PETER01

More nice photos there Matt. ^

It was my pleasure to show you around etc and we visited quite a few places given the time available ^

A cloudy day and a bit cool weatherwise but you were very lucky.......that there was no rain as is normal up here!

Looking forward to the last parts. ^

casanovawa

Great pictures and a very nice trip report... I have thought about doing a couple of my recent trips but don't think I have the patience to do anything this good...

But now reading this one after having recently finished your previous trip report with the stays in Hong Kong hotels and meeting your new niece.. And to say this DYKWIA on the flight from EDI was the most vile you had met must have been a pretty average experience considering that couple with the nanny you ran into from Hong Kong sounded like quite a nasty piece of work as well...

I guess it takes all sorts...

origin

A bit late for the party. SOrry I missed this all the first time.

Another really excellent trip report. I do really enjoy them. The pics of London are really great.

I would recommend the hawes Inn, in Queensferry. I normally visit on my trip north once a year.

Thanks for another excellent report.

twydeutschland

One of the best trip reports I've ever seen!

This makes me quite eager to visit London~~

Thanks for sharing!

CMK10

An always brilliant report by you sir, thanks for taking the time to write it!

Genius1

Looking forward to the final parts! (Yes, this is an unashamed hint...)

LH4116

Nice report with some fantastic pictures as always. Looking forward to the next parts!

matthandy

A Quick Trip To Manchester and Back

In order to keep my BA status, I’m required to fly at least four sectors on BA metal each membership year. This presents a bit of a challenge, as there are limited options to achieve this living in Sydney. So, I thought it best to fit in a some sectors whilst I was in the UK. A return to EDI was two, my flight to Hong Kong would count as one too, so I had one more to fit in. With the way my membership year is, I had to fit this in on the day of my flight to Hong Kong. This was perhaps a little risky, therefore I chose one of the shortest domestic routes available at the time, London Gatwick to Manchester. I also decided to take the train back, in First Class, as I’d not done this before.

I booked at 10am flight up to Manchester and then a 1pm train back. This would leave me with a two hour gap in Manchester, but I felt that I needed to margin of error, just in case something happened with the flight.

At about 7am I checked out of the hotel, left my bags with them and then made my way to London Victoria using the Tube. My plan was to get the GEx (Gatwick Express) and then spend an hour or so in the lounge before the flight.

Gatwick holds a lot of memories for me. It was the airport that I flew out of the most as a child, and if it was long haul, with BA. I can still remember the excitement as we checked in. The North Terminal has been through some changes since then and it must have been more than 10 years since I actually set foot in it, let alone fly from it.

I managed to catch the GEx at about 8am and within 30 minutes I was at the South Terminal. A short shuttle ride later and I had arrived at the North Terminal. It really has changed since I last saw it! The shuttle train that travels between the terminals is now in the open air and the entrance to the check in area has completely changed.

The Gatwick Express


The shuttle train


Entrance to the check in hall

I took a quick peak at BA’s new check in area, which now includes self-service check in machines and bag drop rather than the traditional desks. I’d actually used BA’s Android app to check in on my mobile, so I didn’t need to use the machines. I also had hand luggage only so there was no need to visit the bag drop either. I therefore headed straight for security. This was rather quick and soon I was out in the main departure hall.

This really hasn’t changed much since I last saw it. The signs have changed colour, but the structure of it largely remains the same. I was also pleased to see that the water features that spiralled down the gate level were still in place, but sadly, not switched on.

BA check in area


Main departure hall


Water features (not working)


Another view of the departure hall

I had a quick look around and then attempted to find the lounge. I had wrongly assumed its location, but after a few minutes I ended up in front of the lounge entrance. My mobile boarding pass was scanned and then I entered the lounge.

BA has two lounges at Gatwick, one for First Class, the other for Business. As a BA Silver card holder I was entitled to use the business class lounge.
The lounges at Gatwick are still in the older ‘Terraces’ concept, rather than the new ‘Galleries’ concept but are still very comfortable.

The business class lounge is an oblong shape with the main seating area near to the entrance of the lounge. Around the corner is the bar and self-serve food area. For a late Thursday morning I was quite surprised to find the lounge rather busy. This made it difficult to take photos, but I did manage to grab a couple.

Seating in the BA Business Class Lounge at Gatwick


Seating in the BA Business Class Lounge at Gatwick


The wine bar

I settled down and grabbed a coke and watched the world go by. It was still rather early at this point, before 9am, so I didn’t fancy anything to drink, even though it was available. The lounge didn’t get any busier or any quieter, which was annoying. I settled back and carried on watching ‘The Wire’ on my phone before I decided to leave the lounge and head for the gate.

BA has specific domestic gates and it took quite a while to walk to these, gate number 54 rings a bell but I can’t remember as I didn’t take any notes.

Anyway, I’d clearly arrived too early, but I was able to catch a quick snap of the 737-400 that would be taking me to Manchester.

Boarding started and BA and Oneworld status holders were invited to board first. I stood up and went to board and it seemed as though I was the only person that fell in that category, which I’m sure can’t be correct.

BA 737-400


The gate area

London Gatwick to Manchester – British Airways Domestic

Flight: BA2906
Carrier: British Airways (BA)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-400
Scheduled Departure Time: 10:00
Scheduled Duration: 1h 0m
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:00
Travel Class: Domestic
Seat: 6A (seat plan)

I made my way down the air bridge and was greeted at the door of the aircraft by a very friendly crew member. I took my seat, and noticed that the crew were dealing with a couple of passengers that seemed to have issues with their seating assignments. The crew were so lovely and professional but still managed to come across as warm, friendly and caring, especially the purser/CSD. She was wonderful and I’d practically already written my ‘Well Done’ before we took off.

Boarding


My seat 6A


Looking across the aircraft


Looking towards the front of the aircraft


View out of the window


BA 777-200 parked next door


Heathrow could do with more of these

The flight wasn’t particularly full and boarding completed rather shortly. We had a short delay before pushing back and we taxied out to the runway, past both the North and South terminals. We had to wait for a couple of 777’s to take off before finally lining up for the runway.

Take off was quick and we were soon above the horrible weather. The service started promptly and included a selection of soft drinks and a snack (I chose some rather delicious looking chocolate chip cookies). The purser was the crew member doing the service and she was fantastic. She was an absolute natural. It was quite some feat for her to have such an impact on me on such a short flight.

There wasn’t too much to see out of the window until we got a little closer to Manchester where the clouds parted briefly.

The landing was smooth and soon I was out into a rather dingy and old terminal building.

matthandy

Soaring through the clouds


Glass of water and some amazingly indulgent cookies


More clouds


English countryside


Dingy Terminal 3 at MAN

Part one of my ‘maintain status’ mission was complete. The next part was to get back to London on time. Finding the train station was not an easy feat by any stretch. There seems to be an endless stretch of walkways inside, outside, on different levels and all over the place to actually get from T3 to the railway station. It took a good 10-15 minutes, and I’m not a slow walker.

Eventually, I arrived at the station and was able to purchase a ticket. I went down to the platform and got on the nearest train that said ‘Airport’ on the screen above the platform. Well, I tried to. I was barked at by the attendant, telling me that this train was being cleaned and wouldn’t be leaving for an hour anyway. Ok, silly me for not being telepathic.

A short walk over to the next platform and I boarded another empty train. This was a local service which meant that it stopped bloody everywhere. Still, I was in no rush, given that I’d left a couple of hours between my flight from LGW arriving and my train back down to Euston.

Endless walkways


On the train to Piccadilly


A revamped Manchester Piccadilly


A revamped Manchester Piccadilly

Arriving into Manchester Piccadilly I took a quick look around, spotting the Marks and Spencer Food shop and then tried to out where the Virgin Trains First Class lounge was located. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this ‘lounge’ but, it seemed like a better place to wait for an hour and a half than a cold station concourse.

The door to the lounge was located right around and to the end of the mezzanine floor overlooking the concourse. The door was locked and you had to use a buzzer to get in. There was a friendly member of staff at the desk and she checked my ticket and then invited me into the lounge.

Well, it was tiny!! Essentially, the lounge was small glass box overlooking the concourse. There were toilets and free soft drinks. There might have been some beer, but I can’t really remember. There were a few snacks such as crisps, but nothing substantial. The lounge attendant offered to make me a cup of tea or coffee which was nice, but since I drink neither, I politely declined.

Virgin Trains First Class Lounge at Manchester Piccadilly


Virgin Trains First Class Lounge at Manchester Piccadilly

I really needed something more substantial to eat than a packet of crisps so I told the attendant that I was going out to get a sandwhich from M&S and asked if it would be a problem to bring it into the lounge, which it wasn’t. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to leave my bag in the lounge whilst I did this, but that was fair enough.

A quick trip over to M&S and I had some of my favourite lunch items in hand: a smoked ham and cheddar cheese sandwich (look Australia, proper ham, with no slime in sight!), a packet of chive and sour cream crisps and a mini lemon cheesecake to finish. Yum, yum. Does anyone do sandwiches better than M&S?

I sat for the next hour or so, watching people come and go down below before it was then time to board my train back to London. As I said earlier, I’d never travelled First Class on a train before, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

I made my way down to the platform and boarded one of the many First Class carriages on this train before finding my assigned seat. It was a single seat, at the end of the carriage, next to the luggage rack. I decided that I didn’t really like this seat, so looking around to see what seats were reserved, I managed to find a table with four seats that was spare all the way to London. I took that instead.

Boarding the train


The first class carriage

The seats in the carriage were laid out in a 2-1 formation, as opposed to 2-2 in the standard class carriages. On the very large and sturdy table in front of me was a place setting with a tea cup and saucer and water glass. This at least gave me an indication of what to expect, service wise. There was a small lamp attached to the table as well as a plug socket for powering laptops, phones etc.

On time, we headed out from Manchester and the conductor made several announcements explaining the stops that we’d be making at when. It seems like the full first class service only commences after Macclesfield (if I remember correctly) but that there would be a drinks run prior to that. Run was right.

When it was time to do a drinks run the crew serving the first class cabin rushed through almost chucking the drinks at people. The service was gruff. That’s probably the best way that I could describe it. The word ‘Sir’ was used, but in a very abrupt manner. It wasn’t that the guys were rude, just quick and direct, it was a smash and grab job. Not what I was expecting!

When we left Macclesfield the crew came around again to offer the lunch service. This basically consisted of packaged sandwiches and some crisps. I didn’t expect a full blown meal, but I had expected more than a few complimentary snacks from the trolley. Still, for £37, could I really complain? No.

First Class


My table


Lunch

We pulled into Euston on time and I disembarked and headed straight for the tube. One quick journey later and I was back at the hotel, collecting my bags. I’d arranged another taxi to take me to Paddington as there’s no way that I would have managed it on the tube. It would have been physically impossible.

Up Next

My return flight back to Australia, BA Club World to Hong Kong (with an absolutely fantastic crew) and then the Qantas A380 back to Sydney.

matthandy

First of all, apologies to everyone who has been waiting for an update to my report. Work has been totally crazy and to be honest, the thought of sitting down in front of my PC to put this together didn't fair well against trying to relax and calm down after work. Anyway, I have now posted the second to last part. Thank you to everyone that has left kind comments.

Thanks SFO777! Yes, a very sturdy tripod. I've had it for about 7 tears now and it's been all over the world with me.

No worries Flyersj18, it was great to meet you too, and thanks for all of your help.

Oops!! 1000 apologies my humble moderator. You are correct. I checked my texts.

Thanks missdimeaner, we collared the tour guide to take the photo for us.

Excellent! Glad that I could make her happy. She did seem to rather enjoy wandering about the Royal Yacht.

Hope that you had a good Christmas GRALISTAIR.

It was great to see you again and thank you so much for organising such a fantastic day. I really enjoyed myself.

You are right casanovawa, this guy was actually worse, and he impacted me more directly. I got the impression that the family would at least follow the safety rules. He really didn't care.

Glad that you are enjoying the report origin!

Thanks for your great comments twydeutschland! Do visit London, but perhaps wait for it to warm up a bit!

Thanks CMK10.

Here's the first part! Only one more to go....

Thanks LH4116, not much left to go now.

scanman24

Another great instalment matthandy! Is it just me or in the photo entitled 'more clouds' is there an aircraft flying where the upper band of cloud meets the blue sky? (about 3/4 up)

Genius1

Nice update! The LGW lounges are a strange combination of Terraces and Galleries, or 'Telleries' as my friend calls them They were refurbished a year or so ago, and lots of the Terraces elements removed.

Virgin Trains First Class is far better than that offered by my regular route operator First Great Western - indeed, Virgin at least offer full hot meals at breakfast and dinner. FGW only offer snacks - not even sandwiches! The Manchester lounge looks quite poky, but better than nothing. I wish FGW had included a first class lounge at Reading during the recent reconfiguration of the station, but no such luck.

CMK10

I flew a BA 737-400 from MAN-LGW in 2007. Looks like the services, the aircraft AND Gatwick haven't changed a bit since then

jackrussellterrier

really have enjoyed reading this report and looking forward to the final segment - even if the final instalment takes longer than Lord of the Rings part 3 to be aired

Its great to see the glamour part in your report but probably even more interesting the Isle of Wight trip, trip to London and staying in a travelodge and of course your domestic run both in the air and on the tracks. Brilliant stuff and thanks for writing it all up!

BA5E

Well, what can i say, have just read the report from when you got to london for your short stay there, and then right up to now, a fantastic TR and was very interested in the trip to EDI and you meeting up with more FTers, you certainly had a great day with good weather, as always your photos are amazing there is never a bad one. I now just look forward to reading the final part LHR - SYD via HKG. ^