hippo girl 1,995 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 Totally agree mercury dancer, just paid an extra £20 odd pounds ontop of my original ticket.....absolute robbery.....sometimes I drive down but have to pay congestion charge , so maybe try the bus ,but does take a long time ..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 hippogirl I'm off to Russia again next week, so I will book my tickets to London tomorrow. Stupid cost for the train! £58! That, plus the underground fare is half my total airfare cost to Moscow! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted May 8, 2014 Report Share Posted May 8, 2014 On my recent trip to the UK, I decided to use public transport once over there, instead of hiring a car. We have friends in Radcliffe on Trent who were coming over for 2 weeks in February, so I got them to book my train tickets for me and bring them over with them. I was flying into Manchester, so was getting the train from Man airport, to Man Piccadilly, then on to Nottingham. I was supposedly landing in Manchester at 6.15am, so I of course allowed for everything and anything that could go wrong, to go wrong. And of course, everything was plain sailing, landing 30 mins early in Manchester, getting through customs and immigration quickly, and the bags weren't long coming through either. I was supposed to catch a train about 9am to Man Piccadilly, but got on the first one I saw, and nobody seemed to bother. But it was a different story when I got to Piccadilly, I had over 2 1/2 hours to wait till my 9.48am, so i went to the ticket inspector or whatever his job is, who stands at the entrance to the platform and asked if I could get an earlier train. NO. He didn't even sugar coat it, it was a very firm NO. So I hung around, looking in the shops, having a coffee, till I could get my train. It stopped at Stockport, Chesterfield, Alfreton and Nottm. When we got to Chesterfield, and starting off again, it went backwards. Well, to me it was backwards, and I had myself a little panic attack that the bloody train was returning to Manchester! I sat there a while then asked someone what the deal was, and was told it goes into Chesterfield, backs out the same way then onto another line to Nottm. Phew. i guess local knowledge is everything! So I finally get to Nottingham, and until I spotted the castle up on the rock, I had no idea I was actually approaching Nottingham station! Talk about a foreign land, I have no idea where I came in and what I passed but it was all new buildings. This ticket I do believe was 9 pounds from airport to Nottm, not a bad deal I thought. Going the other way to go home, I got the tram to the station from Moorgreen, and after getting off the tram, than had to lug my huge heavy suitcase and backpack up the steps and back down again. Not good, I do hope they improve on that when it is all finished. No lift where I came in. I think it cost me 13 pounds to get back to the airport, it was the 6.48pm train, packed like sardines and nowhere to put a big suitcase. I really enjoyed my train rides, and the buses in Nottm and the tram, all a novelty to me living with no public transport. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
denshaw 2,878 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Doing a sponsored walk from Tower bridge along 10 bridges (6 miles) sorry for hi jacking thread but can't send Pms to Hippo Girl. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Totally agree mercury dancer, just paid an extra £20 odd pounds ontop of my original ticket.....absolute robbery.....sometimes I drive down but have to pay congestion charge , so maybe try the bus ,but does take a long time ..... I come over to UK each year. I try to travel on National Coach. London to Nottingham 5 pounds,fastest time 2.45 mins. compare that with train and getting off halfway from Leicester.! (whist Nottingham being renovated.) Not too bad for this short journey. As a student my old man got me free or very cheap travel. I certainly cannot pay train costs today. My children live in Melbourne. >>>>Adelaide to Melbourne 25 pounds (flight) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hippo girl 1,995 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Den, nobody can pm me , but Babs , Stu or mick can give you my email address.....have a good time in London.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Mercury dancer why not drive down and get Airport hotel & Parking from holidayextras. Even though we are fairly local to EMA, we find it better to do it than parking alone. Look out for the mystery hotels, you can save even more money, and usually work out which hotel it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,693 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Well if anyone makes it to St.Pancras don't forget to appreciate the 60 million bricks that it was originally made from out of good old Mapperley clay ! Story here: http://www.nottinghampost.com/St-Pancras-Station-built-60m-Nottingham-bricks/story-13883837-detail/story.html 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
notty ash 372 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 The way to get cheap tickets on the train to StP is to plan well in advance. I got 2 way travel in July for £9 by booking over 2 months early. Not everyone can plan that far ahead, but if you can it is well worth it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 When we got to Chesterfield, and starting off again, it went backwards. Well, to me it was backwards, and I had myself a little panic attack that the bloody train was returning to Manchester! I sat there a while then asked someone what the deal was, and was told it goes into Chesterfield, backs out the same way then onto another line to Nottm. It wouldn't normally do that - perhaps there was a diversion due to engineering work when you travelled. It's unusual there was no announcement when you were approaching Nottingham - there usually is before all 'station stops'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 The way to get cheap tickets on the train to StP is to plan well in advance. I got 2 way travel in July for £9 by booking over 2 months early. Not everyone can plan that far ahead, but if you can it is well worth it. Having seen this Notty Ash,I gave it a try,.........57 pounds 50 pence return (open). Strange thing,whilst looking at this,a fare from National coach appeared for same dates.How did this happen? (12 pounds return came up) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
notty ash 372 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I am not quite sure how to take your reply, Stan. Just for proof, here is a scan of my tickets I had to book specific trains for this offer, but I am more than happy to do so to save a lot of money. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
barclaycon 569 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'd heard that St Pancras was built from Mapperley bricks. Anyone know which company it was? Was it the Patent Brick Co at Thorneywood? If so, I assume that the bricks all came via the Suburban Railway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
notty ash 372 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Stan, Further to my post, did you try the East Midlands Trains site? http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/tickets-deals/ To get the best deals you have to go onto the site for the train operator for the journey you want to do e.g. EMT for Nottingham to London or Crosscountry for Nottingham to Gloucester. Just as an example, the 27th July there are £9 single tickets available there and back from Nottingham to St Pancras at the moment. I just checked. These fares tend to disappear fairly quickly. For the end of June for example, the cheapest fares still available are now higher. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,494 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'd heard that St Pancras was built from Mapperley bricks. Anyone know which company it was? Was it the Patent Brick Co at Thorneywood? If so, I assume that the bricks all came via the Suburban Railway. According to Wiki, St Pancras was opened in 1868, which rules out the Suburban by at least 20 years ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 St Pancras station was certainly built using Nottingham patent bricks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Mercury dancer why not drive down and get Airport hotel & Parking from holidayextras. Even though we are fairly local to EMA, we find it better to do it than parking alone. Look out for the mystery hotels, you can save even more money, and usually work out which hotel it is. Mick The petrol for me to go down to London is often far in excess of the train fare. I do have to drive from Teesside. Also, I hate to fly so I have to be a little (or a lot) drunk before I get on the aircraft. Not good if I have to drive at the other end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Merthyr Imp 729 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 According to 'The Story of the Nottingham Suburban Railway' Volume 1 by David G. Birch, the Nottingham Patent Brick Company supplied the bricks used for the sidewall of St Pancras station (opened 1876). They then had difficulty in meeting the demand for quantity of bricks, but later became the supplier of bricks for the front façade of the station and the structure of the hotel which was built wholly from around 10 million NPBC bricks. Bricks were transported from the brickyards by road as the Suburban Railway company was not formed until 1885. Note - it does say St Pancras was opened in 1876 in that book, but as someone posted earlier, it was in fact 1868. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 If I may shove my two happorth in here. I have it on good authority that East Midlands Trains close some of their ticket positions during rush hour at the larger stations. This is to encourage the travelling public to use the machines. The managers get a bonus for how many tickets are sold from the machines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Thanks for the tip,Notty. I will certainly be on it!. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stan 386 Posted May 9, 2014 Report Share Posted May 9, 2014 Notty, I was looking at `The train line ' site. I had not heard of your one. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercurydancer 1,104 Posted June 11, 2014 Report Share Posted June 11, 2014 According to 'The Story of the Nottingham Suburban Railway' Volume 1 by David G. Birch, the Nottingham Patent Brick Company supplied the bricks used for the sidewall of St Pancras station (opened 1876). They then had difficulty in meeting the demand for quantity of bricks, but later became the supplier of bricks for the front façade of the station and the structure of the hotel which was built wholly from around 10 million NPBC bricks. Bricks were transported from the brickyards by road as the Suburban Railway company was not formed until 1885. Note - it does say St Pancras was opened in 1876 in that book, but as someone posted earlier, it was in fact 1868. I was at St Pancras last week and was very bored waiting for a train. Just outside of the station, near the taxi rank for both St Pancras and Kings Cross, is a row of bricks laid parallel. Some of the end bricks had NPBC imprinted but others had HK Brick Co on it. Still the same distinctive red colour (as opposed to the almost black bricks of London brick companies) The things I do to keep my mind occupied! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 I just watch the girls go by. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,229 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Sad innit,they just go by,.nowadays..ah well, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisB 150 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 If I may shove my two happorth in here. I have it on good authority that East Midlands Trains close some of their ticket positions during rush hour at the larger stations. This is to encourage the travelling public to use the machines. The managers get a bonus for how many tickets are sold from the machines. That doesn't surprise me in the least. They're gradually trying to force all passengers to either use ticket machines or book on line. The people who work in booking offices are seen as unnecessary wage earners - without them they would make more profit. The privatised railway, profit first, service second! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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