Here we are at Paddington Station to take the 9:30 GWR train to Bristol. Unusually for us, we are starting the trip on a weekday instead of the weekend.

We arrived here bright and early and had breakfast at the Costa Coffee shop at the top of the escalators.

Paddington is a big, rough old railway station that still looks much as it did in the age of steam except for the lack of smoke and soot. Arriving from Praed Street, you have to run the gauntlet of smokers banned from the station premises.

It’s a dull cloudy day with intermittent showers – not ideal for a trip but the one thing you cannot plan is the weather, especially in Britain.

We have boarded the train and had our tickets inspected. All we can do now is sit tight and wait for our arrival at Bristol Temple Meads.