A Capital Return

Last Saturday, Rog and I ventured down to London to sample the delights of the capital city and its transport network. It turned out to be a thrilling, action-packed day - here are some highlights...

• An early start, meeting Rog at Smethwick Galton Bridge before catching the 8:30 train from New Street to Euston.
• After a few photos of Euston Station, its onto the dreaded London Underground. With the Victoria Line out of action, we reshuffle our plan and select the Northern Line down to Morden via a quick change at Kennington.
• At Morden we're on the hunt for Sun Hill, filming location for The Bill tv series. Morden Station has a busy bus interchange outside, whilst Morden Road Tram Stop offers handy photos of the Croydon Tramlink route 3 between Wimbledon and New Addington.
• Branching off through an industrial estate, we find the distinctive set of Sun Hill Police Station, with Bruce and Bonus posing outside for their photo. Its hardly the most glamorous place to have a TV studio, but it certainly made for a memorable moment.
• A public footpath takes us up to South Wimbledon, where we do a loop by the tube station before heading to The Trafalgar for our first pint of the day. The pub doesn't look much from the outside but is the current Greater London CAMRA Pub of the Year. Inside it was very cosy and friendly, and we savour a pint of locally brewed Thrupenny Hop Bitter whilst watching a bit of the Ashes.
• Lunchtime sees us arrive in Colliers Wood, ticking another off the list of stations Rog wanted to visit. The Royal Standard offers more cricketing action, then its time to tuck into some chips before catching the 200 bus to Wimbledon Village. The route links Mitcham with Raynes Park and has a Midland Metro style voiceover announcing each stop as we approach it.
• Wimbledon is quite an exclusive area, with a busy shopping area to navigate and a charming old village centre. The latter is home to the Rose and Crown, a landmark old coaching inn owned by Youngs. We sample the Youngs Special Ale and find a comfy sofa where our bear chums can watch a bit more cricket, England are building a handy lead.
• Wimbledon Station was a particularly nice find, as I especially liked the art deco frontage complete with chunky red station lettering. Here we catch a South West Trains service to Waterloo via Earlsfield, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall.
• From Waterloo we navigate our way towards Whitechapel, changing at Westminster onto the District Line to find that services were only running as far as Aldgate East. No matter, we hop off there and walk it up Whitechapel Road past the market stalls to the Blind Beggar. The pub has a historical connection with the Krays, but we enjoy the beer garden and make the acquaintance of a very sleepy cat.
• The 205 bus takes us from Whitechapel to Moorgate, where I get a couple of photos of the impressive Globe pub. Then its onto the Northern Line back to Euston, thankfully we have managed to avoid the crowded carriages today and I actually quite enjoyed our various tube explorations.
• We've got a bit of time to spare before the train home, so we pop into the Doric Arch for a pint of Fuller's Discovery. The pub has a nice collection of railwayana, but once again I'm concentrating on the cricket as England's lead grows still further albeit with Matt Prior getting run out for 61.
• Stocking up with sandwiches for the journey home, we were gearing up for a mad dash down to the platform, expecting Euston will do its usual trick of announcing the train barely five minutes before departure. Not so this time, we had at least 15 minutes warning and could take a leisurely stroll down to platform 14 and even had time to get a few shots of the Pendolino waiting for us.
• The journey back proved quite eventful, as we get talking to a chap who'd visited the fans convention at Earls Court and was most excited about finally meeting Tom Baker. Unfortunately the guy had got on an early train and subsequently had to leave us at Coventry having had his tickets confiscated. The incident provoked a bit of discussion as we continued to Birmingham.
• Finally, a couple more drinks in Brum, courtesy of the Sheakespeare and the Wellington, finished off an excellent adventure. London made a big impression, and whilst I still don't like the crowds and congestion much, I do feel a bit more confident in looking forward to future return visits.