On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:47:34 +0100, Joe Kerr <joe_kerr@cheerful.com>
scrawled in the dust...

>On 27/08/2023 23:24, Penny wrote:
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 15:59:57 -0000 (UTC), Mike McMillan
>> <toodle.pip1@virginmedia.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>
>>> it was a quantity
>>> of mercury and far too much to have come out of a broken thermometer. Never
>>> did find out how it had got there - nor did any of us realise the toxic
>>> nature of that silvery metal…
>>
>> I was wondering earlier today, how one should dispose of broken mercury
>> thermometers. I have two :(
>
>Well, you could try handing them in to your local Police station as lost
>property you found in the street.
>
>Don't the council have a responsibility for handling hazardous domestic
>waste? Or at least on advising.
>>
>> OTOH, I have a largish sealed test tube containing a quantity of mercury,
>> which belonged to my father and fascinated me as a child. It now lives on a
>> couple of chopstick rests in one of his bookcases (in my dining room) and
>> the metal seems to behave very much like water, in that, after sitting
>> still for weeks, with nobody disturbing it, I find it has deposited tiny
>> globs on the top side of the tube, as though it has evaporated and
>> condensed there.
>
>Can't you just empty the thermometers into the test tube?

I don't think I'd like to try, I've never worked with molten glass and
would not feel comfortable unsealing and resealing the test tube.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 12:53:28 +0100, BrritSki <rtilburyTAKEOUT@gmail.com>
scrawled in the dust...

>On 28/08/2023 10:48, Vicky wrote:
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>
>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>
>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>
>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>
>> Penny the Oyster card is easy to organise online
>> https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
>> and you can find journey planners online too.
>
>You don't need an Oyster card to travel on the bus in London, your free
>bus pass should work. Not on the Tube though, but if we need that we
>just get a rail ticket that includes it.

If I did have a bus pass (which I don't) it would not work in London, since
they are, for no good reason I can fathom, country specific. (Although I
believe I could get a bus to Shrewsbury Hospital and back, if I did have a
pass, thereby doubling my travel time.)
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:54:29 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
in the dust...

>On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>><agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>
>>>I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>
>>I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>
>>Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>
>Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>expire. You just top up as needed.

I'm pretty sure there are no tube lines between Victoria and Lambeth.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 28/08/2023 15:15, Penny wrote:
> If I did have a bus pass (which I don't) it would not work in London, since
> they are, for no good reason I can fathom, country specific.

Just because they can, just to be different. Like the ridiculous rules
that had people from England thinking they could drive into Wales when
*their* Covid restrictions were lifted.

(Although I
> believe I could get a bus to Shrewsbury Hospital and back, if I did have a
> pass, thereby doubling my travel time.)

It annoys the heck out of me that I can get to the garden centre at
Chirk for free and I can get further to Oswestry for free, but I can't
make best use of my time by stopping at the garden centre on the way to
or from Oswestry, unless I'm prepared to pay for the C/O section.

Likewise, I can get to Chester for free but then have to pay to get to
the Zoo or anywhere else interesting. There is very little of interest
in North Wales that is accessible when one is restricted to return
travel on a bus within a day:-(

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 28.8.23 15:18, Penny wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:54:29 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
> in the dust...
>
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>
>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>
>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>
>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>
>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>
> I'm pretty sure there are no tube lines between Victoria and Lambeth.

Victoria to St Thomas - go to Victoria station, go to Clapham Jn and
catch a train to Waterloo all national rail services.

If you want to use a tube line:

Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Vauxhall and then an
SWR train into Waterloo

Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Stockwell and then
Northern line to Waterloo (so that is all tube lines).

Or from Victoria Station on the Victoria line to Green Park and then the
Jubilee line to Waterloo - again all tube lines and these days I would
probably use this route.

So I posit that using tube lines between those two points is entirely
rational.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

Steve Hague <stevehague82@gmail.com> wrote:
> On 28/08/2023 12:28, Sally Thompson wrote:
>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 27 Aug 2023 21:38:25 GMT, Sally Thompson
>>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> On 24 Aug 2023 17:05:23 GMT, Sally Thompson
>>>>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Where in London are you coming from?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not:-). Son lives in Gillingham in Kent and I live in Shropshire and
>>>>>> son suggested Oxford as a meeting place. Having looked at trains, I think
>>>>>> it likely that I will drive and use the park and ride and meet him
>>>>>> somewhere. An electric car, so no fuel costs to consider. Car park and bus
>>>>>> fees from the park and ride would be far cheaper than the train, too.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you feel nervous going longer distances in the electric car. I've
>>>>> got one too now and hate the possible miles to go under about 150. It
>>>>> can do 300.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Not these days. I have some good EV maps (such as ZapMap), and planning is
>>>> everything. For really long distances I would want to stop half way anyway.
>>>
>>> Mine flags up nearest charging places on the main screen. I
>>> thinkthatmakes me more nervous. :) Some would be very slow.
>>>
>>
>> ZapMap shows you which kind of charger.
>>
> Does it tell you if the charger is working? Quite a few don't seem to be.
>

Yes. I can also recommend ABRP (A Better Route Planner) and PlugShare.

--
Sally in Shropshire, UK

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 15:32:00 +0100, Jenny M Benson <NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk>
scrawled in the dust...

>On 28/08/2023 15:15, Penny wrote:
>> If I did have a bus pass (which I don't) it would not work in London, since
>> they are, for no good reason I can fathom, country specific.
>
>Just because they can, just to be different. Like the ridiculous rules
>that had people from England thinking they could drive into Wales when
>*their* Covid restrictions were lifted.
>
> (Although I
>> believe I could get a bus to Shrewsbury Hospital and back, if I did have a
>> pass, thereby doubling my travel time.)
>
>It annoys the heck out of me that I can get to the garden centre at
>Chirk for free and I can get further to Oswestry for free, but I can't
>make best use of my time by stopping at the garden centre on the way to
>or from Oswestry, unless I'm prepared to pay for the C/O section.
>
>Likewise, I can get to Chester for free but then have to pay to get to
>the Zoo or anywhere else interesting. There is very little of interest
>in North Wales that is accessible when one is restricted to return
>travel on a bus within a day:-(

It is annoying, especially when one hears about small groups of old women
going on bus holidays the length and breadth of England.

I'd still need a cab to get me to and from the Bus station to make use of a
bus pass though.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 3:02:12 PM UTC+1, krw wrote:
> On 28.8.23 13:35, Nick Odell wrote:
> > On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31 AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
> >> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
> >>> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
> >>>
> >>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
> >>>
> >>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
> >>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
> >>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
> >>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
> >>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
> >>>
> >>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
> >>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
> >>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
> >>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
> >>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
> >> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
> >> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
> >> expire. You just top up as needed.
> >
> > Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is any price difference?
> >
> > Nick
> > nicko...@yahoo.ca
> If you have an old gits railcard from National Railways and register it
> on your Oyster card you get a 34% discount on standard fares for an
> Oyster. You cannot register a railcard against your bank card and so
> for most travellers the Oyster/ bank card charges are the same. When
> Khan drops TfL out of the Travelcard settlement scheme it is unclear if
> the railcard discounts will disappear - but I am guessing they will.
>
> You have to re-register your railcard when you get a new one and not all
> ticket office replacement staff on TfL seem to know how to do this.

I wasn't aware of any of that before you wrote the above and it's well worth knowing, so thank you KRW.

My next visit to London just involves getting out of one train and into another at St Pancras so not much use for the Oyster card there. But unless the rules change in the interim, it might be worth my while following up those points before I go there again.

Thanks again,

Nick
nickodell49@yahoo.ca

On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 3:32:05 PM UTC+1, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> On 28/08/2023 15:15, Penny wrote:
> > If I did have a bus pass (which I don't) it would not work in London, since
> > they are, for no good reason I can fathom, country specific.
> Just because they can, just to be different. Like the ridiculous rules
> that had people from England thinking they could drive into Wales when
> *their* Covid restrictions were lifted.
> (Although I
> > believe I could get a bus to Shrewsbury Hospital and back, if I did have a
> > pass, thereby doubling my travel time.)
> It annoys the heck out of me that I can get to the garden centre at
> Chirk for free and I can get further to Oswestry for free, but I can't
> make best use of my time by stopping at the garden centre on the way to
> or from Oswestry, unless I'm prepared to pay for the C/O section.
>
> Likewise, I can get to Chester for free but then have to pay to get to
> the Zoo or anywhere else interesting. There is very little of interest
> in North Wales that is accessible when one is restricted to return
> travel on a bus within a day:-(
>
Apologies for my being so stupid but I had always presumed that these cross-boundary journeys were only free when leaving the country of issue and that one had to pay on the way back. I should have guessed it amounted to something different when Liliana's West Yorkshire bus card worked in both directions across the border with Derbyshire. Okay, counties not countries but I suppose the same the principle is the same.

Nick
nickodell49@yahoo.ca

On 28/08/2023 13:43, Nick Odell wrote:
>
> I agree about the free bus pass but to be honest, after decades of using the tube to get everywhere when I had to pay for everything, I've no real sense of which buses go where and how often. I'm gradually remedying that but there are still times when a paid-for tube journey is more convenient than a free bus trip. And with the state of London traffic as it was when I last visited in June, it can sometimes take more than an hour to travel on the surface when diving down into the tube will get you there in about ten minutes.
>Oh I completely agree with that.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery. Waife
always does London bus planning and found it would take several minutes
longer on bus and also involve a longer walk. So we took train from
Bedford to St. Pancras and then just a couple of stops on Piccadilly
Line to Leicester Square.

On 28/08/2023 15:18, Penny wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:54:29 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
> in the dust...
>
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>
>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>
>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>
>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>
>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>
> I'm pretty sure there are no tube lines between Victoria and Lambeth.

I thought the Lambeth Walk was traditional ? Oi !

Tony Smith <agsmith578688@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, 24 August 2023 at 18:05:26 UTC+1, Sally Thompson wrote:
>> Kate B <elv...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>> On 23/08/2023 19:05, John Ashby wrote:
>>>> On 23/08/2023 18:27, Sally Thompson wrote:
>>>>> Am I right in thinking that some time ago Laura Spira mentioned the high
>>>>> speed commuter bus between Oxford and London? I've asked Laura in the
>>>>> other
>>>>> place, but in case she doesn't see it or someone else knows, is it to be
>>>>> recommended? I'm trying to find somewhere to meet my son. He's suggested
>>>>> Oxford and that bus would be brilliant for him. I would probably get a
>>>>> train. Also, does anyone know if the Oxford bus terminal is anywhere near
>>>>> the railway station?
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought I'd ask here on the grounds that umra knows everything.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> It's pretty good, I use it myself for preference.
>>>> Oxford Tube from Victoria, Marble Arch, Notting Hill Gate, Shepherd's
>>>> Bush or Hillingdon.The Oxford terminus at Gloucester Green is a five
>>>> minute walk from the train station.
>>>>
>>>> Google maps will give the exact stops to board in London, the one I'm
>>>> most familiar with is Marble Arch which is just outside Hyde Park by
>>>> Speakers' Corner. Victoria is on a triangular garden.
>>>>
>>>> john
>>>
>>> There used to be two buses from Victoria, the Oxford Tube and the X90,
>>> which now I look it up, seems to have been discontinued just before the
>>> pandemic, just goes to show how long since I bussed from London to
>>> Oxford... but the Tube is very frequent and reliable, it goes from
>>> various stops from Victoria westwards, as John mentioned, and lands you
>>> in the centre of Oxford (St Clements, Queens Lane, St Aldates,
>>> Gloucester Green) rather than fifteen minutes walk (might be five if you
>>> have long fast legs...) away. I'd always take the bus - it's much
>>> cheaper and it doesn't even take that much longer on a good day,
>>> particularly if you live in south or east London, ie the wrong side for
>>> Paddington.
>>>
>>> Where in London are you coming from?
>>>
>> I'm not:-). Son lives in Gillingham in Kent and I live in Shropshire and
>> son suggested Oxford as a meeting place. Having looked at trains, I think
>> it likely that I will drive and use the park and ride and meet him
>> somewhere. An electric car, so no fuel costs to consider. Car park and bus
>> fees from the park and ride would be far cheaper than the train, too.
>> --
>> Sally in Shropshire, UK
>
> Before Lockdown I went to London via Oxford, now and then. Drive to a P&R
> on the A40 eastward from Oxford and take the bus.
>
> Once I took friends' advice to drive to Oxford Parkway station to go to
> Marylebone. But coming the other way I don't know how best to get from
> Oxford Parkway to Oxford centre.
>
> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>

I think there are buses, or a decent walk. I’ve never done it. Google
maps’ll tell you

Sally Thompson <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 24 Aug 2023 17:05:23 GMT, Sally Thompson
>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>
>>>> Where in London are you coming from?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I'm not:-). Son lives in Gillingham in Kent and I live in Shropshire and
>>> son suggested Oxford as a meeting place. Having looked at trains, I think
>>> it likely that I will drive and use the park and ride and meet him
>>> somewhere. An electric car, so no fuel costs to consider. Car park and bus
>>> fees from the park and ride would be far cheaper than the train, too.
>>
>>
>> Do you feel nervous going longer distances in the electric car. I've
>> got one too now and hate the possible miles to go under about 150. It
>> can do 300.
>>
>
> Not these days. I have some good EV maps (such as ZapMap), and planning is
> everything. For really long distances I would want to stop half way anyway.
>

There’s a programme somewhere on R4 this week with the chap who used to be
on Top Gear talking about EVs. He drives one.

Mrs McT

Chris <chris.mcmillan@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> Sally Thompson <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 24 Aug 2023 17:05:23 GMT, Sally Thompson
>>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Where in London are you coming from?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm not:-). Son lives in Gillingham in Kent and I live in Shropshire and
>>>> son suggested Oxford as a meeting place. Having looked at trains, I think
>>>> it likely that I will drive and use the park and ride and meet him
>>>> somewhere. An electric car, so no fuel costs to consider. Car park and bus
>>>> fees from the park and ride would be far cheaper than the train, too.
>>>
>>>
>>> Do you feel nervous going longer distances in the electric car. I've
>>> got one too now and hate the possible miles to go under about 150. It
>>> can do 300.
>>>
>>
>> Not these days. I have some good EV maps (such as ZapMap), and planning is
>> everything. For really long distances I would want to stop half way anyway.
>>
>
> There’s a programme somewhere on R4 this week with the chap who used to be
> on Top Gear talking about EVs. He drives one.
>
> Mrs McT
>

R4, yesterday. 17.00 - 17.40. The Today debate.

Mrs McT

krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
> On 28.8.23 13:35, Nick Odell wrote:
>> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31 AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>
>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>
>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>
>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>
>> Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your
>> Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in
>> London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped
>> up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using
>> the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is
>> any price difference?
>>
>> Nick
>> nickodell49@yahoo.ca
>
> If you have an old gits railcard from National Railways and register it
> on your Oyster card you get a 34% discount on standard fares for an
> Oyster. You cannot register a railcard against your bank card and so
> for most travellers the Oyster/ bank card charges are the same. When
> Khan drops TfL out of the Travelcard settlement scheme it is unclear if
> the railcard discounts will disappear - but I am guessing they will.
>
> You have to re-register your railcard when you get a new one and not all
> ticket office replacement staff on TfL seem to know how to do this.
>

The Travelcard settlement scheme news has gone silent, I’ve seen various
councils here on their hind legs about it but no resolution. The ticket
office closure seems to have taken over.

Mrs McT

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 12:53:28 +0100, BrritSki <rtilburyTAKEOUT@gmail.com>
> scrawled in the dust...
>
>> On 28/08/2023 10:48, Vicky wrote:
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>
>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>
>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>
>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>
>>> Penny the Oyster card is easy to organise online
>>> https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
>>> and you can find journey planners online too.
>>
>> You don't need an Oyster card to travel on the bus in London, your free
>> bus pass should work. Not on the Tube though, but if we need that we
>> just get a rail ticket that includes it.
>
> If I did have a bus pass (which I don't) it would not work in London, since
> they are, for no good reason I can fathom, country specific. (Although I
> believe I could get a bus to Shrewsbury Hospital and back, if I did have a
> pass, thereby doubling my travel time.)

To make life difficult for people like Jenny MB living near the
English/Welsh border?

Mrs McT

On 28.8.23 15:48, Nick Odell wrote:
> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 3:02:12 PM UTC+1, krw wrote:
>> On 28.8.23 13:35, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31 AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>>> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>>
>>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>>
>>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>>
>>> Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is any price difference?
>>>
>>> Nick
>>> nicko...@yahoo.ca
>> If you have an old gits railcard from National Railways and register it
>> on your Oyster card you get a 34% discount on standard fares for an
>> Oyster. You cannot register a railcard against your bank card and so
>> for most travellers the Oyster/ bank card charges are the same. When
>> Khan drops TfL out of the Travelcard settlement scheme it is unclear if
>> the railcard discounts will disappear - but I am guessing they will.
>>
>> You have to re-register your railcard when you get a new one and not all
>> ticket office replacement staff on TfL seem to know how to do this.
>
> I wasn't aware of any of that before you wrote the above and it's well worth knowing, so thank you KRW.
>
> My next visit to London just involves getting out of one train and into another at St Pancras so not much use for the Oyster card there. But unless the rules change in the interim, it might be worth my while following up those points before I go there again.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Nick
> nickodell49@yahoo.ca

Not a problem. I rarely use an Oyster at the moment as I normally buy a
day return with travelcard built in - but if Khan gets his way (and
no-one appears to be able to sit him down and negotiate a better
solution) then knowing how Oyster works is going to be needed.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On 28.8.23 16:34, Chris wrote:
> krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
>> On 28.8.23 13:35, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31 AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>>> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>>
>>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>>
>>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>>
>>> Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your
>>> Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in
>>> London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped
>>> up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using
>>> the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is
>>> any price difference?
>>>
>>> Nick
>>> nickodell49@yahoo.ca
>>
>> If you have an old gits railcard from National Railways and register it
>> on your Oyster card you get a 34% discount on standard fares for an
>> Oyster. You cannot register a railcard against your bank card and so
>> for most travellers the Oyster/ bank card charges are the same. When
>> Khan drops TfL out of the Travelcard settlement scheme it is unclear if
>> the railcard discounts will disappear - but I am guessing they will.
>>
>> You have to re-register your railcard when you get a new one and not all
>> ticket office replacement staff on TfL seem to know how to do this.
>>
>
> The Travelcard settlement scheme news has gone silent, I’ve seen various
> councils here on their hind legs about it but no resolution. The ticket
> office closure seems to have taken over.
>
> Mrs McT
>

Travelcard termination is definitive - Khan has given 6 months notice
and the Government could not care less - although in reality it will
cost all of the Government ministers in the Home Counties their seats.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
> On 28.8.23 15:18, Penny wrote:
>> On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:54:29 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
>> in the dust...
>>
>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>
>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>
>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>
>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>
>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>
>> I'm pretty sure there are no tube lines between Victoria and Lambeth.
>
> Victoria to St Thomas - go to Victoria station, go to Clapham Jn and
> catch a train to Waterloo all national rail services.
>
> If you want to use a tube line:
>
> Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Vauxhall and then an
> SWR train into Waterloo
>
> Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Stockwell and then
> Northern line to Waterloo (so that is all tube lines).
>
> Or from Victoria Station on the Victoria line to Green Park and then the
> Jubilee line to Waterloo - again all tube lines and these days I would
> probably use this route.
>
> So I posit that using tube lines between those two points is entirely
> rational.
>

Victoria Station

DepartVictoria Underground Station via District line to Embankment
Journey time: 5 min

Embankment Underground Station via Bakerloo line to Lambeth North
Journey time: 3 min

Mrs McT

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 16:40:58 +0100, krw wrote:

> Travelcard termination is definitive - Khan has given 6 months notice
> and the Government could not care less - although in reality it will
> cost all of the Government ministers in the Home Counties their seats.

Central government has forced TfL to do it, hoping they can shift the
blame onto the mayor at election time. The same situation as ULEZ
expansion.

--
Jim <http://www.jim-easterbrook.me.uk/>
1959/1985? M B+ G+ A L- I- S- P-- CH0(p) Ar++ T+ H0 Q--- Sh0

On 28/08/2023 15:48, Nick Odell wrote:
> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 3:02:12 PM UTC+1, krw wrote:
>> On 28.8.23 13:35, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31 AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>>> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>>
>>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>>
>>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>>
>>> Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is any price difference?
>>>
>>> Nick
>>> nicko...@yahoo.ca
>> If you have an old gits railcard from National Railways and register it
>> on your Oyster card you get a 34% discount on standard fares for an
>> Oyster. You cannot register a railcard against your bank card and so
>> for most travellers the Oyster/ bank card charges are the same. When
>> Khan drops TfL out of the Travelcard settlement scheme it is unclear if
>> the railcard discounts will disappear - but I am guessing they will.
>>
>> You have to re-register your railcard when you get a new one and not all
>> ticket office replacement staff on TfL seem to know how to do this.
>
> I wasn't aware of any of that before you wrote the above and it's well worth knowing, so thank you KRW.
>
> My next visit to London just involves getting out of one train and into another at St Pancras so not much use for the Oyster card there. But unless the rules change in the interim, it might be worth my while following up those points before I go there again.

You can register a railcard on the Oyster website, and you can also
register a contactless bank debit card. I did this last time I ventured
into the smoke and got all the discounts - and even a refund from the
last time I had used the bank card.

--
Kate B

On 28/08/2023 17:01, Chris wrote:
> krw <krw@whitnet.uk> wrote:
>> On 28.8.23 15:18, Penny wrote:
>>> On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 10:54:29 +0100, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
>>> in the dust...
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>>>>> <agsmith578688@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>>
>>>>>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>>>>>
>>>>> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>>>>> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>>>>> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>>>>> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>>>>> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>>>>> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>>>>> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>>>>> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>>>>> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>>>>
>>>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>>>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>>>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>>>
>>> I'm pretty sure there are no tube lines between Victoria and Lambeth.
>>
>> Victoria to St Thomas - go to Victoria station, go to Clapham Jn and
>> catch a train to Waterloo all national rail services.
>>
>> If you want to use a tube line:
>>
>> Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Vauxhall and then an
>> SWR train into Waterloo
>>
>> Or from Victoria station on the Victoria line to Stockwell and then
>> Northern line to Waterloo (so that is all tube lines).
>>
>> Or from Victoria Station on the Victoria line to Green Park and then the
>> Jubilee line to Waterloo - again all tube lines and these days I would
>> probably use this route.
>>
>> So I posit that using tube lines between those two points is entirely
>> rational.
>>
>
> Victoria Station
>
> DepartVictoria Underground Station via District line to Embankment
> Journey time: 5 min
>
> Embankment Underground Station via Bakerloo line to Lambeth North
> Journey time: 3 min
>

Don't ever go to Waterloo Station for St Thomas's. It's a hefty walk to
the hospital and crosses a number of very busy main roads.

Much easier than that is to take the District Line to Westminster and
simply walk over the bridge.

Or there's a bus 211 direct to the hospital from Bus Stop E just as you
come out of the main entrance of the station.

--
Kate B

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 05:35:41 -0700 (PDT), Nick Odell
<nickodell@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 10:54:31?AM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
>> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:1
>> >
>> >Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>> >I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>> >Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>> >Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>> >for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>> Just checked and Camden Town tube to Hyde Park Corner tube cost £2.80
>> using the Oyster card. You can keep funds on it and they don't seem to
>> expire. You just top up as needed.
>
>Is the price of travel around London the same whether you use your Oyster Card or just tap in and out with a bank card? I don't live in London but I've had an Oyster Card for years and always keep it topped up for my visits to the capital. But the trend seems to be towards using the ordinary bank card on public transport and I wondered if there is any price difference?
>
>Nick
>nickodell49@yahoo.ca

I think it's much cheaper with the Oyster card. BICBAM.

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 13:51:42 +0100, Steve Hague
<stevehague82@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 28/08/2023 12:28, Sally Thompson wrote:
>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On 27 Aug 2023 21:38:25 GMT, Sally Thompson
>>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> On 24 Aug 2023 17:05:23 GMT, Sally Thompson
>>>>> <thompson.stonybrook@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Where in London are you coming from?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not:-). Son lives in Gillingham in Kent and I live in Shropshire and
>>>>>> son suggested Oxford as a meeting place. Having looked at trains, I think
>>>>>> it likely that I will drive and use the park and ride and meet him
>>>>>> somewhere. An electric car, so no fuel costs to consider. Car park and bus
>>>>>> fees from the park and ride would be far cheaper than the train, too.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Do you feel nervous going longer distances in the electric car. I've
>>>>> got one too now and hate the possible miles to go under about 150. It
>>>>> can do 300.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Not these days. I have some good EV maps (such as ZapMap), and planning is
>>>> everything. For really long distances I would want to stop half way anyway.
>>>
>>> Mine flags up nearest charging places on the main screen. I
>>> thinkthatmakes me more nervous. :) Some would be very slow.
>>>
>>
>> ZapMap shows you which kind of charger.
>>
>Does it tell you if the charger is working? Quite a few don't seem to be.

Or whether someone is using that charger and if there is a queue.
There are 2 in the Asda car park near by and some are in use and
sometimes people park on the spaces so you can't get to them.

On Mon, 28 Aug 2023 05:43:38 -0700 (PDT), Nick Odell
<nickodell@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>On Monday, August 28, 2023 at 12:53:30?PM UTC+1, BrritSki wrote:
>> On 28/08/2023 10:48, Vicky wrote:
>> > On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 23:17:10 +0100, Penny <sp...@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> On Sun, 27 Aug 2023 08:46:25 -0700 (PDT), Tony Smith
>> >> <agsmit...@gmail.com> scrawled in the dust...
>> >>
>> >>> I must get up to London again soon, before Those Marbles are sent to Elgin or stolen.
>> >>
>> >> I sometimes think I'd like to go to that London again. I loved it in my
>> >> youth. I would travel around on the Underground for hours - all for 2d as
>> >> long as you got off within two stations or where you got on. And then I
>> >> remember how exhausting it could be to spend a whole day there, walking
>> >> around above ground, getting grimy from the air.
>> >>
>> >> Now I no longer understand how the transport works. Possibly the last time
>> >> I was there, I arrived at Victoria Station and needed to get to St Thomas'
>> >> Hospital. Doubtless a bus could have taken me but I'd no idea what an
>> >> Oyster card was or where I could get one. People in London are not known
>> >> for being helpful... It's a long walk.
>> >
>> > Penny the Oyster card is easy to organise online
>> > https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
>> > and you can find journey planners online too.
>> You don't need an Oyster card to travel on the bus in London, your free
>> bus pass should work. Not on the Tube though, but if we need that we
>> just get a rail ticket that includes it.
>
>I agree about the free bus pass but to be honest, after decades of using the tube to get everywhere when I had to pay for everything, I've no real sense of which buses go where and how often. I'm gradually remedying that but there are still times when a paid-for tube journey is more convenient than a free bus trip. And with the state of London traffic as it was when I last visited in June, it can sometimes take more than an hour to travel on the surface when diving down into the tube will get you there in about ten minutes.
>
>Nick
>nickodell49@yahoo.ca

Do you mean my Watford free bus pass can be used on buses in London?