Chaos and Kindness

Tuesday was our day to leave Richmond and head north to Edinburgh. It became a day of experiencing “keep calm, carry on”. . We found a great taxi driver at the station in Richmond who wound his way through narrow streets and parts of highways to get us into London for Kings Cross station. Just as we got close, I checked the status of the train; it was cancelled! Damage to electrical lines from the extreme heat a few days earlier had all northbound trains from Kings Cross cancelled. I found there were trains from Euston station, and the cabbie rerouted us there in minutes. Will and I were sitting on a bench outside with our luggage trying to figure out the time of the next train when a kindly porter with a soft voice offered his help. Once he heard what we were looking for, he hustled us inside for a train due to leave soon. Platform was soon to be announced. The waiting crowd was huge in the main hall; as soon as the platform was posted, we blended in with the surge and started running down the cars to find one with seats.

The train kept filling, and when it started off, people were standing in the aisles and between cars. The conductor came on to say that the train would likely continue to fill up as we made more stops due to the cancelled line out of Kings Cross . He apologized for any inconvenience and said they’d do the best they could. The map below shows the line we were meant to be on, and the red shows how we went north. By Birmingham, we’d been on the train for several hours and it was unclear how long it might take to reach Edinburgh. What was remarkable in all of the chaos was how polite and helpful people were to each other. No one got nasty, and a little boy’s singsong with his father as he fell asleep was met with smiles.

After hours on the train with delays and more passengers coming on, we decided to take a detour to the Lakes District. I had wanted to take Will there at some point in the week to see some sights I love there and to stop at Nab Cottage where I was a Workawayer in 2019. I got us a room online. When we got off at Penrith, other passengers helped unearth our bags from the bottom of the luggage rack, and we caught a bus 10 min later to Keswick, a market town at the top of the Lakes District.

It was like being sprung from a crowded elevator. The walk to the lake in town shook out all the kinks and stiffness.

A few drinks and a good dinner later, we went back to see the sunset.

Knowing there was a planned rail strike for the following day, we spent Wed and Thur morning roaming around, meeting lovely people and walking trails by the lake and through town. There’s lots of good food in town: Cornish pasties, homemade fudge, and many variations on the “full English breakfast”. And SO many dogs. Every family and hiker seems to bring their dog(s) with them- and they’re all quite well behaved!

I really wanted to bring Will to see where I’d spent a month working and living 3 yrs ago, so we managed a brief visit Thurs morning before heading north to Scotland. Tim, the owner of the English language school at Nab Cottage, had lost his wife Liz suddenly a year ago to a heart attack. He’s running the language school for one last summer with his daughter Nikki; next year they will let go of the language curriculum and focus on mindfulness and yoga. I’m so glad we went. I was able to pay my condolences to both Tim and Nikki, and we saw the meditation room they’ve created with many photos of Liz and cards people have sent. Will got to tour parts of the house with me and met Wojciec, the cook I worked with.

Our bus took us back to Penrith for our train to Edinburgh- a short trip of just under 2 hrs, well crowded but only an hour late. The conductor again apologized, and passengers settled in as best they could.