Tuesday May 4th

Had confirmation today that my friend Jim McGarrick will be joining me for the main part of the East Coast journey.  We plan to meet in Clacton-On-Sea at precisely 12.44pm on Thursday May 26th.  From my recent journeys to Britain one thing that has improved is the timing of the trains.  Today they are usually no more than 15 to 30 minutes late, unless it is on a Sunday, when "track repairs" seem to take over the lines like traffic cones on the motorway.  This is a great improvement from 20 years ago when I lived in England.  However, Britain has a long way to go to catch up with the timekeeping of the trains on the Continent, especially those in Germany and Switzerland.  I don't know which came first, the train timetable or the Swiss watch; both can be set by reference to the other.

In Britain of course, in search of competition (so it was said) that would improve customer service, the megalith of British Rail was sold off, in the 1990s, piece meal to a number of companies, the owners of which then got rich by quickly selling them on to someone else.  But the oddity of the arrangement is that the company operating the trains is never the same as the company owning the rail tracks.  So this is great when the train runs late you can always blame someone else.   The old Music Hall song about the railways is probably still true today "Oh Mr.Porter, what can I do? I wanted to go to Birmingham but they took me on to Crewe"  Anyway on this trip I won't be finding out if they take you on to Crew when trying to get to Birmingham, as Birmingham is as far away from the coast in Britain as it is possible to be.  However I am expecting Clacton-On-Sea to be as advertised!

Ticket prices on British trains are also as varied as the number of train companies.  There are peak and off-peak prices; there are savers and super-savers; there are discounts for seniors and students, but you have to purchase a special pass to prove it before you can get the discount.  Indeed most misunderstandable of all, it is often possible to purchase two single tickets more cheaply than it is to purchase a return ticket.

What meeting up with Jim will now mean is that I will have to keep this early part of my trip on time and to schedule if I am to be at the station when his train arrives, or at least within 15 to 30 minutes of its timetable prediction.  No pressure and I hope no punctures.

Jim also mentioned that I should read Paul Theroux's, "The Kingdom By The Sea - A Journey Around the Coast of great Britain".  I had to admit that I had not read this book.  Although at Christmas I was given Bill Bryson's "The Road to Little Dribbling", which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The reviews of Theroux's book seem to suggest that he is very critical of Britain and the British and somer of the reviewers found it quite negative, so I will be interested to see how I get on with this.  Bill Bryson's book however was a very good read.  He is witty and insightful while also being endearing when he criticizes the British foibles and failings.  Theroux also travelled the opposite direction to what I am doing.  He went clockwise, whereas I am going anti-clockwise, which keeps the sea right next to the driver's side window.  He also travelled by rail and foot, whereas I am doing it all by car, with just a little bit of walking to any "interesting bits" that might be en-route.  Bill Bryson on the other hand has only done Britain in chunks, not as a continuous trip.  Perhaps he might like to join me on my trip and fill in the gaps.  Certainly his companionship and indeed his writing skills would be much appreciated and probably he would enjoy it.

The one thing both of these writers found was an island whose people are as varied as its scenery.  Indeed you only need to travel around 40 miles and you can find very different accents.  This goes back to times when travel was difficult and people mostly lived, married and raised familes in the area in which they were born and had few influences on the way in which they spoke.  Many people still do today live and die within only a few miles of where they are born, so local accents are maintained, but with the greater movement of the population and the strong influences of television (and especially American television) I would have thought that regional accents would have begun to disappear.   However I continue to be amazed that, even though it is a small island, strong regional accents continue and indeed are thriving.  An accent today is about belonging and being proud of home.  Today even the BBC, in search of inclusivity, has given up on "BBC English" and goes for diversity with all sorts of accents, sometimes the stronger the better, being heard widely.

Starting in Devon, where the accents are quite sing song, with somewhat of a raising of the voice at the end of the sentence as if asking a question, the first couple of day of my trip, along the south coast will see little change, only a flattening of the voice.  When I turn the corner to travel north the differences in accents will be very noticeable almost on a daily basis.  From the cockney style accents in Essex, to the country burl of East Anglia, to the dogmatic short sentences of Yorkshire, to the very different and distinctive accent  of the Geordies, eventually softening in Northumbria and becoming lilting on the Borders of Scotland and into Edinburgh.  I well remember though many years ago landing at Aberdeen Airport and needing to use the toilet.  As I faced the wall, on either side of me came two men who continued a conversation across me, while of course continuing to look at the wall. I couldn't understand one word of what they were saying, so assumed that these were the famed Norwegian oil workers.  Understand my surprise when I went outside to find that one of them was to become my taxi driver.  They were both Aberdonians.  I will be interested to hear on this trip if the Aberdonian accent is now more understandable.  I both hope it will be and at the same time hope that it has not changed at all.  The glory of Britain!  Travel from top to bottom in Britain is about 600 miles and you feel that you are in a very different island.  Travel 3000 miles in Canada and nothing changes as far as people are concerned.  The accents have only minor variations.  I am convinced though that the expression that marks Canadians out from Americans, that of "Out and about" actually derives from the Scottish "Oot and about"!

Anyway, back to Jim.  I am really looking forward to travelling with him.  I met Jim when I was in my late teens and living in Gloucestershire,  Indeed he was in a Gospel singing group and it was through him that I met my wife, also in this group.  He is a great guitarist (bassist) and music arranger.  He has produced 2 CDs for his wife.  He recently retired from working as a medical lecturer in (I think) anatomy and physiology in Exeter, Devon.  Newly moved to East Anglia about a year ago he is using my trip to get to know better the East Coast which is now his new home.  So, this will be a trip of discovery for both of us as this coast is the one I know least in Britain.  No doubt we can find some good road music to liven up the miles.

Only one week to go before I fly to the UK and only just over 2 weeks until I Go Coastal!