Well, who would have thought it? The Cackyvan and Motorhome Club giving something away to offset the hideous cost of their sites. A free night! Mind you, it wasn't easy getting it with the rubbish C&MC IT system causing us all sorts of problems. We decided that London would be a good place to spend a few days - visit Mother, catch up with some old friends and watch Cambridge v Ealing Moneygrabbers on the Saturday, so Abbey Wood it was. We haven't been here for some years and we remembered it was a bit of a pain to get to, but what part of London isn't? Anyway, we packed the minimal required for a few nights away and braved the M11, M25 and the back roads of South East London to arrive at 1300hrs and pitch up.
On the Tuesday afternoon we thought we would try the new Super Loop buses that run from Abbey Wood to Bromley. We've tried them now, and have no desire to try them again. We spent a couple of hours sorting Mother-in Law's flat then had dinner in 'Spoons before catching the Pooperscoop bus back to Abbey Wood.
On Wednesday we tried the brand new Elizabeth Line to go to Chiswick. Of course, it was delayed so it was a long journey across town. Debs went on to meet her friends for lunch in Waterloo whilst I spent the day with my dear mother before we met up again in the evening and negotiated the Lizzy Line back to Scabby Wood.
The following day we had arranged to meet up with some old Rugby friends in Ashford, thinking that the new Lizzy Line would take us straight there. We got that one wrong! It is a hideously convoluted journey. We set out early-ish to take in Oxford Street. It is not as we remembered it. It is absolutely ghastly and we couldn't wait to leave. We walked down Regent Street, through a very packed Fortnum and Mason and down to find a spot of lunch at a delightful little cafe in Pall Mall, Wrights of London. This made us late and we sprinted across the river to catch a train at Waterloo, then realised that Ashford is outside the Oyster zone, so we had to buy a ticket between Feltham and Ashford, get off the train at Feltham, touch out, then back on the next train to Ashford. Phew! Eventually we made it and had a great afternoon and an equally convoluted journey back.
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| Meeting up with the Beardy Boys in Ashford |
On Friday we took the train to London Bridge, walked through Borough Market, along the South Bank, up to Trafalgar Square and into the National Gallery then on to Leicester Square, then tube to Canary Wharf for a look around and some dinner, then the Lizzy line back to Scabby Wood. A very busy day with lots of walking.
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| Borough Market |
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| A gift from Norway in Trafalgar Square |
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| The fighting Temeraire - my favourite |
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| The Haywain |
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| Bean and Bear Leicester Square |
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| Leicester Square |
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| Canary Wharf |
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| Funny little boat things at Canary Wharf |
Saturday was rugby at Ealing Trailfinders (money grabbing gits). Luckily the train took us to West Ealing where we had a lovely breakfast in the Cafe Leemoo around the corner from the station. From there it was a mile walk to Ealing Moneyfinders to watch our very brave semi-pro players lose out to multi-billionaire overpaid professionals, an unfair contest that didn't put us in the best of moods. We stuck two fingers up at Moneyfinders and got the Lizzy line back.
On Sunday it was up early and home by 1100hrs.
