Monday 25 September - Travel Conwy to London

Arriva Trains Wales train at Conwy on the track towards Holyhead

Our journey today was on a midget Arriva Trains Wales train to Chester then a diesel powered Virgin train to London, Euston. Conwy is a request stop and the instructions were to make your intention to board the train clear to the driver.  I had visions of waving to the driver who would wave back and go roaring through at top speed. As our train came around the curve I was trying to remember the UK railway hand signal but the driver stopped in good order.  By the time we had got our bags to the luggage rack and found our seats we had gone through the Stephenson bridge.

The north Wales coast is pretty dreary with miles and miles of caravan sites, on the horizon now are a great number of windmills way out to sea.  Suffice to say we arrived in Chester in time.  We had a twenty minute connection with the London train but it started out from the adjacent platform and was in 15 minutes ahead of time.  The trip to London was the normal boring run up the LMS main line stopping only at Crewe and Milton Keynes Central.  Arrival in London was a couple of minutes early.

We were quickly able to get out of Euston, which is one of the worst in London, and walked down the road, past the British Library and St. Pancras to Kings Cross, past past platform 9 3/4 and into the Parcel Yard for a pint of London Pride, a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and a chicken, ham and leek pie each. The journey on the Piccadilly line to Gloucester Road was easy in mid afternoon and we were able to check into the Gloucester Millennium Hotel quickly.