On Friday 12 July, I set off
for Newcastle station to travel first class to Kings Cross in the same week.
Even when I served on several national committees it was rare to undertake to
make the journey more than once and in
this instance I was engaged in writing
what I hoped would be a helpful information communication to Labour Party interests as
well as setting out about the reorganisation of the Artman project and the recording and location of the material in my home and
the self-storage facility hired and
which is essential before commencing the writing with appropriate refences if
what I hope to publish will have substance.
On the Friday morning, I was
using the last of the Virgin open 1st class tickets which meant that
although I had booked a seat in the 10 am I could travel on any train on the
selected day. Getting to and Newcastle
and back requires planning because of the road works on both possible routes, the
first heading from the A1M and then joining the main road between the city
centres of Sunderland and Newcastle or join in this road via Jarrow and Hebburn.
I decided to take the main
route which proved surprisingly quiet all the way into the city and central
station where I could park close to the covered area of the station although to
do so meant taking the luggage out of the vehicle before parking in a reduced
space because of the proximity of the neighbouring vehicles. I then made my way
to the ticket office which is now located at the furthest end of the station
from the car park having converted the previous booking centre into coffee
shops and other commercial outlets and where to one side is the lift for the
underpass which is mainly used to bring the supplies for trains travelling to
Scotland and to London and where there is also a change of train crew.
In this instance because the
train to London due to depart just before 9 was 15 mins late I could board and
find a vacant table seat for four vacant, and had the table to myself for
throughout the journey. I did not have
to wait long for a full English hot cooked breakfast with a round of toast, but
before this I had accepted a croissant with butter and jam, and a second was
also provided later in the journey, with two lemon muffins served with two of
the four rounds of coffee. Before boarding the train, I had collected a free
copy of the Times and the Metro.
I had printed out what I had
considered the first completed pages of my communication to the Labour Party
and the covering letter but upon re reading I realised the covering failed to
communicate my purpose clearly and noted many changes necessary to the
completed text. The main decision was to alter the order of the three parts and
the strengthening of what was now the second with three ‘case’ studies.
Because of the early start on
arrival at King Cross I made my way to the First-class lounge to sue the toilet,
for a can of Diet Pepsi as my mouth had become dry, for a banana which I kept
for later together with a packet of crisps. Despite the break I arrived early
at the Premier Inn by East Croydon station where the reception assistant was
happy to issue the door key car as I had already confirmed my booking on line.
I have not seen the same assistant twice despite making several stays each year
so there was opportunity to repeat my story of being born in the town in March
1939 close to what was London’s main airport and that my earliest memory was
watching a V1 rocket come towards the family home in day light, cutting out and
falling short before exploding. However, the main purpose as all the assistants
tends to be non-white and non-English born was to make the point that my family
were the first refugees in the neighbouring borough of Wallington (Beddington
and Wallington) to be precise) in the
whose first language was not English but Llanito and going on to explain
that this was the first language of Gibraltar. In this instance, this commenced
a long conversation during which I was bombarded with questions as the young
man was leaving at the weekend to travel to Spain for the summer to learn to
speak Spanish. This was a great coincidence because on my previous visit the
receptionist was in fact Spanish so we had had a good conversation about the
Gibraltar Question. In this instance, the conversation extended to the
Falklands and Brexit. For once I brought out chat to an end to an end as others
had commenced to arrive for the 2pm booking in period. The receptionist had
hoped I would come back when the rush was over to continue the conversation but
I had other plans.
After unpacking and setting up
internet I made my way to the George, a Wetherspoons for the afternoon special
of gammon, egg and chips with a pint of Fosters. I then made my way to Surrey
Street where I could buy a kilo of Cherries for £2.20, not the highest quality
in terms of sweetest but close, and exceptional value. It was good to see the
stalls back in the street and not cluttering the pedestrianised Hight. I was
too busy to on an explore to find the work which had justified the move for a
month.
The reason for the comparative
rush was the decision to go and see Dunkirk at the Vue in the former Department
Store of Grants where only the upper facade remains. There is no one of my
generation who is unfamiliar with the story of the familiar of the British and
French forces to prevent Germany
capturing Paris and the surrender of
that country and of several hundred thousand members of the British and French armies
being trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk with in sufficient ships naval and air
defensive power to prevent the slaughter but also the escape of hundreds of
thousands to fight another day, and the Amada of small ships which answered the
call to help ferry the men back home.
The facts are that just under
340000 were rescued against a hope that the figure would be at least 50000 with
a third wading out off the beaches on the small ships which either transferred
to the larger craft or ferried across the channel. 3500 military were killed
and 13000 wounded and others captured with the loss of tanks and guns and other
equipment. 6 of 38 destroyers were sunk and about half the others damaged.
Nearly 700 British ships were involved about two small craft manned by naval
crews and over 300 small craft manned by civilian volunteers. Some 226 were
sunk with off these 170 were civilian crewed.
This is a remarkable film
which some say the best war film made. The film considers three perspectives
land sea and air and from the period of one week, one day and one hour,
condensed into 106 minutes without any perspective and little back story of the
individual characters. There has been complaint that this makes the film cold
which is absurd. The film covers all the emotions from terror to the elation of
survival from failure and defeat which is what happened, to horror at the
slaughter and great courage for those who went into the face of war. It is the
story of the British but also of the French whose heroic defence on the
outskirts of the Dunkirk gave the time needed for the retreat evacuation to take
place. I saw the film in a comparative small screen and not the large Imax in
London or elsewhere and well do so Gateshead Odeon Metro this weekend.
On the way, back to the
Premier Inn I purchased a £3 meal deal at the local Tesco store of sandwich, hot
crisps and Pepsi Max which I enjoyed immediate on return with a good helping of
the cherries
There was time to read the
free Evening Standard which was a special edition with a copy of articles which
appeared in the paper during the paper in June 1940 when I was just a year old
at a cost on one penny with blackout from 9.38 until 4.19am. Call up was being
accelerated during the month to twice the previous level and an advert to join
the women’s land army. I played the
Windows 10 Microsoft patience challenges of the day with only one game not
completed this month having complete all 150-last month for the first
time. I caught up with pointless but
cannot remember what else apart from going through emails, Facebook and
twitter. I was not in the mood to work or to read he China Daily
The following morning, I had
an early breakfast of porridge, the banana and some cherries with coffee and
made my way on was a cloudy and rain threatening day to the station for an all
zones Travel card with a senior rail card concession with reduced the price
from over £12 to £8.10. Trains were busy as usual even at the earlier time but
I could get a seat and at Victoria found there was no circle line or Victoria
line going south and other stoppages for engineering works. I took a district
line train to the Embankment and from there to Leicester Square maiming my way
to the redeveloped Vue cinema to exchange Lloyds bank vouchers for tickets to
see the 7.30 evening performance of Cars 3. I need not have worried about
getting four seats togethers as no else had booked. All the seats were said to
be VIP so I selected the middle of a row of more back than middle from the
screen. Mission accomplished I went to the Wetherspoons in the Square for a
bacon butty and filter coffee where I had two cups for the single price of
£3.35. There were some people in but plenty of space available.
I then walked from the Square
to the Embankment Tube station crossing The Strand by St Martins in the Field and
down towards the gardens alongside Charing Cross Station for the District Line
to Monument to locate the Premier Inn St Marys Walk at Hill which I did
eventually as main streets were badly marked signed and I lost my sense no
sense of direction
I had intended to remain in
central London until meeting family at four but with the activity my shirt and
jacket were soaked with condensation more than perspiration and decided return
to Croydon, but on reaching Victoria station I needed the loo so went to that
in the food court and decided I needed more coffee from Mc D’s sitting in the
main area and noting a woman at the table get up and leave her case with a coat
on top. On call out to her she said in French she was going for a coffee.
Time went on and she did not
return so I alerted table cleaning staff and hen at rhea counter and they said
alter security where there was a communication device at the entrance door at
the far end in the Mc D’s seating area. Some came out and the woman returned
just as the officer was arriving but disappeared off again. He followed her and
I left.
I change shirts, left the rain
coat and went off with an umbrella to see if I could find a replacement summer
linen jacket going first to M and S when I had purchased the one I was wearing
from their shop at the Metro centre. They various options but none in my size.
I enjoyed a pot of tea and juicy Danish Pasty for the best part of a
fiver. There was no success at Debenham and
by the time I return to the room I needed a second change of shirt. The skies
were leaden and commenced to rain hard. This continued for most of the
day. On a previous visit I had walked
from Victoria to the office of the Department of Work and Pensions at Caxton
House close to St James Park, station and within sight of the Houses of
Parliament. I took the district line to the station and crossed to pub which
stands at the corner leading to entrance to the Park and opposite the former
Home Office building which is now the exceptionally fortified Department of Justice I treated myself to a
small glass of red wine for the best
part of a fiver. It was a good
Merlot tucked away in a corner of the small basement restaurant to this ancient Inn which also boasts a separate entrance to an upstairs area. You
find a table and book in food at the bar when only during the week lunchtimes
can you get fish and chips or sausage and mash for a tenner and even a sandwich
will set you close to a tenner. The event being attended till four I wait outside
and we then made our way to the station and on the district line to the
Monument and the Premier Inn which is located close to Pudding Lane where the
fire of London started in a bakery, a Pointless programme question on Tuesday
evening. when I wait after checking in and settling.
The intention was to visit the
nearest Nando’s but it was closed so we walked to Bank and took the Tube to
Holborn where a Nando’s was open. This is an attractive venue with what looked
like real contemporary oil paintings on the walls. We arrived just after
several other dining groups so we had to wait some time. I enjoyed a
Mediterranean salad and a heavily watered unlimited diet Pepsi. Wee then made
us from Holborn to Leicester Square for the Vue Cinema and Cars 3. I do not
believe I have seen Cars 1 or 2 and although I enjoyed the film longer than
Dunkirk by half an hour I will not rent from Sky to come to any judgement as to
how Stars stands alongside the first two. The film is topical with its main
themes of female inequality and the youth having no respect for their elders
and their past achievements.
All the seats in theatre 9 at
the top of the cinema with both escalators and lifts are VIP seats with tall
backs and excellent for adjust because one can sit back and view the full
screen without impediment, or so I thought. The problem is that young children
cannot see and it was necessary to go back to the ground floor to gain a seat enhancement.
The parent in front was clearly bored and solved the situation by put his elbow
at odd angles above the back of the chair obscuring my view and that of my neighbour. I appealed and then threaten to contact a
staff member but gave in too tired and not sufficiently engaged with films. Had
I been on my own I would have acted. It was still raining the of the film which
was close to the but I was back at East Croydon before 11 where I raided the
rest of the cherries and some biscuit for cheese without the cheese. I slept
well counting the number of trains and tubes experienced during the day plus
more walking than usual. I set the alarm for 7.
Although rain was forecast for
later in the day the rain clouded sky raised an earlier likelihood but I
decided to take the shopping bag with umbrella and radio with headphones but no
rain coat, a mistake as it became cold at times with just the jacket over a
short sleeved shirt. There was more engineering works with no trains platforms 1 and 2
but a good flow of trains to Victoria from platform 4. Crowded but I got
a seat.
I considered the Wetherspoons
above Smiths and McD’s on the way to side exit as I had set off later than
planned but decided to try the Wetherspoons Willow Walk across from the bus
stop for 13 which goes direct to Lords and a short walk to the East Gate. This
proved a brilliant decision for two reasons. I was the first customer oft eh
day and breakfast arrived almost immediately I sat down back at my selected
seat. However, the big surprise was that the branch is testing out a new coffee
machine like those now being used by Morrisons which means a much better
standard and range of coffee. I had the full English Breakfast with the two cups
at just over £6 and given paying 2.40 for a dreadful cup at Lords this was
great value and I could have had the two cups with a bacon butty for the same
price as that at Leicester square 3.35.
There was a good queue and a
little wait before the 13-bus arrived but I could get a protected seat at the
front. I also remembered the small local store on the way from the bus stop and
purchased a spicy chicken wrap for £2, my only food purchase until binging out
from the coop on return. I did not remember where I had booked the seat but the
entry RR was familiar and IN fact I had my usual seat under cover, aisle at the
front of the section with passage way leg space. I was joined early on by a
Single Surrey man and we had a good chat before the match commenced but during
with headphones there was little conversation.
There was talk of a sell-out
crowd with a general email asking for returns if seats could not be taken up
with the consequence there were lots of touts wanting to buy unwanted tickets.
In the event the ground was never full of space in the lower area of the
Compton and Edrich stands. The big disappointment was the main pavilion less
than half I would say by MCC members. There was a good representation of Indian
team supporters in the Mound Stand including an enthusiastic drummer and one
irritating young woman with a large sign asking for camera shots so her family
in India could see her. This made a good
cover when it rained for a short period in the morning and then again later.
England won the toss and
elected to bat which I was not sure about. The oldest female England Cricket
aged 105 rang the bell and there was applause for Rachel Hayhoe Flint whose son
was interviewed during the day and who rang the bell for the start of the
Indian Innings. There was a sense of this being an important potential game
changing situation. The Cricketeers volunteers were given seats in the stand
opposite. There was an enthusiastic Gospel choir at the interval who also were
evident in their enthusiasm as the game reached its climax.
England lost wickets at
regular intervals and although the radio commentary suggested a low score could
be expected and that 228 for 7 this would be a challenging score the prospect
of 250 at one point appeared to have been the kind of challenge which India
might find difficult especially. The most significant innings was that of Scriver
51 and her partnership with Taylor 45. I will also highlight the rear-guard
contributions of Brunt 34, and Gunn 25 and Marsh 14 both not out. In commentary, early in the competition
mention was made that Natalie Scriver had not fulfilled potential in Internal
competition. This is something she remedied with her 107 in partnership with
Heather Knight 106 against Pakistan and 129 against New Zealand. Scoring 369
runs overall, she is 6th of the top 5 batswomen. Top of the list is
Tammy Beaumont with her average of 45.55 and 410 runs with Sarah Taylor 4th
who kept wicket and Heather Knight 7th the captain 5h on the list is
the India opening batswoman PG Raut whose 86-looked match winning until she was
leg before wicket by the undoubted star performer of the final Anya Shrubsole
whose final bowling session of 5 wickets created the collapse which led to the
unexpected victory. Shrubsole had raised
all our hopes when she bowled Mandhana in the first over and who had an Ok
overall performance in the event It can also be argued that the brilliant
running out of Raj on 17 by Scriver removed the other great threat, as Raj
average was 1 run less that Beaumont and therefore came second in the list. The
most outstanding single batting performance came from Kaur in the semi-final with in magical 171
starting slowly and who scored her third 50 in 17 balls.
Such was the batting control
by India that I considered leaving early but England were bowling sufficiently
tightly to create the situation where India had to score more runs per over as
the match drew to its conclusion. The
bowling of Anja Shrubsole has resulted in her match winning first and
penultimate innings ball four in the semi-final when England were also losing
wickets quickly being quickly forgotten, something she will not have minded
given her bowling performance in the final of 6 for 96 in 9.4 overs and which
ought to earn her a noticeboard place somewhere at Lords. The performance has led to her moving into the
top ten of world bowlers at number 7
The excitement at the end
matched anything previously experienced at a cricket match but I decided to
make my way and not stay as the majority for the celebrations and the
presentations.
As I waited for the traffic
lights to change to cross over the Wellington Road to the bus stop I noted a
number 13 already there and amazingly it had not set off and I boarded and also
found a seat. At Victoria station, I need the loo and considered stopping for a
celebratory meal in the food court having purchased a New Stateman to read
while waited for the meal to arrive. However, feeling tired I changed my mind
and took the train to East Croydon and went to see what goodies I could acquire
from the Coop store which forms part of the ground floor of the hotel site. F
I commenced with a mixture of
olives for £2.39 followed by smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich part of a
£3.50 meal del which included a bottle of Pepsi Max and some spicy crisps. To
end there were two lemon cheesecakes £1 total £6.89. I then watched on Sky Go
which cost £5 the latest two episodes of the Spanish murder serial I know who
you are and caught up with Jeremy Corbyn’s appearance on the Andrew Marr show
before the BBC has a long political holiday.
With an open ticket and a seat
booked on the 12 .30 to Newcastle I did not rush my getting up but did set the
alarm for seven. I was ready to depart just after 9.30 and was surprise to find
it had commenced to spit rain coming down heavy the last few yards before
reaching the Lift. Dud not have to wait too long for the delayed train to St Pancras
an on arrival decided to go straight to the platform for the 11.30 to
Edinburgh where I was able to get a table for four to myself for the fast
journey nonstop to York and then only Darlington before Newcastle.
The variable nature of Virgin
catering for 1st class was again in evidence. The hot food came
before the sandwich packs I enjoyed a lamb couscous more filling than expected
with later a chocolate and hazelnut muffin and crisps but there was no return
of the snack trolled and coffee only once. However, there were four visits for
cold drinks. I ordered three whiskies with ginger ale on the rocks, saving the
whisky for home return and one red wine
which to the University Kings Building
built within the past couple of years opposite Haymarket station and which covers student
registrations, accommodation, careers
advice. Alumni and help and care during attendance. This is a large several level building which
demonstrates the needs to cover these
issues with a student population of 24000. Obtained a copy of the university
site map but also relevant was a walking tour of the main buildings and their
function.
On the way to the
comparatively new City Library which is alongside the Laing art gallery I
enjoyed three lots of buskers playing
and students playing table tennis in the pedestrianised
thoroughfare. I made one stop to check on the availability of a linen jacket
but my visit to City Library was more successful find a copy of the pocket
guide and also some info of interest to me. I also called in at the Grainger
market for winkles which continue to rise in prise. There is a huge new
development planned for Newgate which has been demolished. 550 students’ beds in courtyard form a 250
room hotel and 20000 sq. feet of shopping and leisure. On the way along
Grainger Street to the street I found a second Tall and big shop but did not
like the contemporary linen jackets which they had in stock.
Unsure of the level of
workings on the main road into Shields I went via Hebburn and Jarrow only to
find that road is now blocked going in Jarrow Shields direction. So, I had to
take A19 towards Bolden and come off on the main rad at the roundabout to find
the new three lane system fully in operation. I called in at Lidl’s for
immediate supplies only to find a £5 voucher waiting when I got in and sorted
through the post.
