London Trip 2019

7th November 2019.          Lads Trip to London 

As the rain was falling in Yorkshire, four of the lads were journeying to the city of London aboard two different trains, one had set off from Bradford via Wakefield then to Kings Cross the other began its journey in Leeds and headed for York before it traveled down to St. Pancras. It was an early start for the Lads has they boarded the trains which would eventually arrive in the capital just a few minutes apart at about  10:25

They had arranged to meet up at the cafe Leon for a sausage sandwich before beginning their London Adventure. Pre-arranged plans were now put into action, so it was off to the underground tube station here at Kings Cross/ St. Pancras and then take the Northern line Tube heading for London Bridge Station just a few stops away , a journey time of about 15 minutes

Once here it was just a short walk to the riverside and the beginning of a two hour plus exploration of the ship HMS Belfast which is moored here on the river Thames. What a truly great experience this turned out to be as we worked our way about the ship, a total of 9 decks to explore from the Engine Room right up to the Flag Deck. The layout of this vessel was amazing. The many stairways and corridors that ran about this ship taking you from one level to another the miles of electric cables and pipe work that enabled it to function, the mess rooms and living quarters, kitchen and laundry plus
the many other facilities that are needed to make this a successful war ship of its time.

Visit over it was now time to move on to our next adventure, a short river cruise along the Thames.

So it was a short walk along the river bank and towards the pier head at Bankside in order to catch a river boat that would ferry us towards our next big experience, the London Eye. After a few minutes wait we were soon aboard the Hurricane and slowly sailing along the river taking in it’s magnificent views from this vantage point, soon to be outdone by the spectacular ones once we were in a pod and sailing high into the skies above London Town.

The Coca Cola London Eye simply magnificent, it was an experience not to have missed. A gentle rise to an height of 440 feet in one of the 32 pods that transport you on this adventure, the Lads were lucky today here in London the weather conditions were far better than back in their hometowns, so glorious views were now the order of the day as we circled round on this wonderful ride, a shame to step off once back at ground level.

But this we had to do and go in search of our food experience now , as hunger was  setting  in. We were heading for Covent Garden Area as pre discussed , so we walked along side the river then over Westminster Bridge and to the Tube Station close bye then take the Jubilee line to Convent Garden, now a choice of where to eat , a venue was soon found at the Shake Shack this is where we sat and enjoyed our burgers etc while reflecting upon our adventures so far.

Some interesting music was coming from close by so we investigated , a quintet of musicians where playing at the Italian Restaurant and giving us their renditions of favourite tunes , splendid atmosphere. After a while we decided to walk a little and join the hustle and bustle of early evening London, before not too long we were back in Covent Garden and enjoying a delightful Italian Ice Cream and listening to more music. Time drifting on it was now time to return to Kings Cross Station in order to catch our respective trains home, but not before relaxing for a while whilst enjoying a cuppa etc.

John Derek and Dave said farewell to Colin has he walked off to St. Pancras to board his Train whilst they made their way to platform 3 to board theirs. Little did they know what lay ahead them.
Their home county of Yorkshire had been deluged with heavy nonstop rain which had caused localised flooding to many areas, especially Sheffield which was a Station at which Colin’s train was due to call at, unfortunately for him it was the end of the line so to speak, he eventually got back to Leeds some minutes after midnight, the railway company had transferred him there by taxi, the other lads had no such problems, luckily.
Apart from this mishap the Lads had a truly magical day in London.
Cheers Lads.