Westgate, Canterbury - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the 1379 Westgate in Canterbury, UK. This is the oldest intact medieval gate in the country.

We stayed near here earlier this week.

Canterbury Cathedral is covered in scaffolding.

Canterbury - NOT amateur radio

Earlier this week, we took our "Kent" grandchildren into Canterbury on the bus. Whilst there, we bought them a drink and a bun in a café near Canterbury cathedral.

Non-radio day

For the first time since my stroke last September I ventured out of the county (Newmarket and Bury-St-Edmunds, Suffolk excepted), with my wife, to visit my son and family who live near Canterbury, Kent.

So today was a non-radio day:  no WSPR,  no 2m or 70cm beacon monitoring, no 472kHz. Yesterday the antennas were taking quite a battering from the wind.  I shall be on-air again Monday AM.

With the grandchildren in Kent today

As I cannot drive (currently, as a result of the stroke) we did a day return by train. It was seamless and travel in both directions was fast. We had from 12-4pm with our son and family and about the same time in travel on fast trains, especially in Kent.  It was a lovely day out.

Now we have done it once we may well do it again. Being a Sunday, parking at Cambridge station was easy and cheap. Our son picked us up at Canterbury West station. There were no delays because of engineering works.

Booking in advance, via http://www.thetrainline.com/, and using our Seniour Railcards, the fares were reasonable too.

UK trains - actually pretty good

For the last couple of days I've been down in Canterbury visiting my son, his wife and our grandson. As my wife was busy I took the opportunity to travel alone by train. There is now a new high speed service from London to Canterbury that has slashed journey times on that part of the trip. All trains were clean, on-time, fast and comfortable. Also, at £25.50 return with my senior railcard, excellent value. We complain too often, but railways in the UK are actually rather fine of you can travel off-peak when the commuters are not crammed in. As an ex-trainspotter back in the late 1950s and early 1960s I still love trains.  Secretly I'd like a Ian Allen locospotter's book (now Platform 5 books) so I could collect numbers still, but would risk being called a sad anorak!