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Cotswold Eagle

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Everything posted by Cotswold Eagle

  1. 11 or 10, as it happens, but they are both either side of the same island platform (and therefore down the same lift or escalator 😀) Trains may leave in a different order to arriving, but not worth stressing about, unless you are very late for a meeting in town (ahem). But do ignore any trains to Paddington posted from higher numbered platforms - these will be stoppers and take an extra 20-30 minutes, depending on how many extra places they stop at!
  2. There are lifts at both ends of the upstream Golden Jubilee Bridge (ie the Westminster side) but I agree it’s not an ideal route with luggage!
  3. Mapperton is a rather splendid Jacobean Manor House, garden and estate in private hands (the Earl of Sandwich) in Dorset, which is open to visit during the summer. It would appear that the Viscount Hinchingbrooke, who is the Earl's son, married an American lady who appeared on the show you mention and various other so-called reality shows in the States, none of which I have heard of previously! The Viscount and Viscountess manage the estate. [And this now ranks as the most English answer I have written on CC!] OP - I fear a private tour (or a car there and back) will be your only option, but I am not familiar with operators in that part of the country, I'm afraid.
  4. I am surprised it's an edge case of a TOC not offering tickets available from the operating TOC (and others). It's not offered even if checking for a group of adults. I can hear Mr Bull exploding from here.... Commendably, I think, SWR does market Group Save specifically to families, even though as you say the discount is always off the adult fare. The actual condition applied is that at least one adult travels. For the OP's purposes, it's a walk up fare, like the Off Peaks, so could be bought on the day.
  5. Which booking engine is that? As well as having a rather confusing interface, it’s not showing you the actual cheapest tickets for your journey, which is a Group Save, costing total £42.10 for Off Peak returns.
  6. Yup, that's the only place they'll be able to get jobs out of the airport. It's sequenced too, so pretty much like a cab rank - I think I have read they can turn one job down before going to the back of the queue. https://www.uber.com/global/en/r/airports/lhr/driver-information/
  7. That's not been true for some years. Uber and otters private hire drivers waiting for a fare must wait in the Authorised Vehicle Area (AVA) off the North Peri Road, similar to the black cab staging area. The app is geo-fenced to that location, so they should not be able to pick up airport fares from the villages,
  8. Or, indeed, with three days to play with, literally anywhere else in the U.K. or the rest of Western Europe!
  9. Yes, I’m afraid you’ll mostly find espresso-based drinks, either barista made or from a machine. I think filter coffee is still on the menu at Starbucks, but they may well have “run out” (not bothered). There is not the demand or profit margin to keep a fresh pot running. The ubiquitous Pret A Manger, mostly known for its sandwiches and other food, does have filter coffee on their menu. But again most food stores will sell basically a long americano with or without milk as ‘white’ or ‘black’ coffee.
  10. The RailAir service will appear on rail planners if you put Heathrow Bus or a specific Terminal (avoiding the 'rail' versions...) as the destination, which I accept is not very helpful if you don't know that, which most visitors won't 🤣
  11. I am very much in favour of visitor using the buses, but sadly the number 11 is not what it was - it used to run from Liverpool Street, through the City, past St Paul’s, up the Strand to Westminster through Trafalgar Square and then Victoria. These days it serves Waterloo Station, rather than Liverpool Street, so basically does a straight run down Victoria Street, round Parliament Square and over the bridge to Waterloo. This is a useful route for locals and visitors alike, but anything online more than a year old does not represent the route now.
  12. Yes, this is not really a comment about 'Amsterdam port'....
  13. Try clicking ‘See larger map’ in the box at upper left - that opens Google Maps successfully for me. Alternatively, copy the coordinates and paste into Google Maps. The King’s Gallery is on Google Maps, so if that doesn’t work, just navigate to there and walk a further minute up the road. You really can’t miss the entrance.
  14. It’s on Buckingham Gate, a little way up from the King’s Galleries (near the traffic lights). If you go to the official website, click ‘Map and Directions’, it’s clearly marked. https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace
  15. Unsurprisingly, as this topic is about transfers between London and Southampton, not journeys into town from Heathrow 😉 National Express is primarily an inter-city bus service, with Victoria as the London terminal. For Victoria to Charing Cross you’d get a cab or move onto London Transport, which would involve a walk to Victoria tube station. You got good advice on other options from Heathrow above from Island2Dweller. Another version (and what I would do) is to get the Heathrow Express (or Elizabeth Line) from Heathrow to Paddington and take the Bakerloo underground line from there to Charing Cross.
  16. I believe the coordinates given by the CWGC for Upavon Cemetery, are the entrance to the large plot at the top of Chapel Lane and that this is a typical additional cemetery on the edge of a village, bought for use when the churchyard, often in the centre of the village as at Upavon, reached capacity. I have circled the obvious cemetery there, the CWGC waypoint is in green, just below and to the right. As Harters says, the CWGC coordinates are very highly likely to be accurate. I don’t think it is specifically a military cemetery, but the Central Flying School was established at Upavon before the first war, so sadly there will be a much higher number of military graves there than one would expect in a village of that size. Likely to be military plots, hence the location given in terms of row and number. I am familiar with a similar arrangement across the road from what used to be RAF Moreton-in -Marsh. I am confident you will find the grave of your great-uncle quite easily once there, and please pay our respects as well.
  17. I find this attitude, which we hear from time to time on this board, impossible to understand from an international traveller in 2024. Very much cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face! It’s impossible to generalise, of course, but many places will try to accommodate latecomers, subject to capacity, because they know plans can go awry. Less likely to get in arriving early, because you can always go and have a coffee (most places will take your cash 😀) and wait your turn.
  18. FionaMG is staying at the Ibis which is very close to the station, despite that not fitting your definition of reasonable, hence JB’s suggestion….
  19. Your criteria seem to be shifting 😉 I think it is objectively easier to let someone drive you on the third leg rather than add in an extra flight - I haven't done a search, but I wold suspect the padding you should reasonably add in to a connection at another European hub would end up with a longer journey in any case. And risk is a key factor here - services to SOU are limited and if you miss a connection what happens then? Heathrow is one of the easiest airports in the world to reroute to in case of disruption.
  20. In their second post, the OP asks about the Hub at Westminster Abbey 😉
  21. Or if you end up on the tube, one stop, around two minutes 😀 As always, it depends on what sites and attractions. If you moved to St James’s Park, you’re marginally closer to Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Cabinet War Rooms etc. For Buckingham Palace it’s much of a muchness (depending if you want the front, the back or the Royal Mews). You’d be a little further away from Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, the museums in South Kensington. But it’s really a marginal consideration, in my view - add it in to your decision matrix if you know what you’ll be doing, but don’t let it dominate.
  22. The awfulness of the drive from central London to Gatwick is one of the few things that unites us on this board, I think. I have a pad not too far from London Bridge and I have taken the longer early morning drive from the Cotswolds, rather than stage from my flat in town, to get to Gatwick for an early flight... I'll even pay for the airport hotel instead. And Gatwick at that time can be a zoo, a completely surreal out of time experience, particularly in any of the licensed premises 🤣
  23. Clapham Junction has barriers to enter the station, not between the platforms - I suspect partly because there isn't much room and partly because it would be utter chaos given the number of people who change trains there! Again, not suggestion anyone take advantage of that to try to game the system😎 For example, one might have to explain at some point why your Advance ticket from Waterloo has not been used at the barriers there....
  24. You’d need a valid ticket from Clapham Junction to get through the ticket barriers.
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