1884 London by train for £9

This is the ultimate travelling luxury. I am travelling from Newcastle to London, second class, for the princely sum of £9, sitting at a four seat able on my own, mains connected to the internet, listening to Lost FM, and some blues hussy, singing All Night Long. It was nearly very different as for the past week I was uncertain if I wanted to make the journey, even if getting to the station proved practical. The reason for the apprehension was the weather forecast of cold, snow and heavy rain sweeping the country. Heavy rain and snow was forecast for the North East so the first problem was getting from the house to South Shields station, about a quarter of a mile in driving rain, albeit down hill, which is not my idea of fun, having previously being caught out in driving although at the time I had my old luggage which me with meant juggling umbrella with case and a full and heavy haversack over the shoulder.
By Sunday I developed a plan which was to be ready packed by Tuesday bedtime and set off after 9.30 when my travel pass became valid, as soon as it was dry and if necessary ordering a taxi to South Shields station if I was still inclined to go. The plan was a good one but did not allow for not sleeping Monday night as first I stayed up finishing the EastEnders researching and writing and then I could not sleep, rising at six, enjoying bacon rolls and coffee and playing Luxor Mahjong. I then went back to bed around eight and slept uninterrupted until1.30 waking groggy and in need of a reviving coffee. Horror and disbelief, there was no water except what was left in the system. I washed and shaved and made myself presentable and had a cup of coffee, using water from the large litre containers which kept refreshed with tap water just for this purpose. I then went in search of neighbours to find out if the system failure was general or I had a problem. The first four door knocks failed to obtain a response, but the fifth yielded someone who had made a cup of tea half an hour before, but went away to check. Yes his taps were dripping empty, no there had been no advance warning, so we both went back in to make enquiries after checking the back lane and nearby roads for signs of pavement or other works of some kind, There were none and just before ringing, after finding the emergency call number, I made another check to find water spluttering back.
Grateful that it was not a problem which meant cancelling the trip there and then, I will leave what happened and why as one of the many unanswered questions.
The sun is now shining after Northern rain, gave way to wintry mist with areas of recent snow falls, through County Durham and North Yorkshire, all the way to York, as train gets closer to the metropolis. The journey has flown by after reading a collection of writings of John Peel, produced by his family as a tribute from his children and widow. This is civilized travelling and augers well for the rest of the three night, four day trip, arranged on impulse having been alerted to the £9 one way special offer trips to London and arranging travel lodge accommodation for a reasonable £19 a night.
John Peel died suddenly at the aged from a heart attack while on a trip to Peru fulfilling a lifelong ambition. John was as not a popular Disk Jockey and programme presenter as the likes of Terry Wogan, but was the most loved presenter of new contemporary music for close on forty years on Radio One BBC when it was established as the new music station. Over the decades John introduced over a thousand bans to the British Public through his live session in which the band came into the studios to play four numbers live and running through the full list on Wikipedia I notice Joan Armatrading had appeared six times, The Boomtown rats twice, David Bowie six times, Billy Bragg 11 times, Leonard Cohen 1 Elvis Costello 4, The Cure, deep Purple, Depeche Mode, Andy Fairweather Lowe, The Fall 25 times, Genesis 3, Richie Havens, Jimi Hendrix, Jethrow Tull and Elton John 2, Led Zepelin, 4 Lindisfarne 5, Manfred Mann 4 Bob Marley 2, The Moody Blues, Motorhead and Morrissey, Pet Shop, Boys, Pink Flloyd 6, The Police and Prefab Sprout, Queen 3, Sandie Shaw, Simple Minds. Steeleye Sam 8, Cat Stevens, Supertramp 4 T Rex 2 Thin Lizzie 7, Ten Years after 3, Ultra Vox, UB 40. There important reminded is that the groups or individuals appeared before they had a record contract or a following in the UK and that some then came back time after time, reveals the debt they felt to John for first giving them airtime. Many were among the thousand who went to his funeral to show the respect and the love the music industry felt for him.
Once a year listeners of his programme would vote for their best 50 tracks heard over the year and this in turn became something of national event. Teenage Kicks by the Undertones was his favourite track of all time and was played as his coffin left the church for burial in his home village. 11 times he was voted New Musical Express Disc Jockey of the year and was an obvious choice for the Radio Hall of Fame. Glastonbury has names its stage for new bands, the John peel Stage. The BBC arranged its first John Peel Day on 11th October 2005 and some 500 bands participated in live concerts throughout the UK and as far away as Canada and New Zealand. Two other days have been subsequently held.
John also wrote what today we call Blogs and it is a collection of this writing which his family has published under the title the Olivetti Chronicles, after the old typewriter which he kept and did his writing on. I was an Olivetti salesman for six brief months in 1959, failing to sell machine after heading the Sales schools. I was struck my one line, “ I am beginning to face a powerful urge to return to some of the scenes of my early failures.
There has been a little development at Newcastle station with the opening of coffee kiosks within the Metro station concourse and then the railway station concourse. The barrier entry system is now in operation but it is not working smoothly and staff are in hand. There are also two coffee places on platform 3, one in the waiting room which was not used and another combined with a small Smith’s outlet, which had limited customers as where they were desperate to sell me sandwiches or cake as coffee or appeared to be the only choice of those at the other tables in addition to myself. People are so used to calling in at the Smiths on the main concourse that I speculate there is little trade from this as well.
The advantage of the 1.03 is that although it comes from Scotland there is only one stop at York thereafter which restricts comings and goings and makes for a fast journey arriving on time at twenty to four. It is also now possible to take an undercover walk way from within Kings Cross through to St Pancras station where a lift is need to bring one to within the concourse at the entrance close to M and S and then across the concourse for a ticket direct to East Croydon, single at £4.40 where the Brighton Route train was waiting for me as I arrived on the Platform. There are only stops at Farringdon, Holborn and Blackfriars before London Bridge and then it is non stop to East Croydon. There was a light drizzle on arrival which meant using the umbrella which I used with ease on the short journey from the station to the Travel Lodge.
Later, despite the rain I had a walk around the town centre popping in the recently developed super kart taken over by the Waitrose chain. The shop has been enlarged and gone up market full of deli foods although the prices have risen accordingly. I was given a token with my change which I must find out what it is for. I was after some pan au chocolate for breakfast and also bought a couple of custard tarts to accompany a mug noodles and some salami crackers and some tea and later some coffee. Chelsea lost 2.1 to Inter in Milan. The away goal could be important as 1.0 win at home will secure them the tie. Despite this it was a good day and I looked forward to several films and a couple of free concerts at the South Bank, one folk and one Jazz over the next three days. The films include The Hurt Locker and An Education as well as an Ordinary Man, all in for Baftas and Oscars as well at the Last Station.