Rolls Around the World 2007: 8 - London to Fawsley, England

Saturday, July 21, 2007

We finished up on the internet in the morning, checked out and then trekked to the underground. About half the routes were closed for maintenance or flooding because of the heavy rain yesterday, which closed roads, tube lines and caused widespread flooding. The private company that does maintenance on the underground system declared bankruptcy last week, compounding the problem by setting repairs well back.

Fortunately the routes we needed were functioning, so we lugged our cases and camera gear down various flights of stairs to the train. We had to change to another line at Oxford Circus, but luck was with us - it was down more stairs. A kind young man assisted Marilynn in carrying one of her packs down a flight of steps. At Epping, the last station on the line, it was necessary to climb an overpass to get to the other side of the tracks, which we did one bag at a time. On the other side was a large parking area for commuters and a food trailer where we had a hot sausage sandwich lunch before taking a cab to the nearby Quality Inn.

Once settled in we walked a mile to the village and found the local pub. Next door was a hair dresser, so Marilynn had her hair cut while I settled in with a pint and the newspaper. When Marilynn returned we ordered a good meal and more drinks before crossing the road to pick up wine and beer for the BBQ tomorrow.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Tristan Palmer picked us up in the morning for the five minute drive to his place in the next town. It is a beautiful area, much of it is covered by the 12 mile long Epping Forest, an area protected by the National Trust. We explored his garden, which backs onto a deer refuge where dozens of deer were grazing. Fortunately, it was a bright, sunny day. We had a couple of pints before the other BBQ guests arrived, and I performed as salad chef. It was an interesting group who were tucking into the largest and best T-bone steaks I have ever had. They were from English Longhorn Cattle; about two inches thick, the size of a platter, as tender and tasty as could be and cooked to perfection.

It was a great meal, and a fun crowd. We were quite well lubricated by the time we took a taxi back to the hotel in the evening.

Monday, July 23, 2007

We had arranged a taxi for 11 AM to drive us to West Thurrock, which is difficult to reach by train or tube. The cost was about the same as the trip from the hotel at Heathrow to London - £45 or $US 95. We were a bit apprehensive of the Ibis Hotel, which we booked on line through Expedia, but it turned out to be OK. The principal drawback was at night - the air-conditioning would not cool below 25C and the double windows opened onto a 6 lane motorway. We chose the noise over the heat.

I called Agility Logistics right away and got Steve Bagshaw, who was back to work. He delivered the news that the ship carrying our car has been delayed for two more days, and will not dock until the 25th. He suggested a delivery date of July 30, which would completely eliminate the Silverstone Classic and the meeting with Rolls Royce.

I took a taxi to their office to meet with Steve and the customs manager. Both seemed anxious to help, and are going to designate the container priority to speed delivery, but they stated frankly that the docks in Southampton are in chaos, with many delays and some ships even being sent to other ports. Customs could also hold things up, as some items in the car require separate clearance. The widespread flooding and continuing rain is also slowing the process. If the car is not in my hands by Friday, July 27 the earliest delivery would be Monday, July 30, even though customs and the docks work on weekends. A young lady in the office kindly gave me a lift back to the hotel.

Marilynn had lunch in the hotel while I was at the shipping office, and was not impressed, so we walked about a kilometre in increasingly heavy rain to a small shopping area in hope of finding a pub or restaurant. No such luck, so we settled for Burger King - a major step down from dinner last night! By the time we returned to the hotel we were soaked.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

We agreed there is no point in hanging around West Thurrock. The place has been described by various people in quite colourful language, but no one was complementary of the jumble of rail yards, highways and industrial buildings. We decided to go to Purfleet, the closest train station about a mile and a half away, and look at practical destinations for a couple of days.

In discussing our situation with the taxi driver, he suggested Brentwood, a nice town with hotels and services not too far away. The area is pretty, with lots of shops, pubs and restaurants. There was a Holiday Inn plus another Tudor styled hotel that had no vacancy. The Holiday Inn had rooms, so we paid the driver £30 ($64) and checked in. A room with wireless internet was an astonishing £150 ($317). In the room we looked around, looked at each other, and said, "No way!" It was a very basic room, with no electrical plugs for computers or charging batteries. The price is ridiculous.

We cancelled the room, called a cab and asked the driver to take us to a car rental agency. There were none in Brentwood, but in the neighbouring town of Harold Wood he located a fairly large Enterprise Rent a Car outlet. I handed over my credit card, international driver's license and Canadian driver's license, however they required a plane ticket out of the country. The fact that we were driving out of the country did not matter - no plane ticket, no car rental.

We decided to return to West Thurrock and rent a car there, where the rental agency could confirm with Agility Logistics that they actually did have our car, and that one day it would be delivered. I could also return the car easily when the Rolls arrived. The taxi driver took us to the Brentwood train station. In reality he was making his return to Brentwood pay - the first stop for the train was Harold Wood, where we asked him to take us to the closest station. After paying £22 ($47) to the taxi we purchased a train ticket to Purfleet, the closest station to West Thurrock for £29.20 ($62). We then managed to carry our baggage across overpasses and through underpasses to travel on four different trains. It was surprising how many people would carry one of Marilynn's cases for her up or down stairs.

At the tiny station of Purfleet there was no taxi, but there was a phone booth. The ticket lady gave us the phone number of a taxi company - the closest was two towns away. Marilynn called, and told them we wanted to go to the closest car rental company. They insisted they had to have an exact address or could not send a taxi. There is no car rental in Purfleet, and the taxi company did not think there was one in West Thurrock, and if we didn't know where we were going, they weren't coming.

The next decision was to go to the hotel where we were booked for the Silverstone races, assuming it was in a village. The helpful lady in the train ticket office could find no station for Silverstone or near where the hotel is located. Back at the phone box, the phone decided to stop accepting coins, but Marilynn got it going with her credit card. A dozen calls to the hotel were not answered, and the number we had for Phil Dunn at Hagerty Insurance in Silverstone produced an "out of service" recording. I did no better using my mobile phone.

In desperation, I fired up my computer and checked the insurance policy issued by Hagerty, hoping to find an alternate number. We called a number given if we need the policy in brail, and to my surprise it was answered by Phil. He called the hotel, confirmed they had space, and called back on my cell - which cut out after the first ring. We called him on the pay phone and he said someone was now answering the hotel phone, so we called, booked the hotel and got the name of the closest railway station.

The ticket lady tracked down the tiny station of Long Buckby, got us ticketed and gave us the itinerary. We took a train to Fenchurch Station in London, walked to the underground station a block away, descended to the platform (with kind Londoners helping Marilynn carry one of her heavy cases), stood on the crowded subway to the St. Euston Station, climbed many flights of stairs to the street, walked four blocks to the train station and rode the train for an hour to Northumberland, where we waited 40 minutes for the 10 minute train ride to Long Buckby. The cost - £64.40 ($136).

Long Buckby station has nothing near it, and no employees. There was a phone box with the number of a taxi company, where they said it would take 20 minutes to get a cab to us. There was no place to sit, so we faced a long wait on our feet. In about 5 minutes a Jaguar pulled up and the driver asked if we were waiting for a cab. When we confirmed we were, he said he owned the cab company, couldn't see us standing for 20 minutes, and so had come to drive us himself. It was a very comfortable £20 ($44) ride, filled with information on which locals did or did not pay their bills.

It took a bit of doing to find the hotel - it is down a very narrow road into an area of rolling hills covered with sheep. The converted stables and grain storage building are well done, but there is nothing around but open country and sheep They serve breakfast and light lunches, but the closest dinner is at a pub some three miles away. After we had a couple of drinks the delightful young lady who runs the place drove us to the pub in the pretty little town of Bradby - the pub owner is also a half owner of the Granary, where we are staying. The meal was excellent, the pub cozy and the service quite good. Once done they called a taxi for the £10 ($22) ride back to the hotel.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Marilynn was not feeling well last night, and was still not in great shape this morning. Rachel, who runs the Granery, doing duty as cook, chambermaid and bar maid, prepared a huge breakfast. It seems we are the only guests, and as she performs many duties, the phone is not answered when she is not in the office. We did some catching up on the computer, then just before noon I phoned Steve at Agility Logistics to learn that the ship would be another two days before it is unloaded. He had 9 AM Friday morning organized to unpack the car, but now the earliest possible time will be Monday at 9 AM.

We will stay at the Granery to wait for our friends who are coming from the north of England to join us. We are all booked here until Sunday morning, when Marilynn and I will return to West Thurrock to await the release of the car. While the people at Agility Logistics are doing everything in their power to get the car released, we are pretty depressed about the situation. We have had to cancel seeing many friends in England, and now will miss showing the car at Silverstone. One more delay will mean the appointment with Rolls Royce on July 31 will also have to be cancelled.