwich Park, which is a bit hilly it was best to park Jane under a tree while I climbed up to One Tree Hill Vista point which gives you a nice view back to the main part of London, even though today was sunny it was still a bit hazy, but I think most that was due to pollution in the air but you get some fantastic views of the skyline with a mix of the old and new. It's also from this vantage point that you can truly appreciate the scale of building work that goes on in this city. The main attraction here is the Greenwich Observatory and Prime Meridian, which is located at the very top of the hill, but judging by the number of people queueing just to get up the pathway it was something I wasn't prepared to go to. The funny thing was that there are so many pathways in here that crisscross each other I forgot where I had left Jane so when I eventually got a signal I had to get her to send me the GPS location so I could find her.

By now it was almost 5 o'clock so it was time for a drink in the Gate Clock pub which is handy because it's right next to the DLR station.

Unfortunately the ride back wasn't a smooth as it should have been, we had to change trains at the Heron Quays Station, which is simple enough, but you are on an elevated part of the DLR so that means you have to come out of the station to the street and find the elevator down to the Jubilee Line and this is where it gets tricky. The elevator brings you out in an underground shopping centre you then have to follow poorly signposted directional signs that are hung from the ceiling in really small writing to another elevator that is hidden. Now you would think it would be a simple process of going to the right level, but each floor has 2 letters & nothing to tell you what they mean, I can't understand why you just wouldn't put "Jubilee Line" next to the level as this is the only accessible route, it's almost like it has been designed to keep you by the shops, it makes you wander around pasted them all before getting to the station which is one of the reasons I don't like using the Tube here.

So we had left the pub at 6 o'clock for what should have been a 30 minute ride back to Waterloo, in theory, this would give us about half an hour to get a sandwich & some beer for the train back, but due to wandering about then being crammed into the world's nosiest subway train we ended with about 5 minutes to spare by the time we got on the platform.

The train from Waterloo left on time but got in a few minutes late, so we missed the bus home, but we needed to get some shopping from Tesco anyway, by the time we did finally make it home it was 10:30 pm & we are far too old to be out at that time but it had been a good day.

Considering the distance we had travelled it only cost us £14.20 each for the day, which is more than the £10.50 it normally costs, but this is due to using the underground which we will probably be avoiding next time. 

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Covent Garden & The South Bank. London

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It's been a while since we have gotten into London due to the train tickets that I get online from the company website developed a problem whereby it wouldn't send the email that contained the tickets which resulted in us losing £18 a few weeks ago, that really pissed me off, but now that has been resolved we can start going again although I will buy them further in advance so they have time to post them to me if necessary.
Another reason to use as many as possible is that the company is up for sale and its too expensive to go most of the time at full price, anyhow I digress so on with the day.

Travel 

The train journey into London was pretty much the same as normal, not too busy and with only one crying kid half of the way. Also, this was one of the trains that have plug sockets so I can charge my phone before getting off.
After topping up the Oyster with £5 we caught the 176 bus the outside the station, unfortunately, today this should have only been one journey, but due to Waterloo Bridge being closed, we ended up having to go to Parliament Square then change to the 24 bus, all this added about an extra 30 minutes to what should have been a 10 minute trip.

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is like most places in London, packed, but it was ok to have a look at the overpriced restaurants not that we had any intention of eating here. From there we walk round to a place called Neal's Yard, which as the name suggests, is a small courtyard filled with more fancy dining places, it was at the point that the wheelchair hit a small crack in the pavement and cracked the front wheel, luckily it was still useable but only on smooth flat surfaces after that.

South Bank walk

So now it was a walk of about a quarter of a mile to the Shakespeare's Head pub, unfortunately, the sandwich shop I had planned on going in wasn't open, I think it might be better if these places put the opening hours online but you at least this was the last of the walking would do.

After spending about an hour in there, we headed around the side streets to another pub where we spent about an hour and a half, then caught the 8 bus a few stops and changed to the 63 to Blackfriars Bridge where we could drop down onto the South Bank of the Thames.

It was nice to stroll along here for an hour plus the surface was nice and flat so we could still use the wheelchair. After passing the Oxo building and the This Morning TV studio that you really couldn't see very well because of the trees we then passed the London Eye, it was busy along this part but it was a warm afternoon. When we got to Westminster Bridge we climbed the set of steps up and then caught the 148 bus 4 stops and went in Tesco to get something to drink on the train before heading into the Crown and Cushion pub where we spent about an hour. By now it was 6.30 so took the short walk back to Waterloo Station for the 7.08 train back to Fareham.

Everything was going to plan until we just got just outside Fareham in the train which came to an abrupt stop, although we weren't stuck there too long it made us just late enough to miss the bus home so we had 30 minutes to kill, this was all the excuse I needed to go to spoonz for a swift drink before getting the bus home. I think it was about 9.40 by the time we got home, but it had been good to get out for the day.

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Bristol Harbour

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It was a change of direction for us today's outing and a slightly earlier start, I've been to Bristol a few times in the past, but normally only end up the pub most of the day, we had planned on more for today, but we probably wouldn't have had enough time to do it all plus it was a warm day so best to take it easy.

Today we left Fareham at 07:47 and arrived at Bristol Temple Meads at 09:47, amazingly the train was getting there on time today, but I think that was due to engineering works further up the line so this train was only going one more stop and not all the way to Cardiff so this would be a good idea for future visits I think.

From just outside the station we caught the number 8 bus for the 15-minute ride that would drop us just at the back of the City Centre then we walked a short distance to Cascade Steps which is a series of steps down to the harbour with shallow water running over them, it's an idyllic place to sit for a bit and watch the world go by.

Along this part of the harbour, the old Warehouses have been turned into shops, cafes and trendy bars so we took a leisurely stroll along until we came to the V Shed pub. It seemed fairly quiet in here, then I discovered after a 3-mile hike to the toilets that there were 2 other floors above us that were very busy, price wise it was reasonable value for money.

We spent around an hour in there, then walked across the footbridge that takes you over the harbour and continued along on the other side to the Bristol Harbour Steam Railway. There's only a small section track left that now runs an old steam train that was used to transport goods from the warehouses to the main line and for a £2 you can take a ride on it which last about 10 minutes or so and there seemed to be no shortage of people waiting to ride today, I was tempted to have a go as its fully accessible but they only run about every 30 minutes I think and we had other things to see along here. 

Next on the list was the M Shed which is a free museum dedicated to the history of Bristol, there's some great stuff in here, even though it is a small museum, there's also a roof terrace on the third floor that gives you a fantastic view over the harbour. After spending an hour in here we headed off back the way we came and had planned on catching a bus to the city centre, but after searching in vain for the stop that wasn't was it said it was supposed to be on the map it was easier just to walk, I'm glad we did in the end.

After walking for about 15 minutes, mostly back the way we came we were starting to get hungry and after a quick check of the map I discovered a pub called the Commercial Rooms, this a really grand old building with high vaulted ceilings and fantastic stonework out the back. After a couple of beers and some lunch we carried on into the City Centre for a look around the shops then caught a bus back towards the train station, we weren't planning to stay late here and had assistance booked for the 17:20 train back, I don't like leaving it to late getting back to the station so we had an hour to kill almost when we got there but my plan was to go in the pub around the corner which suited me very nicely.

Due to engineering works the train was already sitting on the platform 15 minutes before it was due to leave this also had the added bonus of not being jam-packed as it hadn't come all the way from Cardiff. 

All went well with the 2-hour journey back arriving on time, we had just missed a bus at the station so walk into Fareham and caught one from there.

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Docklands Museum, London

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Today was bright but cold so it was a bit chilly waiting for the train, it doesn't help when there is nobody in the passenger assistance office at the train station so you then have to find the guard on the train to get the ramp out so Jane can get on. Even though it was booked in advance they must know that there is nobody at Fareham, luckily the guard was near the front of the 10 coach train, this could have been a problem if he was still the other end. At a push, you could probably get on without the ramp, but if they don't know you got on and nobody comes down the train checking tickets, then you have the same problem getting off and the gap is far too wide at Waterloo.
Any how's as it turned out we had double help at Waterloo so all was well.

After topping up the Oyster Cards we caught what would be the first of 3 buses, a 26 and then changed at Saint Paul's the to the 15 which took us into Commercial Road, we had planned on going into MacDonald's but as my tech was telling me the 315 bus was following the one we were on it would be prudent to get on it or have a 20 minute wait in what was now a cold, wet and windy day, luckily it wasn't like this all day. 

There are quicker ways to get here, but that involved 2 tube trains and then changing to the DLR, this could have got us there in about 35 minutes but there's always a risk of the elevator not working.

The bus dropped us off in Canary Wharf and it was only a short walk in the cold and wet to the pub called The Ledger Building to get warm, for a Wetherspoon pub this was definitely one of the better ones that had been tastefully converted. One hour later it was time to head next door the Museum of London Docklands which charts the history of how the docks developed over the years, I'm all for these free museums.

Roof Garden

After spending about an hour and half in the museum, we took a short walk round to the Crossrail Rooftop Garden which is semi covered garden built in one of the docks, this is also part of the new Crossrail station, which is underground with the other levels being trendy bars and cafes, I can't help but think that if they had made it completely covered they could have turned into a rooftop conservatory with tropical plants, as the summers in this country tend to be short it would be an excellent place to sit on a cold winter's today or even just a day like today.

As most of this area is made up of banking headquarters, it was always to be a bit of a ghost town at the weekend around here, but they are always finding ways to squeeze more money out of people but it's still an impressive place to see. I thought it would have more people in here, but there was were relatively few today. I think the security guards spend most of their time trying to keep the homeless people out now.

Greenwich foot tunnel

After about 30 minutes wandering around the pathways, we headed out across the footbridge and back into Canada Square the caught the D7 bus to the very bottom of the Isle of Dogs, this was one time I'd wished I had spent a bit more time looking at the real timing for the buses because the one we got on was packed but if we had waited there was another one not too far behind that eventually passed us with nobody on it.
Next on the list was taking a short walk which brought us out on the Thames with views over Greenwich on what was now a warm day. Something I've always wanted to do was to walk through the Greenwich foot tunnel with is a 350-meter long tunnel that runs underneath the Thames to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
Considering how this tunnel was constructed and opened in 1903 it's an amazing piece of engineering and well worth the trip down there, it is also kept remarkably clean.

Cutty Sark

By now it was around 3 o'clock and it had taken us longer than to get around than planned or maybe I'd just put too much into one day with the available time we had so after a quick walk around Greenwich Market we headed into MacDonald's and then Gate Clock pub for a couple of drinks and a well earned sit-down, they even had a row of plug sockets along the wall in here to charge your phone so made some of that. 

By 5:30 it was time to make a move, we were a fair distance from Waterloo Station and it was at least a 50-minute ride back on the bus which seemed like twice as long. 

We had just enough time to get some snacks and beer from the shop before going into the station, we normally get the 18:09 train back, but today we had decided to leave 1 hour later at 19:09, this turned out to be a good idea as I hate being in a rush. 

All was well with the train journey back arriving in Fareham at 20:46 and only had a few minutes to wait for the bus home. 

Museum of London

This trip had to be quickly replanned the day before after I found out there was going to be a demonstration through the middle of where we had planned to go, there was also a good chance that this demonstration could turn nasty so it was best to avoid that area altogether. With this being our third trip and we have found that the best trains to be on are the 8.28 from Fareham and come back 18.09 from Waterloo, this also gives us some spare time if things go wrong. 

The first thing we had to do was top up the Oyster Cards for the bus, which is the cheapest way to get around at a maximum fare of £4.50 a day with that done it was time to catch the bus from just outside the station for the 5-minute ride to Blackfriars Road on the 381. From there it was only a short walk around the side of the Tate Modern to get on the banks of the Thames.

One thing that makes us laugh is that the water is always shown as blue, but the Thames is definitely not. Although it was cloudy today it wasn't cold, along the river is not the place to be on a cold day. A short walk brought us to the Millennium Bridge, which was made famous when it first opened by wobbling from side to side with the number of people on it so was closed to the public almost straight away, you can still feel it bouncing up and down now as you walk across it, unfortunately  they had fencing on there so you couldn't get any good photos across it. After crossing the bridge it brings you out by Saint Paul's Cathedral and with a MacDonald's just down the road so as it was now 11.30 we decided to have something to eat. 

Just across the road from here was the bus stop so we caught the number 4 for a 10-minute ride to the Museum of London. 

This is an odd place to get into as it's surrounded on 3 sides by roads plus you have to be on an upper level to get in, the first elevator we tried didn't work so had to go and find another one further up. 

This museum traces the history of London over a few thousand years up the present day with some excellent displays and is laid out very well. 

After spending about an hour and a half in there we caught the 100 bus from outside to the Liberty Bounds pub about 20 minutes away, like most pubs in central London is was packed but managed to get a seat after a while. As far as prices go, it wasn't too expensive at £5 for 2 drinks. 

We only stayed in here for about an hour, then took a short walk to Tower Bridge, which is always going to be super busy, but at least I managed to get one good photo while crossing it. The weather today had been mostly dense cloud until now, but the sun had started to make some holes in it at 4 o'clock, but that didn't leave us much time to take pictures, the light is much better towards the end of the day anyway. 

By the time we had crossed the bridge it was around 4.30 so headed into the Pommelers Rest for a quick drink, there seemed to be some sort of team building exercise going on in here with what I could only describe as the sort of people that are holiday reps for some piss up party place in Spain, they were loud and they were annoying. 

It was only a short walk to the bus stop for the 188 that would take us back towards Waterloo station, I had planned on 2 or 3 ways to get back and this looked the best as the transit app shows how bad the traffic is along the route so off we went for the bus. 

Unfortunately the bus didn't make it to where it was going because they decided to cut the route short, so kicked everyone off 2 stops before Waterloo Station, this seems to happen a lot in London on the buses and is something that really gets on people's tits, anyhow, this turned out to be better for us as it gave us the opportunity to go to Tesco and get some booze for the train journey back, there is a Sainsbury's closer but it's twice the price with obnoxious staff.

We were back the station about 17:50 and the train was due to leave at 18:09 which is a bit closer than I would like to call it, but that was my fault for staying in the pub too long. 

The train left on time and we were back home by 8.20 having had a really good day without spending a fortune. 

Natural History Museum, London

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Five days off work and today should have been the first of two trips we had planned in London, unfortunately we were unable to make the second trip two days later due to me having a cold and we both were still feeling really tired after a long day today, but there are plenty more opportunities to in the coming weeks.

Like last time it was the 8.28 train from Fareham and today is a lot warmer than last time, but a bit foggy in places, but that is going to clear later, it's supposed to be a sunny day. 

The train wasn't busy at all but the odd thing is that coffee now comes tea bag style which made think I had been tea instead, perhaps it's an environmental thing. They also have plug sockets on this train well, which will help to keep me powered throughout the day, although I do have a portable power bank, this has got through many a day when I would normally have run out of juice or had to curtail my phone and internet usage.

We arrived on time and the first thing we needed to do was get an oyster card for Jane which was as straight forward as it could have been, firstly you can only buy them from the underground stations which means finding a lift down then it would seem to be that it costs £5 for the card then you top it up. Doesn't really matter as it's the cheapest way to get around. 

We then caught the 211 from outside the station to Sloane Square then had a bit of a wait for the 360, this bus didn't have a card reader at the rear doors where we got on and he set off so fast we didn't get a chance to tag the cards, their loss not ours I suppose. 

It's only a short walk to the Natural History Museum but by now it was already starting to get packed out with people who aimlessly wander about. 

I really thought this place would have had more to offer, but it seems to be a very confusing layout, even the elevators in the busiest area's were tiny but the less crowded parts they are large and poorly signposted. By now I think we had both started to have had enough of it in here so decided to go.

After fighting our when through the crowds that seem to be getting worse in here we got outside, even then it was still a slog to the street, but only a short walk to the bus stop for the 74 to Hyde Park Corner. From there we changed to the #14 to Piccadilly Circus and walked into Leicester Square. 

It's best described as manic here and I'm not really sure what the attraction so we went into spoonz for a couple of drinks. Some things never change and it took forever to get served, we were going to have something to eat in here but it's a cut-down menu so didn't bother. In the end, we went to Macdonald's across the square, then sat outside to eat it where I got to punch a pigeon that was begging, bold as brass it was. There was also some sort of break dance group performing, but they were so crap it was unbearable to watch.

By now it was starting to get on time-wise, so walked down to pigeon head office otherwise know Trafalgar Square, where some sort protest was going on, judging by the faces that were there I would assume it wasn't a patriotic protest for the UK. 

A short walk brought us another spoonz called Lord Moon or something just down from Trafalgar Square so had a couple of drinks in there, then got a bus 3 stops to the other side of Westminster Bridge, this was the quickest way I think even though it was more walking. From there it was a short stroll to Sainsbury's to get some beer for the train trip home.

All was well on the ride the ride back and we both had a nice time today, it's more about getting out of our home town than sightseeing so there aren't many photos from today, all that was left to do was go to Tesco to get some beer then now then get the bus home.

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Imperial War Museum London

This was our first trip to London to visit an attraction, in the past few months we have tried several times to come here several times, but either the weather has been against us or the trains have been on strike or something else just got in the way so it actually made a change to get here for once.

It wasn't an early start for us as we only planned on being there for 8 hours. We caught the 8.27 train from Fareham and it was good to see the assistance was there to deploy the ramp to get on the train as the gap is a bit on the large side, they also need to know that you are on the train so somebody will be at the other end to get you off it, we have been stranded like this before.

Fareham to London takes about 1 hour 50 minutes and even though it was a Saturday I think most people had spent up over Christmas so the train was fairly quiet and even arrived on time at 10:08.
The museum is only a 15 or 20-minute walk from the station so it wasn't worth getting the bus, plus with the walking directions on Google Maps, it's easy enough to find although I still managed to go down one wrong road.

The museum is free to enter and I'm glad it was as would have been disappointed if I had paid to come in, I've been to the one in Manchester & thought that was much better layout even though it was smaller. The main problem here was the central open area of the upper floors surrounds the main hall & doesn't really give you enough room to see the displays & it all felt at cramped when it was busy. It would also seem the higher up you got on each of the 5 floors the less there was to see, it was almost like they were trying to spread things out to occupy space. There were also some displays that were too close to the wall that you wouldn't be able to get a wheelchair along to see them, which seems odd as this is a fairly modern building inside.

We were in there from about 10:45 until 1pm then decided it was time to get some lunch, according to the map there was a spoons pub called the Rockingham Arms about a 15 minute walk away near the Elephant & Castle station so headed off down there although my crap sense of direction struck again so it took us a bit longer to get there.
Price wise it was almost the same as back at home so had some lunch a few drinks over the next couple of hours.

We left about 3:15 to take a slow walk back towards Waterloo & stopped off at Tesco for some beer for the train, then dropped into the Crown & the Cushion pub for a couple of drinks, this place is ideally located about a 5 minute walk from the station and it had gone really chilly it was a good spot to keep warm. I think £3.30 a pint next to any station is a good price & it was a nice enough place if you like your pubs a bit of a dive, oddly it was an Irish pub that had a Thai menu, I'm not sure what was but something smelled really nice like a barbeque sausage that was cooking.

Our train was due to leave at 18:09 so set off to the station about 17:40, one thing we had noticed while here was that the pavements are nearly all very smooth with no potholes & where you cross the road the lowered curbs are level, this makes life so much easier to get about with the wheelchair.
Once the train sets off you get a good view of the London Eye now called the Coke Cola Eye or something like that all lit up. The train wasn't that busy so had a peaceful 1 hour 40-minute ride back to Fareham arriving on time, which meant we only had about 10 minutes or so to wait for the bus back home.

Today had been a good day, even though we didn't do very much, but this has given us some more ideas the next time we come here, which could be every third Saturday if things stay the same at work, we have about 20 or so tickets left to use & I can have up to 4 people on each ticket, they reset at the beginning of April back to 48.

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