26 August 2022: Home from Littlecote House
A taxi from AM:PM Taxis in Newbury collected my wife and I from Littlecote House near Hungerford, where we have been staying for a few days, to take us to Newbury Station. We got on a train that starts at Newbury for our journey to Paddington. There were plenty of seats when we got on. The train filled up a bit when we got to Reading but there was still plenty of space. A young woman with a Northern Irish accent spent most of her time phoning various companies to arrange bill payments and bank transfer. I couldn’t help hearing her end of each conversation and wondered whether she knew just how much of her personal information she was revealing to fellow passengers. All I can remember is that the date of birth she quoted meant she was 24 years onld.
At Paddington we transferred to the Elizabeth Line. For some years my wife and I were under the illusion that Crossrail, as it was then called, would get us from where live in Essex to London and points west much more quickly. Since we had plenty of time we agreed to go on the Ellizabeth Line all the way to Shenfield.
The Elizabeth Line to Shenfield doesn’t go straight through London. We had to change to the Shenfield branch of the Elizabeth Line at Liverpool Street. To make matters worse, the Elizabeth Line platform from the west is at the western end of Liverpool Street station while the line to the east starts at platforms on the far eastern end of the station.
I’m sorry to say I found the Elizabeth Line to Shenfield to be very slow and boring. Going via the Elizabeth Line must have added at least half-an-hour to our journey.