Last Thursday DH and I wanted to travel from South Devon to Swansea, South Wales for a family funeral. I didn't consider that journey ESSENTIAL but obviously we did want to get there if we could.
South Devon NEVER gets serious snow so it was a shock on Wednesday when we actually experienced it! The decision was made - no way would we travel by road and if the trains were off we wouldn't go.
On Thursday we successfully 'trained' all the way seemingly ahead of the snow and, in spite of occasional waits for other trains (running late) to pass through, we arrived in Swansea just 6 minutes late.
Swansea itself wasn't really affected and the funeral on Friday went well - mind you it was bitter in the cemetery!
On Saturday we were strongly advised by station staff not to travel as we would be able to get as far as Bristol Parkway but they couldn't guarantee trains would then be able to run south. Result - we had an extra night in a warm and cosy hotel. OK it was a bit inconvenient not getting home but we used common sense.
Yesterday we travelled home safely with a couple of bus replacements.
However, whilst watching news reports we were amazed at the number of people complaining of no food etc. when they were stuck on trains. I ask - were their journeys absolutely essential?
Don't get me wrong - being stuck on a train in the middle of nowhere isn't funny but when we travelled we took a flask, sandwiches, choc bars, biscuits and drink with us and bought more for our return journey.
We would like to congratulate GWR for their good advice (which we took!) and for all their efforts. It wasn't their fault the weather was so bad - they kept us as well informed as they could and I don't know what else they could have done!
The King is to resume some duties.
