Isn't April brilliant? I must admit that in the 24 months since I'd last fully experienced an April in the UK I had quite forgotten just what a sensationally fine month it is.
Take for example its place in the year: It's early Spring, and as the month begins the trees are still largely bare and the weather cool. Suddenly though an explosion of green appears from nowhere, bright, fully saturated greens of vibrant hue and quality. The trees spring to life, the fields glow, the hedges and cherry trees are in blossom, birds return to our shores and are busy constructing nests; all combine to make the countryside look absolutely marvellous.
Best of all, we know we've the whole of the summer stretching off far into the distance. These are but the earliest days of warmth, sun and colour. Many months lie in store with all the expectation and promise that they contain. Why would you want to be anywhere else?
Showing posts with label Cumbria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cumbria. Show all posts
20070428
20070104
£70 return to the big smoke
The start of the working year brought with it the seasonal hikes in train fares. Over the past few years a return from my local mainline station Oxenholme to London Euston on the Virgin West Coast mainline has been rising through the 60s of pounds and as of Tuesday has broken through the £70 mark for a saver return. It's a 400 km journey taking 3 hours.
This struck me as a touch steep, so I set out to compare the price with other European countries. As a benchmark I'm using travelling on a Friday afternoon and back on a Monday afternoon which is a common weekend away option and likely to avoid rush hour periods.
First off we go to France with their wonderful high speed rail network. Let's start with an unfair comparison, that of time. From Paris to Marseille it takes a little over 3 hrs but covers 750 km. The standard price outbound is £68, and return £56 as this is classed as off-peak for some reason, making a £124 total. The return costs more than what I would pay, but the single costs a similar amount or less than the saver single for my route at £68. In addition discovery fares are offered by SNCF which are designed for a stay in the destination over a Saturday night. Using these fares brings the price down to £51 out and £42 back; £93 in total. More expensive, but covering getting on for twice the distance without costing anywhere near twice as much.
Time for a fairer comparison. Paris to Limoges is exactly 400 km as with my own route and also takes around 3 hours. The train is standard, not a TGV and costs either £31.50 or £35.50 each way, for a total from £63 to £71. These are comparable to the fares I'm facing on my route to London. The Discovery fare costs either £24 or £27 for a £48 or £54 total; considerably cheaper than my fares. It should be noted that the discovery fares were available from all services whereas cheap Virgin Value fares are much harder to come by.
(Source: raileurope.co.uk)
Next to Germany. Hamburg to Fulda (on the mainline to Munich) is 418 km, takes just over three hours by high-speed ICE train and costs €78 each way (£52) for a total of €156 (£105), although a return fare is offered for the same price for the single but not available for the sample dates I used. Going by the standard fare the price is cheaper for a single but a good deal more expensive for a return.
A second German comparison, this time with standard InterCity services between Frankfurt and Plattling (on the Passau mainline), some 404 km apart and a journey time of around 3 hours 40, costing €63 (£42) each way for a €126 (£84) return price. In this instance cheap return fares were available, making the return €63 (£42) in total.
(Source: deutsche-bahn.co.uk)
Finally to Sweden. Stockholm to Alingsas (on the mainline to Gothenburg) is 410 km. By high-speed X2000 train this takes 2 hours 35 minutes and costs 900 SEK (£67) for a standard ticket or 600 SEK (£44) for an advance purchase out, and 958 SEK (£71) standard and 538 SEK (£40) advance back, making a total of 1858 SEK (£138) standard and 1138 SEK (£84) advance return. Only the advance single works out cheaper than my route to London.
When comparing the Swedish Intercity trains on the same route the story is different. The distance is the same at 410 km but now takes 4 hours 25 minutes and costs 445 SEK (£33) both outbound and back, making a total of 890 SEK (£66). For the sample dates an advance price was only available for one return train, of 378 SEK (£28). Going by the standard prices the single fares are much cheaper whereas the return fares are very similar to my route to London, but a good deal slower.
(Source: sj.se)
What conclusions to draw from all of this? The main point has to the ridiculous pricing of single fares on many routes in the UK which cost only very slightly less (and on occasion a little more) than the return price. I can't see any reason for this other than encouraging travellers to make a return on the same route. However for those having to make a one-way journey the price is something of a rip-off.
If simply sticking to a comparison of return journeys then the price I'm paying doesn't compare too unfavourably with our brothers abroad in many instances. It's tricky to know where to place the Virgin West Coast trains as the journey time is generally slower than the high speed trains on the continent but quicker than their InterCity trains. There's also the complex issue of advance and discount fares which all have differing availabilities and conditions attached.
I had been expecting to discover that I was being ripped off compared to the continent, but this isn't the case, which is something. The situation might be different if I had to commute on the horrendously priced 'Standard Open' tickets, but for general travel we seem to be doing ok.
This struck me as a touch steep, so I set out to compare the price with other European countries. As a benchmark I'm using travelling on a Friday afternoon and back on a Monday afternoon which is a common weekend away option and likely to avoid rush hour periods.
First off we go to France with their wonderful high speed rail network. Let's start with an unfair comparison, that of time. From Paris to Marseille it takes a little over 3 hrs but covers 750 km. The standard price outbound is £68, and return £56 as this is classed as off-peak for some reason, making a £124 total. The return costs more than what I would pay, but the single costs a similar amount or less than the saver single for my route at £68. In addition discovery fares are offered by SNCF which are designed for a stay in the destination over a Saturday night. Using these fares brings the price down to £51 out and £42 back; £93 in total. More expensive, but covering getting on for twice the distance without costing anywhere near twice as much.
Time for a fairer comparison. Paris to Limoges is exactly 400 km as with my own route and also takes around 3 hours. The train is standard, not a TGV and costs either £31.50 or £35.50 each way, for a total from £63 to £71. These are comparable to the fares I'm facing on my route to London. The Discovery fare costs either £24 or £27 for a £48 or £54 total; considerably cheaper than my fares. It should be noted that the discovery fares were available from all services whereas cheap Virgin Value fares are much harder to come by.
(Source: raileurope.co.uk)
Next to Germany. Hamburg to Fulda (on the mainline to Munich) is 418 km, takes just over three hours by high-speed ICE train and costs €78 each way (£52) for a total of €156 (£105), although a return fare is offered for the same price for the single but not available for the sample dates I used. Going by the standard fare the price is cheaper for a single but a good deal more expensive for a return.
A second German comparison, this time with standard InterCity services between Frankfurt and Plattling (on the Passau mainline), some 404 km apart and a journey time of around 3 hours 40, costing €63 (£42) each way for a €126 (£84) return price. In this instance cheap return fares were available, making the return €63 (£42) in total.
(Source: deutsche-bahn.co.uk)
Finally to Sweden. Stockholm to Alingsas (on the mainline to Gothenburg) is 410 km. By high-speed X2000 train this takes 2 hours 35 minutes and costs 900 SEK (£67) for a standard ticket or 600 SEK (£44) for an advance purchase out, and 958 SEK (£71) standard and 538 SEK (£40) advance back, making a total of 1858 SEK (£138) standard and 1138 SEK (£84) advance return. Only the advance single works out cheaper than my route to London.
When comparing the Swedish Intercity trains on the same route the story is different. The distance is the same at 410 km but now takes 4 hours 25 minutes and costs 445 SEK (£33) both outbound and back, making a total of 890 SEK (£66). For the sample dates an advance price was only available for one return train, of 378 SEK (£28). Going by the standard prices the single fares are much cheaper whereas the return fares are very similar to my route to London, but a good deal slower.
(Source: sj.se)
What conclusions to draw from all of this? The main point has to the ridiculous pricing of single fares on many routes in the UK which cost only very slightly less (and on occasion a little more) than the return price. I can't see any reason for this other than encouraging travellers to make a return on the same route. However for those having to make a one-way journey the price is something of a rip-off.
If simply sticking to a comparison of return journeys then the price I'm paying doesn't compare too unfavourably with our brothers abroad in many instances. It's tricky to know where to place the Virgin West Coast trains as the journey time is generally slower than the high speed trains on the continent but quicker than their InterCity trains. There's also the complex issue of advance and discount fares which all have differing availabilities and conditions attached.
I had been expecting to discover that I was being ripped off compared to the continent, but this isn't the case, which is something. The situation might be different if I had to commute on the horrendously priced 'Standard Open' tickets, but for general travel we seem to be doing ok.
20061230
South Lakes weather cam
One of the Christmas additions to the array of gadgets hooked up to my laptop's several but now clearly inadequate number of USB ports is a webcam; a gadget I've fancied having for quite some time. Although I've not yet looked in to setting up an automatically refreshing cam, I can easily take stills with it and share the local weather with the world from outside my window. Here's my first such meteorological contribution:
20061213
The north wind shall blow and we shall have snow
...because once again the local TV transmitter has gone belly up by today's wind and rain. It's not atypical weather for this part of the world but every year without fail our televisions will be reduced to snow and white noise, normally just in time to interrupt festive television. It rubs salt in to the wound that in addition to having only 4 channels which are grainy at the best of times we seem to be subject to the whims of least reliable transmitter in the country. It fits rather nicely with the previous post though. I wonder if after Monday we'll even notice the fluctuations of bog standard terrestrial analogue.
Digital living in a rural land
It wasn't so long ago that all this talk of going digital was wholly ignored around here, being something limited to the high-density living rat-racers in the cities. Internet was dial-up and there was no expectation of receiving digital radio or TV within the foreseeable future, if at all. Times are changing, although the move to digital is often thwarted by the geography of the area. Internet is now broadband and digital television is available from one of the local transmitters although it's available very patchily. Similarly digital radio is available from certain locations but in most cases it's having make it over some distance to reach here, meaning that signal levels normally hover around the threshold level for usability. We've long since tolerated a rather ropey analogue signal but for not much longer. There remains little or no possibility of receiving Freeview for now and even when it commences from our local transmitter in a year or two the signal may still not be up to scratch. This has left us with no option but to look up to the Sky, or to SKY, to be more precise.
I'm pleased to have finally convinced my parents to go down the good-picture-quality, multi-channel route, as for long enough they've been picking through the best of what the four terrestrial channels have to offer (no channel 5 of course), which is often somewhat limited. Even free to air satellite will help. I'm a big fan of BBC 4 as a source of decent programming many evenings and when I had Freeview in London last year even the likes of Sky Travel would occasionally bestow should gems upon us: an old Whicker's World or Ewan McGregor's 'Long Way Round' series.
The situation is even better than that though. The free to air price is some £150 which covers the equipment, installation and FTA decoder card. However for the time being Sky are also offering the same plus 2 mixes (a mix is a collection of their subscription channels such as entertainment, documentaries etc.) for only £120, which comprises a £10 monthly subscription charge with gratis installation and equipment. This means that for a year at least we'll also be able to enjoy the likes of Sky One, UK Gold and for my father more documentaries than it would ever be possible to digest. Most important though is the fact that for the first time ever at this house, that's a good 10 years or so, we'll actually have a good television picture. Is this going digital so much as catching up to what most people have had for many years? Rural life indeed.
I'm pleased to have finally convinced my parents to go down the good-picture-quality, multi-channel route, as for long enough they've been picking through the best of what the four terrestrial channels have to offer (no channel 5 of course), which is often somewhat limited. Even free to air satellite will help. I'm a big fan of BBC 4 as a source of decent programming many evenings and when I had Freeview in London last year even the likes of Sky Travel would occasionally bestow should gems upon us: an old Whicker's World or Ewan McGregor's 'Long Way Round' series.
The situation is even better than that though. The free to air price is some £150 which covers the equipment, installation and FTA decoder card. However for the time being Sky are also offering the same plus 2 mixes (a mix is a collection of their subscription channels such as entertainment, documentaries etc.) for only £120, which comprises a £10 monthly subscription charge with gratis installation and equipment. This means that for a year at least we'll also be able to enjoy the likes of Sky One, UK Gold and for my father more documentaries than it would ever be possible to digest. Most important though is the fact that for the first time ever at this house, that's a good 10 years or so, we'll actually have a good television picture. Is this going digital so much as catching up to what most people have had for many years? Rural life indeed.
20061211
Glorious Cumbrian rain
If my big trip around Asia and Oz taught me something is that for much of the time a lot of the world seems to be a pretty dry place. I encountered precipitation so seldom in fact that when I did it was something of a novelty; a tropical downpour in Bangkok flooding the streets within minutes or an infrequent shower during Japan's so called wet season. No doubt most places do get their fair share of rainfall at some point, but having been back in Cumbria for a few days and subject once more to the westerly prevailing winds I can safely say that I've more or less encountered more rainfall in the past few days than in the previous seven months abroad. Perhaps we don't win in volume here, as those tropical showers are nothing short of torrential, but yesterday it began raining in the afternoon and only eased and gave way to sunshine this morning. When it comes to persistent rainfall the British Isles, or at least their Western coasts have it made.
Thing is, I love it. It may be damp, cold and seemingly miserable especially at this time of year but it feels like home. Damn it, it is home, and convivial or not for outdoor pursuits it's the climate I've grown up with and rather oddly become attached to. It sounds odd to say I'm attached to lakeland relief rainfall but that's just the fact of the matter. Now I don't mind living somewhere dry; I lived on London for two years and it hardly ever seems to rain down there; yet familiarity is driven by more than just sights and people, it's the whole caboodle of which getting rained on on an all too regular basis is part and parcel thereof.
Yet now the sun is shining. The field across the way is slightly waterlogged and the sleep are all sitting down looking contented in whatever warmth the December sun is able to offer them. The northern English green-ness is positively glowing. I'll pop into town shortly and no doubt there'll be that unmistakable smell of fresh rain, the damp ground offering a cacophony of hitherto hidden scents and smells. And to think I had some reservations about returning to the UK in mid-winter. How quickly dispelled they are. Certainly it's not a climate conducive to the sort of walking I was until recently doing in Australia, but then the same could be said of the weather in the rapidly approaching Aussie summer and give me cool weather over an excess of heat any day.
It's time to go and support my local Post Office while I still can.
Thing is, I love it. It may be damp, cold and seemingly miserable especially at this time of year but it feels like home. Damn it, it is home, and convivial or not for outdoor pursuits it's the climate I've grown up with and rather oddly become attached to. It sounds odd to say I'm attached to lakeland relief rainfall but that's just the fact of the matter. Now I don't mind living somewhere dry; I lived on London for two years and it hardly ever seems to rain down there; yet familiarity is driven by more than just sights and people, it's the whole caboodle of which getting rained on on an all too regular basis is part and parcel thereof.
Yet now the sun is shining. The field across the way is slightly waterlogged and the sleep are all sitting down looking contented in whatever warmth the December sun is able to offer them. The northern English green-ness is positively glowing. I'll pop into town shortly and no doubt there'll be that unmistakable smell of fresh rain, the damp ground offering a cacophony of hitherto hidden scents and smells. And to think I had some reservations about returning to the UK in mid-winter. How quickly dispelled they are. Certainly it's not a climate conducive to the sort of walking I was until recently doing in Australia, but then the same could be said of the weather in the rapidly approaching Aussie summer and give me cool weather over an excess of heat any day.
It's time to go and support my local Post Office while I still can.
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