Wednesday 12 August 2009

1779 A long journey and changing rooms

For my second visit to London within a month I am immediately torn between wanting to make full use of the opportunity and the need to write about recent experience. The opportunity provided by a long coach journey enable substantial progress in the reading of Sons and Lovers. Once upon a time I was a devourer of historical literature but as indication of belated development now the reading is slow as I must read in the context of the writer and their time. I still do not analyse and break down the construction of the work although I know all about the process of writing. The day did not begin or end well although I have viewed what happened as challenges which were overcome.

I have become confident about preparing for departure and everything went well with the new case packed and food prepared before midday. Then just when I was considering making the final preparing the skies darkened and heavens opened with a great torrent and I considered booking a taxi. There was lighter sky within view so I held off for a few minuets and was rewarded by the rain stopping. I decided to depart without delay rather than making the usual final check and made two mistakes as a consequence. I failed to pack the headphones for the computer which I had borrowed to listen to Test Match broadcasts while at Durham cricket. I need the phone if I want to watch on the i player later at night.

About two hours before I had carefully prepared the pack of four bread rolls for my mainstay food on the journey and evening. I had taken time to cut into two even halves and then taken the rind of the salami which I used as an inner sandwich with small pieces of lettuce and the rest of the smoked salmon bits, so that the lettuce and salmon did not make the bread damp and soggy. I packed two in one sandwich bag, one for journey and one for arrival. They are still sitting on the Day room table. I made do with a small packet of crisps and a chunky kit bought at the Sheffield motorway service area, plus the pastries which I did pack and the melon slices. The latter was not good and about a third was binned. I did bring same water which was needed on the journey and then during the night.

I must enthuse about the new case bought for half the standard price of £80, The main compartment has a small lock. There is a zipped see through compartment for documents or items to be kept separate in the main lid. This has a second zip which can add an extra inch to the case if need for extra purchases on the journey, There is a second compartment in the lid which will take more papers or stuff like socks, pants and hankies. There is an additional small compartment for essential items for the journey such as tickets and small maps. The retractable handle is central and solid with a press button to release. It is so much easier to manoeuvre and pull, a joy compared to the case with its side grip.

I was not just early at the coach station but the only person at South Shields travelling to London on the day, and there was therefore no rush required to get the back seat by the emergency door which has twice the usual leg room space. While I waited I was entertained by three screaming and fighting children under five who mother and grandmother, the latter is presumed, enjoyed finding out who could scream and shout the loudest. The mother said she was envious of my trip to London and despite my age and bulk I reckon she would have abandoned her offspring and come on the coach with me had I invited. I may be doing her a great injustice but my prediction that her family will become well known to the child care and social justice authorities is well founded.
Although the coach filled up well first at Sunderland, then Stockton and the Boro, the middle space was kept clear although a young man with a sniff and sneeze did take the sea nearest the toilet. The coach insists on taking the route from Grangetown to the new Ryhope bypass before joining the road from Ryhope again, which involves three sides of square when the single side through the village is the obvious choice. The bypass is convenient for those who take the eastern route out of Sunderland.

Almost as the coach left Sunderland the skies darkened and it rained. It was not cold and a good temperature for travelling. I kept notes of the travelling time. “We left Shields at 1.55, five minutes early. Sunderland at 14 past two. We left the A19 towards York after stops at Stockton and Middlesbrough and the Boro at 4pm and it took an hour and half to enter York, drop some passengers and pick up others. At Middlesbrough the girl of a couple persuade a young man sitting in front of the toilet to move to the third seat at the back, disturbing my comfort so they could sit together. I had heard the young man sneeze and indicate other symptoms of a cold before then so I had double cause for concern. What made matters worse is that when the couple departed at York he did not the seize the opportunity to regain his former seat, which was taken by a young woman who had shared a seat with a stranger and saw the opportunity to have a window seat on her own.

When I returned from the purchase of the crisps and chocky bar at Sheffield I had noticed my sneezing companion sitting in an area near the two coaches, and another young man sitting in his seat. When I mentioned that the seat holder was returning her said he would move if the young man did not find another seat, into the centre seat. Thus it came to pass that I was joined not by one but by two young fellows in the rear with me imprisoned so speak in the corner. This made the rest of journey uncomfortable for all of us and for me in particular when the light failed and it was no longer possible to read.

I wish I had my camera to take photos of the monotonous countryside with monotonous quickly darkening sky above. At least there were two blessings. The cause of the crowding of the coach was the decision for everyone wishing go to Milton Keynes to go to the other coach and their places to London filled but those on their coach, no doubt with the promise of an earlier arrival. Thus it was we did not take the Milton Keynes turn off which reduced travelling time by 15 to 20 minutes. I had arranged for another bonus in switching my luggage from Victoria to the prior stop and Golders Green. The Tube station is adjacent to the coach stop thus cutting out the considerable walk from the Victoria Coach to Train Station, as well as the time the coach then takes to get from Golders Green to the Coach terminus. On reflection there was another bonus in that the new arrival was not next to the young man with the cold and therefore acted as a buffer between us. So far only the extremes of weather have affected me.

I have not called at Golders Green Station before although some fifty years ago I alighted at Hampstead on the same Northern line route to meet someone who I had previous met at the offices of the Committee 100 and who appeared much taken with me on being introduced as one of the Foulness 13. I had obtained the address of the young lady and written suggesting that if she wished to meet up she should phone within ten seconds of getting the letter. She did, although I was still in bed and barely awake at the time, but we had met at the station as soon as I could get there and a walk on the Health we had returned to her palatial family home where she divulged her father was regarded as one of the best accountants in the City of London. It was she who took me to see Beyond the Fringe, to look at Leonardo drawings at Windsor Castle and to the Alexandrian Quarter by Lawrence Durrell. It was she who counselled that I should go to Ruskin for it would condense what I had to say rather than take up the suggestion of an appointment as CND organiser for the London Region.

The surprise at Golders Greens is that in order to reach the platform has to take a lift up rather than down. At Camden the compartment was filled by a party of mixed men and women who had been on a drinking binge as members of 100, 500 and 1000 Guinness drinkers club. 100pints.com. From the internet site I gather progress is tracked carefully in that the drinking has to take place in the company of existing members. Your name is inscribed in the club scroll for 100 pints and you get your own scroll for 500. I want to write on so did not check on the internet what happens when you reach 1000. I was invited to join the club. The liveliest of the group said he was from Whitley Bay when I said I was from South Shields for the past 35 years. Her explained that although the family was Irish he was born in Whitely Bay but now lived off the Mile End Road. This conversation thus destroyed the myth that Londoners never engage in conversation with strangers on the public transport system, albeit they were a very merry group,

Had I not undertaken the same routes as my previous visit then I would have arrived at Royal Scott at 11.15 and paid over £20 for the taxi ride. I arrived at 10pm and the Tube fare was £4.

I sensed there was difficulty finding me a doubled bedded room from the conversations between the assistant and other member of staff including the duty manager. I sense that part of the problem was that I had paid the minimum price for the room for four nights £37.50 that is £9 a night plus credit card charge. The problem I encountered is that although the allocated room was large it contained not two twins beds but three with each appearing the smallest in width I have encountered. There were positives in that I was high on the fifth floor above the ground noise. There were pillows, towels, coffee and tea supplies and wardrobe space for three. It was possible to move one of beds easily up to the desk to use as a seat for working on the lap top. However I was disappointed not have been told in advance so I returned to the desk with my luggage and drew attention that I had booked a double bedded room. I was told that I would have been allocated a room had I arrived earlier, that they were fully booked for the night and there was also reference to company policy which I presumed meant that for those paying the minimum rate only the secondary rooms are allocated. I was promised a change of rooms the following morning and a note was made in the diary.

My anxiety about going in hospital some day is not because I had become ill or injured which required such captivity but the problem of my restlessness at night, the need to get up several times and the need to make full use of a double bed. This night was going to be a good test. I slept well for two hours in the first bed against a wall and away from the window. I was restless at the second waking and found settling done again difficult because of the proximity to the wall so I changed to the middle bed and this was more comfortable. By morning I decided to stay where I was and intended to inform the desk when I went down after nine so to use my bus pass at the first opportunity. However there was such a crowd that I decided to leave until I returned. I had an interesting and eventful day which will be subject of my next writing, although I must fit in the programme on Harry Patch and the other World War veterans who have recently died all aged between 100 and 111. There is also the latest in the series the Street, about alcoholism, For now I wish to complete the saga of the room. On arrival fully laden with food, drink and literature, I discovered my key card had been cancelled, so had to return to the reception desk. I was allocated a new room in a special area of the hotel called the Millennium suite, This is on the first floor, accessible from the second floor and comprises 12 rooms all with air conditioning except in my room but I would be allocated a fan. I made the mistake of leaving my jacket in the new room with the key to case so that for the second transfer of stuff I had to balance toilet bag, a bottle of water and other items of clothing with the locked case. The room is splendid and the fan effective on a very hot night compared to the previous one. I have resolved the lack of a chair by using the beside cabinet as a table as there is not one but to electricity connection sockets at hand.

The contrast between the two days could not be greater. Yesterday it a was a bad autumn day and only the fact that it chilly rather than called stops me calling it wintry. Today was Mediterranean summer. I have spent the latter part of the day drinking Pepsi cola, water, and tea. I made the mistake of deciding against buying a can of coke at Patridges near the new Saatchi gallery for 65 pence and ended up paying £1.86 at the Chelsea Potter in the Kings Road, with the add ons for a slice of lemon, the ice, a straw, staffing and site overheads and the once fashionable nature of the pub. I paid 87 pence for a bottle of still water at a Marks and Spencer’s in Oxford Street, the one opposite the Selfridge Food Hall side entrance. I paid 49 pence for a can bought later at a local newsagent, tobacconist and general store where the assistant asked how I was and if I had a good day. I then paid £1 for a can from one of the many hotel dispensers, although this was as cold a can as I have even experienced. I had two cups of tea one after the other such is the thirst that developed. The hotel rooms on each floor are in triangle although the sides are not straight and it is important not to lose the sense of direction in relation to the lifts. So far I have six journeys wither between rooms, once going outside the drink and once inside, plus one journey to query what was happening to the internet connection and back, but I am not complaining for it has been a good day which I shall retell next.

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