Sunday January 23, 2005

Places

Unhelpful UK city award winner: Peterborough Took a drive up to Peterborough today to pick my wife's mother up from the railway station. Normally she would travel all the way south to Stevenage but today the line was shut for engineering works. When this happens armies of coaches bus passenger between the two stops. This makes the normal 20-30 minute train journey into just over 1 hour 20 minutes. It's only 50 miles so you can drive it within the hour easily, it's just that the coaches are sssslllloooowwwww. It also meant we (the family) could make a trip of it and visit the Nene Valley.

So we legged it up the A1 and entered the out skirts of Peteboro'. It's all dual carriageways initially (err I mean 'parkways'). We decided to find the station first being strangers to the city. I had done some prior planning and written down a route to the station. That was a good idea except when we got to our first change of direction we missed it because it just wasn't sign posted correctly. By chance we spotted a sign on the crossing road that indicated we should have turned off. The problem being that the exit slip road was at least 100 yards behinds us. No worries, there were other roads into the centre.

As expected it wasn't long before we found signs to the railway station. Now due to the increased number of coaches needed at the station the forecourt and approach was manic. As far as we could see there was a single station staff member directing cars in one direction and coaches in the other. The cars were being directed into the long stay car park. But we didn't want to park, we wanted to pick up and go. Then the staff member started whining at me for not stopping when he asked me to while a coach driver shouted at me to drive on. Where to though? There were cars and coaches stopped everywhere. I suggested to the staff member that he should probably stop more vehicles from entering the station approach. He wandered off cursing.

Then another staff member appeared from somewhere who tried again to signal at me to enter the car park. I shook my head and drove towards the now clear station exit. Then another staff member appeared and said "You can't go this way Sir the road is closed". Eh? Closing the exit, isn't that amazingly stupid given the chaos. I said I just wanted to leave and not be part of the problem. Perhaps I had said the secret word because I was waved on, clear to leave the battlezone behind me.

Actually Peterborough is a great place, especially the Nene Valley. It could just do with a bit more organisation. Sometimes I get a chance to see if the anorak still fits.

(2005-01-23 12:48:45.0) Permalink

Thursday August 12, 2004

Places

Underground... had the chance to re-visit Geevor tin mine on Monday. I haven't been into the heritage site since 1989 or so. Today you can pour over the surface structures that support the 20th century mine and go underground into a 17th/18th century mine (Wheal Mexico). This tour is a walk in tour into the hillside. I find it hard to believe with the amount of workings on the surface they just happen to miss this original mine until just recently. I suspect it may have been helped along in this century.

This is all in total contrast to the mine tour in 1989 where you actually went deep into the 20th century mine and down to level 15. The mine is underwater upto the third level now.

If you are ever near the end of the Cornwall penninsular and have always wondered what the strange derelict buildings are scattered all over Cornwall I'd recommend a visit to Geevor.

(2004-08-12 08:13:45.0) Permalink Comments [1]