I know I nominally ended the story on the train home (see previous post) but…

Don’t you find that the return journey always feels longer than the outward journey? As the miles scrolled past the windows I found myself becoming impatient and started following our progress on the map on my phone.

As we reached the outer boroughs of London I began to feel excited.

London Bridge Station lies south of the river but it’s already London and nearly home.

On the move again, we see Southwark Cathedral sail past. We approach the Thames…

Crossing the Thames is like breasting the tape at the end of a marathon. We stopped at Blackfriars Station and started rolling again. That is when I took the above photo of the Thames glinting beyond the glass windows.

We reached St Pancras at last and left the train to pursue its fortunes further north. Tigger proposed stopping for coffee and why not? A restful pause for refreshment before the final few steps to home.

We went to the stop for the 214 and a bus came with a minute or so.

Time now to rest and reflect on the day’s outing in comfortable familiar surroundings.

Yes, now that is the end of the story!

Today’s jaunt is to the south coast city of Brighton, known in Regency times as “London by the sea” because the London “society” crowd would descend here, perhaps for the sea bathing, but more likely to bask in the reflected glory of the Prince Regent. That gives some idea of it popularity then, a popularity which it has never lost. It is also the city (just a town in those days) where I spent my childhood.

We made an early start, reaching St Pancras Station at 7:50. We boarded a train within just a few minutes.

The train stops briefly at Blackfriars Station, “the station on a bridge”.

Here we are, arriving at Brighton’s familiar railway station.

I love these streets of brightly painted houses and day-dream of living here.

This is the famous Gardner Street, lined with unusual shops selling exotic and “alternative” merchandise.

Among them is Vegetarian Shoes where I buy my footwear either by visiting or online.

We stopped for refreshments at a cafe opposite the shoe shop. (Photo by Tigger)

Pleasant odours are wafting across to us from the spice shop which has opened its door.

The Duke Cinema’s legs.

This is Kensington Gardens which is even more interesting than Gardner Street in some ways, especially as it is pedestrian-only.

We went into the gardens of the beautiful Royal Pavilion. It’s partly obscured by scaffolding at the moment.

We spread a blanket and lay on the grass as they have removed all the benches.

This is the North Gate which conforms to the oriental style of the whole.

We broke for lunch at s fast pasta cafe called Grazie Mille (yes, really). (Photo by Tigger)

Lunch! (Photo by Tigger)

The street temperature is currently 31°C. Slow walking in the shade indicated!

We plucked up courage to walk through hot streets to the seafront. The pier is very long and therefore hard to capture in a single frame. I therefore took a panorama shot of it.

This is a view of the beach from the pier, looking east. It is quite busy but that’s only to be expected in this weather.

We found seats in the shade and settled there.

The gulls were very active and this one kept returning to his observation post on the lamps, looking for dropped food, no doubt.

Here is another view of the beach, looking west this time.

We decided to leave early in the hope of avoiding the crowds that would be likely later on.

This is my last view of the pier, taken through the gates at the exit.

When I lived in Brighton I came onto the pier often, both this one – then called the Palace Pier – and West Pier, of which only parts of its metal supports, fire blackened, still remain.

The pier has of course changed with the times but still provides entertainment of various kinds for locals and visitors alike.

We boarded the 15:25 Bedford train which stops at our station, St Pancras. (Photo by Tigger)

To all intents and purposes the story ends there for today. As usual, I enjoyed our day out and will enjoy returning home again!

(Post written “on the hoof”: excuse the rough edges!)