Southampton, England

Sunday, 27 April 2025, Southampton, England

Lions guarding the entrance to the city

Our disembarkation time was 8:45, so we had plenty of time to have a leisure breakfast and avoid as much of the chaos as possible.  We were toward the tail end of the groups departing, some as early as 7AM.  Some were transferring to Queen Mary 2 for the transatlantic trip back to New York.

The Queen Mary 2 overtaking us heading for Southampton

The previous night, we packed our large luggage and set them out to be taken down for offloading.  Our color code was Purple 2, which would aid us in finding our 3 pieces amongst the thousands of pieces  in the terminal.

We joined the queue at our appointed time and only waited a short time before filing out for the last time.  Sad, not really.  We had had enough cruising and was anxious to start our England and Scotland adventure.

We found our luggage without much difficulty and scored a dolly to transport everything out of the terminal to the taxi area.  We did not have far to go, only a half mile to our hotel.  But, with all the luggage, and especially since one of the four wheels on one of the larger bags was bent so bad, it would not roll well.  The taxi driver did not seem disappointed in the short run as I assumed he would go right back and get another fair.  We tipped him well as it was worth it.

We could check in, but of course since it was so early and they said it would be at least 1PM, if not 2PM before our rooms would be ready.  We stored our bags in the safe room and relaxed some before heading out to do some geocaching.

Southampton is a very historic place, being a major seaport since ships were able to sail.  The Mayflower left here in 1640 for New England.  There are still remnants of the stone wall that encircled the early town and protected it from raiders. 

Sue by wall and tower that dates back to 12th century

 

 

 

 

Bar Gate

 

Bar Gate history

Start your journey at Bargate, a landmark at the entrance to Southampton's old town. Built in 1290, this gate marks the beginning of a city wall that took 300 years to complete. Following the signs from Bargate, you can explore the walls, which originally featured eight gates and 29 towers. Today, six gates, 13 towers, and half of the walls remain intact, preserving a sense of the medieval past.

Our first cache here was located on a signpost by St Michael’s Church that dates from 1070!  It has been renovated several times, but the structure itself is original.  They were having services inside while we were searching outside.  This cache would earn my UK souvenir. 

St Michael's Church

Sue, having spent three and a half years here during her military service in the 80s, was no stranger to England.  Geocaching was not around then but she revisited in 2009 for a family get-together and found some caches then, to earn her souvenir.

We did some more sightseeing, walking around the area before returning to the hotel.  We still had to wait some time before we were able to get to our rooms.  Once there we settled in for our two-night stay.  Sue prepared the two large luggage bags for their shipment back to Iowa ahead of us.  We did not want to be burdened with them while traveling in the UK.  A private company, Send My Bag, will pick them up and deliver them to our home in Iowa.  

View of Queen Anne (top right) from our room

Monday, 28 April

Today was a day for exploring and more geocaching.  We had considered renting scooters and even downloaded the app but ended up doing a couple Adventure Labs dealing with Jane Austen, the celebrated English novelist, and another one taking us to sites related to the Mayflower.  Both were enjoyable to do as they took us around the area, giving us a good flavor as we made our way through alleys, back streets where pubs and restaurants were abundant and inviting.  A lot of the locals were eating outdoors enjoying the beautiful day. 

One local who struck up a conversation with us recommended a nearby pub, The Red Lion.  Its cellar, at least, dates back to the 12^th century, supposedly the 2^nd oldest pub in the UK.  We did end up going there for a beer, I had the special lager, Red Lion.  Sue enjoyed something her and the bartender cooked up since she doesn’t like the taste of beer.  The interior was full of knights in armor, shields and other artifacts.

We returned to our room to rest up and maybe to venture out later for more caching or just to find a nice pub and see what the night has to offer.

Red Lion Armour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We left the hotel around 6:30 to do an Adventure Lab having to do with the Titanic.  It took us to a park and we found that we could do all the different legs of the AL from one spot in the park.  We were able to answer all the questions, either from guessing or prior knowledge from plaques we had seen all over this area.  The Titanic sailed from Southampton on its ill-fated voyage to New York in 1912.  Many of her crew members and some of the passengers were from this city.  There are lots of places in the area to either listen to or read about survivors or relatives telling their stories.  There is, in fact, a Pub called the Titanic which we passed while geocaching.

We left the park and searched for a pub to have a pint and order dinner.  Luck would have it that we walked right to the Red Lion, so we stopped there again for our dinner.  We ended up ordering what they called the Mixed Grill, which had to be meant for two to share  It had two sausages, two eggs, a slice of ham, a lamb chop, a pork chop, chips, cabbage salad, peas, onion rings and mushrooms!  No way could we eat it all, but we didn’t leave much!

Mixed Grill

We walked back to the hotel, getting there just before dark.  We had an enjoyable day, but we were ready for bed. 

Tuesday, 29 April Travel day.

We checked out around 7:30 and took a cab to Central Station to catch our cross-country train to Coventry.  We had booked a passage leaving at 9:30.   We had plenty of time, so we went across the street to a Costa (something like Starbucks, which was next door!)  They had breakfast sandwiches that they call baps.  Baps are a bread roll which can be used for most any sandwich, Costa's had sausage, ham, bacon or and egg and mushroom which they had in a self serve cooler and you gave it to them to heat up.  I grabbed a sausage bap and ordered a coffee, Sue had a muffin.  My cup of coffee served by a barista was the size of a small soup bowl!  It all was very tasty. 

We went through the turnstiles with our tickets to a waiting room on Platform One.  Digital displays announced what train was next and if it was on time or not and ours seemed to be on time.  The display also indicated how many cars were on the train and which ones were wheelchair accessible and which ones would accommodate bicycle storage.  Our tickets were for Car D, seats 15 & 16.  Our train had about 10 cars but we didn’t know which one was D and they did not allow a lot of time to find it.  We had considerable luggage so it was cumbersome to move about quickly.  We did locate D about five cars down and were able to jump aboard.   I did observe an attendant making sure everyone was on board before signaling the engineer that he could proceed.

Right inside the entrance there was a closet that would hold two bicycles in a vertical position, one on each side.  Behind those were the baggage storage area where we left our three biggest pieces and the others were stored overhead above our seats.  There was a display above each pair of seats saying if they were reserved and ours correctly said Southampton to Coventry.

Inside view

Sue relaxing on train

Other seats that were empty but they also had a display for upcoming reservations.  Quite modern I thought.  We must have stopped about 6 or 8 times and after one of the stops, I realized we were going backwards!  How that occurred, I had no clue, no bumps were felt or extended stays while switching. 

The trip took about two and a half hours.  It was a very smooth ride with minimal rocking.  The seats were comfortable and equipped with a tray and hookups for power and USB.

We arrived on Platform 4 and we had to either climb stairs or take an elevator up to the cross-bridge, across the rails then down to the main station where Sue’s sister Christine was waiting to meet us.  We made good use of the elevators and Christine was there, giving us a nice welcome hug.

Christine and her husband Terry live in Bedworth, a town outside of Coventry.  It took around 45 minutes to get there as it was midday and traffic was not heavy.  Terry mentioned that a city is distinguished from a town by the presence of a cathedral.  Evidently it takes a cathedral to make a city, at least in earlier times. 

They live in a two-bedroom home with a conservatory, backyard with steps leading down to one of the many interconnected canals that are mainly located in the midsection of the country. 

Conservatory and patio

These canals, some of which date back to the 16^th century, played a vital role in in the UK’s Industrial Revolution.  At its peak, the nationwide canal network expanded to nearly 4,000miles in length.  These canals allowed raw materials, finished goods or supplies to be transported wherever there was a demand.  In the Coventry area, the major cargo was coal produced from local mines.  They accomplished this with the use of narrow cargo boats pulled by horses on an adjoining trail alongside the canal, called a towpath.  I don’t want to spend much time on these canals; I’ll provide a link here.

Today these canals are used for recreation by boaters who have transformed these barges into houseboats, powered by diesel engines, or in some cases electric.  These modern boats are generally under 60 feet in length, so they can fit in the many locks that are necessary if you are going any distance.  They are a maximum of seven feet wide, which will allow for two boats to pass each other in most areas.  There are of course many bridges to go under and many of those would not allow two-way traffic.

Terry and Christine are the proud owners of “Grace”.  She is 57 feet long, 6’ 10” wide and is powered by a 42hp diesel motor and made of steel.  She is moored alongside their property. 

Grace

They have graciously offered to take us on 2–3-day cruise during our stay.  We are anxiously looking forward to it and the weather report looks very favorable.  Christine gets us settled in the spare bedroom and she and Sue go on a shopping trip. 

After a delicious dinner, Terry says the boat needs to be turned around before our trip.  He suggests we do it this evening to give us a taste of travel on the canal.  We readily agree and we board and head down the canal.  There is a point that is big enough to turn around not far away but Terry says we will go a little further to the next place which is about a half hour away.  The boat travels an average of 3 mph, about a brisk walking speed.  It can go faster, but the protocol is to keep speed slow for safety and courtesy to other moored boats.

Terry at the helm

  Grace is steered by a rudder system in the rear like most tiller boats.  After a short time, there is a stretch of fairly straight canal and he offers me the till.  I have had experience with fishing boats using a tiller so I felt fairly confident.But, I never had this much boat in front of me either and when going this slow, response is also slow.  In a few minutes and some minor curves, I am feeling fairly comfortable.  I captain for 15 minutes or so until we come to our turning point and Terry takes over.  It was enjoyable and I won’t hesitate to spell him on our upcoming voyage when he thinks it is ok.

We return just before dark, moor the boat and call it a day.  Tomorrow, we will leave on our voyage.