We were off again on April 1st, and that was no April Fool’s joke! A ferry ride from Vancouver Island to Vancouver and an overnight stay with my Mom before hopping a flight across the pond to Heathrow. The revised timings of our flights was a bit harrowing.
Arriving at YVR Airport on Time but the Connection is late…
The SkyTrain took us to Vancouver’s airport in good time and we settled into the lounge to relax before our first flight. A message informed us our Vancouver to Calgary flight was delayed by 25 minutes due to the crew coming in late from another flight. This would make the connection time only 48 minutes. Speaking with WestJet ground staff, they informed me there were 18 other passengers heading to Heathrow on our flight. The timing was tight, but doable.
As is often the case, things did not go to plan and the incoming crew arrived even later than planned, but not too late. As we landed, the “welcome to Calgary” announcement on the plane included the Heathrow bound plane was boarding and passengers were to immediately to go to the gate. Naturally, the gate was on the other side of the airport, at least 15 minutes away.
Neither of us wanted to do an OJ Simpson run through the airport, so we briskly walked. It turned out we were the last two people to board the aircraft and as we approached the gate, we heard a “Absolute final call for Miller, party of two, the gates are now closing”. I’m not sure how serious they were as we had to wait on the jetway to board the aircraft as many other people were in front of us, likely those on our connecting flight. We both chose to use the facilities in the airport. They are much nicer in the airport vs the plane, just trust me on that one.
Our Seat Companion – a Parent with a Baby…
On the plane, we walked down the aisle. Our two empty seats in a row of three awaited us. We had selected a middle and window so we were beside each other for the overnight flight. Seated in the aisle seat of our row was the one passenger no one wants next to them. A parent with a babe in arms. I thought, eight hours in the air, overnight with a baby next to me, how much sleep would I get?
Settling in, the flight crew began closing overhead bins and then a crew member came up to the parent and said they had a whole row toward the back of the aircraft and offered to move the parent, baby and the spouse who was on the other side of the aisle. What a stroke of luck. I enquired if I could leave the aircraft to buy a lottery ticket but they said no. In the end, we had a row to ourselves and quickly spread out over the now empty middle seat on a fully packed airplane.
Arriving in England (we can read ALL the signs!)
Our flight was uneventful and landed on time. Customs and Immigration were straightforward, our Electronic Arrival Authorization (ETA’s) were in order. At the baggage carousel despite our bags likely being the last to load, they were also almost the last to come off. The Wi-Fi at Heathrow allowed us to look at options to get to Bristol, and coach was the simplest. WestJet uses Terminal 4, and the coaches depart at the Terminal 2/3 coach park. To get between the terminals there is a complementary train that runs frequently, however it was not quite quick enough to get the early coach.
We were faced with the option of a very expensive coach in 15 minutes, or wait for an hour for one that was 60% less. Since we needed lunch and a SIM card, we decided to do both at Heathrow. The savings on bus fare more than offset the cost of lunch and our AirHub ESIM. The bus ride was comfortable and had decent WiFi on the bus. We both managed to sleep a bit during the two-hour ride.
Arrival in Bristol
Arriving in Bristol, we passed by our hotel enroute to the bus station. Our impressions of the town as we drove in, despite the sunshine, was “gritty”. There seemed to be a number of places that could be spruced up and we noticed homeless people about. The 15-minute walk to the hotel took us through Cabot Circus, a major downtown shopping mall. All the usual stores one would see in any North American mall were represented.
We had found a restaurant we wanted to try for dinner, unfortunately when we arrived, it was closed with a sign saying they were sold out of food for the day. Luckily, this being England, there were a plethora of Public Houses around. Settling on the ‘Volunteer’, a local pub, we debated which beverage to have. Despite there being a description of all drinks on tap, it was difficult. Samples were offered and, after trying three of the local beers, I settled on an ale and Meg chose a cider. The Volunteer is what we look for when selected a venue. It is not a tourist pub and a bit out of the way. We were certainly the only people with accents. The food was excellent and most tables were having meals and lively conversations.
Given it had been a long day/night with an eight-hour time change, we called it a day.
Day II in Bristol
We were up and off to find breakfast, which we decided to have at St. Nicholas Market. Arriving at 9AM, there were some shops that were just opening and some that were already serving breakfast. Settling on “Crafty Beans”, we ordered an English Breakfast sandwich. It was freshly made, served piping hot and would hold us until lunch.
Using a new App (GPSMyCity), we started a self-guided walking tour from the market. Having seen a number of the sites on the tour, we headed back to the market to join our 11AM organized excursion of Bristol and the Air Raid Shelter. This tour, close to two hours, took us through some of the early history of the area, battles and figures that shaped the area. Then the highlight, the Air Raid Shelter. The tour guide was a one man show in this regard. He is fighting to have it declared a historic site and has spent countless hours sprucing it up.
A Glimpse of the Blitz
Heading down the many stairs, we learned what it was like during the Blitz. From queueing for a spot at the shelter, as not everyone could get in, to how long the bombings took place. Learning about incendiary bombs as well as percussion bombs and how the population took it all in stride. Along the walls were numerous period posters, including the classic “Keep Calm and Carry On”. I cannot imagine the terror of being bombed night after night. Bristol was the 6th hardest hit city during the war. There is an aircraft factory in the region and the other side bombed the cities around it to weaken morale.
An interesting add on to the tour was the rock and roll section. A number of historic bands played at the Corn Market Hall in Bristol including the Rolling Stones, the WHO, Muddy Waters and others. It was quite the place in the 60’s. A bit of humour is that there is now a rock and fossil store where the stage used to be. I wonder how Mick Jagger feels about that?
Based on a recommendation of our guide, we lunched at the Market and then headed out on our own walking tour. The GPSMycity App allows you to create your own walks and incorporates GPS so you are less likely to get lost. On our tour we saw a famous Banksey piece of street art – Well Hung Lover.
Dinner was a picnic in the park overlooking the river at sunset.
Travelling to our Football Match
The walk to the train station was easy, as was boarding our train. We tried “Split Train” ticketing and it worked well, saving us a considerable amount of money. What it entailed was buying three tickets to get from A to B. We did not need to change trains, simply seats. There is a whole science behind it and certain apps will do this for a fee. It is 100% legal and based on dynamic pricing of seats on certain legs of the journey.
Arriving at the Birmingham airport, we picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel. Arriving at 11:30, we did not think we could check in, but owner said it was not a problem. We dropped our suitcases and then headed for a snack before walking to The Hawthorns to see West Bromwich Albion play. Kick Off was 12:30, vs the normal 3 PM, so it was a bit tight to get through the crowds. This time our seats were two rows off the pitch at what would be the blue line in a hockey rink. This close to the field, we could not only see the expressions on the players faces, but also hear what they were saying when they were near us. Of course, when they were on the other side of the field, we were not as fortunate.
The Other Side Scores 🙁
Around the 30-minute mark of the first half, Sunderland was awarded a free kick right in front of us. A right footed kick, that had the perfect spin, managed to get in under the top right corner to give them the lead. As it turned out, that was the only goal of the game as the Baggies could not find the back of the net, despite playing well. That 1 – nil score made me feel jinxed. I’ve been to three games at the Hawthorns and have yet to a West Brom goal.
When the game ended, we headed back to the hotel for a rest and a dinner out.
The Midlands – Day IV
Being a Sunday, not everything was open, however with a car, our options were more than they may have been otherwise. Scouring a map and reading about various places, Bridgnorth is the place we settled on to explore. A pleasant 45-minute drive took us to another market town that was bustling on a brilliantly sunny day. It turns out there was a classic tractor show and shine and many local enthusiasts were out to look at these historic machines. Not really being our thing, we headed to the castle and gardens.
While there, we saw a steam engine chugging along at the local station and decided to take a look. The train is used most weekends and we were able to have a ride in the engine. This coal-fired engine, dating from 1930, was certainly interesting. Fully restored to its past glory, it rattled and rumbled along, making hissing noises as steam escaped after driving pistons up and down. Since this was England, they had no issues with shovelling coal into the fire box of the train while we were in the cab driving along the tracks. There were only four of us in the cab, the driver, fireman, Meg and I (it was quite a tight fit!) The fireman opened the furnace and shovelled in coal to keep the fire hot. You certainly knew when the furnace door was opened.
Heading back, a quiet dinner and evening walk concluded our day.
Midlands Day V – Black Country Living Museum
One of the things we had hoped to do this trip was to see the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM). It is a period museum with numerous buildings set in various times from 1850 – 1960. You know you are getting older when you see things in a museum that your parents had in your home. The staff, or guides, are also dressed for the time they are representing. Everything was really well done. There were restaurants serving different foods and at least two pubs serving adult beverages. We could not have asked for a better day weather wise, full sun and +16C with no wind. Enthralled with the museum, we ended up spending six hours there.
Our highlight exhibit was the mine. Early in the morning we had visited the “shaft” where there were piles of coal. The coal would have been hauled up from the bottom of the mine where it would be sorted. BCLM has done a recreation of a surface mine, but that still goes down 30’. Groups of 25 take part in the tour and hard hats are required. The clearance is only 1.3 Meters in some places so there was lots of ducking under beams. Inside the mine were mannequins who explained the various roles and methods of mining the coal.
The Dangers of Coal Mining
It was dirty work and dangerous. Tunnelling took place which had miners dig out under the coal seam using supports to keep the coal from collapsing. Then, when the time was right, the supports were removed and the large overhang of coal came down. Unfortunately, sometimes the supports failed and miners were crushed. The tunnelling enabled larger pieces of coal to be mined which were more valuable than small pieces.
The Midlands were the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Conditions were terrible and average life span, according to one guide, was 17 ½. The air was foul with coal dust. It was said the area was black by day and red by night. The black would be the coal dust blocking out the sun. At night, the red was from the fires that everyone had going. Coal was used to run machines, heat homes, cook, fire blacksmith shops and more. As coal, iron-ore and limestone were all readily available, everything was done in this area. In addition to being called the Midlands, the area is often referred to as the Black County.
As we finished our tour, we gave thanks for the world we live in today and for those who forged the society of yesteryear to make the advancements now taken for granted.
Midlands Day VI – Travel to Morocco – A New Adventure for Us
Today was a travel day to Morrocco, with an afternoon flight. As the airport was an hour away and our need to be there by 12:30, we were limited as to our options of what we could do. In the end we settled on a hike at a nearby National Nature Reserve, Wren’s Nest. It was in this area that limestone was mined from open quarries and underground mines back in the day. There is nothing left of the mining operations, just a nice walk. There are a lot of fossils about, however we did not search for any.
Arriving at the airport, this was our first every EasyJet flight. The instructions indicated bag drop would open at 13:30 for our 15:30 flight. They also said get to the airport at least two hours before the flight. Arriving at 12:30, three hours before our flight, there was nothing we could do until 13:30. EasyJet is a discount carrier and there are no staff until the appointed time. So, we waited in line with a number of other people to tag our bags and head through security. It was a jovial atmosphere as most of the people were going on holiday (vacation to North Americans).
We boarded our flight and concluded this trip to England. Our plans, although not fixed, have us returning soon, if for nothing else but to hopefully see West Bromwich Albion actually score a goal. COYB – Come On You Baggies!
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Cam and Meg