Lisa and I headed out on our travels - yesterday from home in Melksham to Harwich and we'll be on the ferry in a few hours. 

We planned to catch the 16:39 train ... offered to us on the Interrail Journey planner without comment (elsewhere in Europe this app is good and flags up delays, cancellations even platform changes.  However, an early alert via JourneyCheck suggested this train was not going to run due to "staff shortage" snd so alternative plans were made.  Turns out it was a good choice, as according to my log four successive trains were cancelled and after the 14:34 (which called at 15:15) there was nothing towards Chippenham until 21:32; I saw no information from GWR as to how people should travel - just the normal "you can get your fare back" stuff of delay repay which does not address travel needs; I did not search, though - the help may have been available. So - with no 16:39, and with the 18:53 expected (at that point) to be the next train, what to do?

It was Monday.  But Bank Holiday Monday, so the buses were running a Sunday service.  That means that there were no services 271 or 272 past our house into Bath - our "goto" backup.   However, the x34 runs every hour or 90 minutes from the Market Place into Chippenham, and we were early enough to catch the 15:20 from there.  On a normal Monday, the x34 runs awkwardly to Chippenham BUS station in the afternoon - a 20 minute walk from the railway station - every 30 minutes or so (there are longer gaps at school time).  But this wasn't a normal Monday, and in the Sunday service the x34 on request will call at Chippenham Railway station too. Request made, and we were dropped off at the Railway Station.

Very interesting to note the of around 15 people on that bus as it came into Chippenham, around a dozen of us got off on or before the diversion via the station - at the Town Bridge, or at the Station itself. My view - the x34 should always run via the railway station, and not just a few a.m. inbounds and on Sundays and Bank Holidays!

Chippenham Station ... inviting signs pointing you in to the gateline, and with a welcome-looking wide gate visible within the building.  For us - we knew - DO NOT USE. It leads to the steps-only footbridge which with luggage and a mobility aid (Henry, Lisa's electric mobility scooter) that ain't suitable. We knew to go in through the side gate to the disused platform, turn away from the main building and use the lift up to the public footpath footbridge, which does have lifts.   Then back down onto the remaining operational platform - and island with trains calling at both sides.

I get the feeling that footbridge and lift down to the platform was designed before "they" decided to have barriers to check tickets at Chippenham, and we had to walk all around the lift in a spiral to get to it.  We also had to negotiate the gateline and that was easier said than done.  The wide barrier was showing a red cross (outward use) and even the narrower one refused my Interrail pass.  No staff to be seen.  The only call / assistance button I could see was on the far side - fat lot of use ... but searching around I found one outside, hidden from view behind a column when standing in panic, and called up for help.  The lady on there said "I'll reverse the gate for you" which she did, and then on request also opened the gate for us when she learned of our Interrail passes not working.  And so, down to the platform.

Chippenham Station is - a mess, or work in progress?  Scaffolding seems to be supporting the old footbridge, and the covering off the station canopy is largely missing leaving a skeleton offering no support in parts from the weather - rain (or as it was yesterday) intense sunlight.

Train (15:56) showing as 8 minutes late - as ever, optimistic and it actually left 10 minutes late.

A positive call out for the GWR staff at Chippenham and on the train - fully helpful and supportive - had we booked and did we need assistance?  The lady on the "assist", the platform dispatcher and the hospitality gent in who saw us coming to board in 1st (a luxury we allow ourselves, and sensibly priced, when we use Interrail).

Time was recovered at / by Swindon where the train has a generous allowance, but then onwards seemed very slow. Open Train Times showed an Elizabeth Line (headcode 9) train on the mains ahead of us, and we dragged; official reason for us eventually dragging in to Paddington some 40 minutes late was "problems with the signalling system".  Platform 11 at Paddington, 37 minutes late.  Faff at the barriers with luggage, scooter and pass that would not work the barrier.  Let though smartly by the gent on duty into a sea of waiting passengers on The Lawn.

Signage at Paddington - no comment as we knew where to go for the Elizabeth line and how to pick our way through. Down on lift - and that WAS clearly signed - to the ticket hall.  Manual check through the gateline (of course! - passes failed on it) and then a look around for the lift down to the platform which is right at the f-a-r and of a huge open space.

Onto the Elizabeth Line platform ... and doors already open to a Shenfield train. Mental check that would "do" us and rolled straight in - the joy of level access, only a slight bump from Henry as we passed in.  And s smooth ride along - 4 stops - to Liverpool Street; decision had been made to change there and not at Stratford as recommended on the App as Stratford lacks sufficient shelter and facilities for a comfortable wait.

Liverpool Street - got to the bottom of the escalators and - oops - turn around, back onto the platform, and up to the end where a lift took us up to the intermediate level.  A further walk at that level to the escalator up to Ticket Hall level which has beside it the fascinating angled lift - more like an underground cliff lift.  Ticket Hall / barriers (help needed of course) and then yet another lift - and a wait for this one - up to platform level.  Where we arrived 5 minutes after the hourly train with a connection to Harwich had left.

An opportunity, though, to stop and eat; so much better than Stratford.  And, fortuitous, the delay meant we could catch one of the three direct trains that runs each day to Harwich Internaational rather than lift-scrambling at Manningtree.

The - only - staff rudeness of the day was here at the Information desk; 12 minutes before the train was due to leave, still no platform shown.  Other trains on the board with platform numbers, and others still shown "Cancelled".  I asked if it was certain to run, and was ticked off for being impatient; not really - too familiar with trains that turn from "delayed" to "cancelled" and if it wan't running, wanted to catch the Ipswich train 2 minutes earlier.

It ran - 5 late of Liverpool Street, filled at Stratford, "Stopper" that them largely emptied out by Colchester. 21 minutes late into Harwich International - so that was around an hour and a half later than if the earlier / faster connection at Liverpool Street had worked.  But then we had eaten, rather than at the hotel, where checking greeted us by telling us that the kitchen had already closed and we had half an hour for the bar.

Harwich International to the Premier Inn is an interesting and far from obvious walk.  A gent from Anglia helped us, advising footbridge or level crossing - we chose the latter - and gave us directions.  He told us he was going to be cycling home that way, and indeed he stopped as he did so - about half a mile in - and re-assured us.  Also a lady in a "port car" stopped to check we were OK and knew what we were doing.

And so to the Premier Inn - we know it was at the back of Lidl, but not at all obvious for pedestrians walking up from the station - very much "road only" design and we missed it, turned around, saw it from various angles before we reached it.   Hey - we're here now!

Summary - we made it.  No huge surprises (to me, anyway) but so many things that might have challenged a newcomer; with the one exception polite and helpful staff in a system that is overoptimistic in what it offers, some port signage and some overcomplication.  We got here - in time for me to make a dash to the bar and bring a long, cold (non-alcoholic) drink back to the room, and for us to get Henry plugged in, recharged, and ready to face today which starts in 20 minutes!

Must dash - will add some pictures later if there's enough bandwidth on the ship!

 
For some strange and inexplicable reason (no, not really ) I found myself with some time to spare at Chippenham station yesterday afternoon.

My connection train was delayed by some 22 minutes, so I strolled over the old footbridge, admired the scaffolding that is now apparently holding it up, and bought a beer in the cafe. Having used the gents, I thought I'd get the lift back over to platform 1, just because it was there (the new lift, not platform 1, which has been there since Brunel).  However, I saw that the siting of the ticket barriers in the middle of the disused platform meant that I would have to exit through the barriers beside the cafe, walk around the building to the side entrance, re-enter the station and access the lift from there.

It was a very hot day, I couldn't be bothered with all that faff, so I just strolled back across the old footbridge to catch my delayed train from platform 1.  I concur with grahame: the siting of those ticket barriers in the middle of the disused platform was apparently not thought through.