Big city blues

London: the trip up to the capital didn't take long at all. Dover to Canterbury took twenty minutes. Which meant driving to Lincoln probably wouldn't take as long as I think it will. It's disturbing to see the beige smudge on the horizon of pollution over London. I know it's a large city, hell, it's huge, but that smudge... had consequences. I'm here to do family research and I'm here for three days. Day one, I arrive at Victoria Station, fortunately the right junction to get to my hotel. But asking the passenger assistance officer if I had the right of it in getting out to Hounslow, was an exercise in abuse. The guy needs to take a chill pill.

Hefting the luggage, off I went. What I didn't know and the passenger assistance officer didn't tell me was that I needed to go to Richmond, not Hounslow, and I ended up forking over ten pounds ($AUS20) - not an auspicious start – on a taxi.

Channins is comfortable with an en-suite. This is a good thing given I had a separate toilet at Dover and sitting on the lav, the door was one postcard length away from my knees. Tiny by anyone's standard. I also had to do laundry and the fellow at the counter happily directed me to a laundromat. Again, it cost more than I ever imagined. All up, about six pounds or about thirteen dollars, but I have clean clothes. Nice, since I was down to my last pair of clean socks.

The next morning, I felt all stuffed up, as if I had an allergy or was nurturing a cold. It was not going to affect my day; I wasn't going to let it. After a hearty breakfast, I headed off to the National Archives and spent the day chasing my tail. No new information, not really, just alphanumeric codes to get certificates. Tired from the concentration, I went back to Feltham and headed to the pub for a well-earned Leffe, the Belgium beer me and the outlaws discovered in Ghent. Tragically, and it is tragic, a case in Australia costs $100, a beer to have on special occasions only. When I started out, it was a gorgeous day and I wore a t-shirt; by day's end it became overcast and a cool breeze blew, chilling me. Before I went to bed, I took some painkillers, just to ward off the snots.

My final foray to the National Archives started off badly: Feltham to Richmond was stuffed full of passengers. At Richmond, there was a problem with the electricity down the line and we all had to wait. Change platforms, and wait. Change platforms again, and wait. I was only going one further stop down the line! So a fifteen minute train journey took three-quarters of an hour. Finally, I got to the Archives and chatted with one of the attendants. After a satisfactory discussion, I headed onto the computers. And had some success. Not as much as I would like, but anything is good given how far I've researched the tree. From here on, I'll have to go to the sources, to the churches, the Public Record offices and the graveyards. Shame that!
I left the National Archives at 3.30 and wandered to Kew Gardens. Not wanting to pay the fourteen pound entry fee, I wandered back to the train station, a couple of minutes walk. The way back to Feltham was worse. Not only were the electricity lines still not working properly but there was a fatal accident in the Feltham area. After changing a number of platforms – on the advice of the intercom – the announcer finally said the trains from Richmond to further down the track were cancelled and to take a bus.

Now see, here's where I always get into trouble and obviously, I'd learned nothing from Belgium. Yep, missed the stop I needed, but was paying enough attention to get off at the next stop. I didn't actually get back to Feltham until after five o'clock. But that was fine. Time to head to the pub for some dinner and a couple of Leffe's. The roast lamb shank was excellent and the Leffe, always good. I'm going to have some of that at every opportunity, since I won't be able to afford it back home. I'm also a little homesick. I think it was waving bye-bye to the family, but it hasn't faded.
I haven't developed a full-blown snot attack, but it feels as if I might. I think it's the pollution and need to get out into the countryside. Fortunately, that's next on the agenda. The weather is finally changing to what I expect spring in England to be: showery cool, with lengthy sunny periods. Maybe I'll get to use the rain jacket I've been carting around!