{"id":22382,"date":"2025-03-31T20:03:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T20:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22382"},"modified":"2025-04-13T23:20:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T23:20:31","slug":"a-mid-may-recon-then-on-to-canterbury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=22382","title":{"rendered":"A mid-May “Recon,” then on to Canterbury!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Liverpool’s Lime Street station<\/a> – where Brian Epstein “brought back a contract<\/em>” 63 years ago…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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March 31, 2025 – “Think positive thoughts<\/a>, think positive thoughts<\/a><\/em><\/strong>…” Which I will now try to do, by focusing on a pleasant, upcoming overseas trip – instead of the current sordid and polarized state of American politics. As noted in the last post, this coming August I’ll be doing another Camino<\/em> – Hiking the Canterbury Trail<\/strong><\/em><\/a> in England. (And once again, I define a Camino hike<\/em> as one where at the end of each day you look forward to a warm bed, hot shower and a cold beer.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before that I’ll do a little recon<\/a>, going over for two weeks this coming mid-May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And by the way, before you can get into Great Britain<\/a> you have to get an “ETA,” an electronic travel authorisation<\/a>. (I applied for and got mine last December.) And just to be safe I also got a set of buttons indicating who I didn’t <\/strong><\/em>vote for. (“Let the reader understand<\/a>.”) I’ll let you know how that turns out, but I’m thinking maybe I’ll get some free drinks along the way?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there’s the question: “Why would you spend good money to visit England twice<\/strong><\/em>, same year, in the space of four months?” For one thing, ever since 1965 – when I first heard Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, that “Pacemaker” song – I wanted to do just that: Take the ferry across the River Mersey<\/a> in Liverpool. This year I wanted to do that by flying over early in August, then taking the train from London to Liverpool. But it turned out that plan just wasn’t feasible, joined as it would be with trying to hike the Canterbury Trail on the same trip. But as it also turned out, a dear friend – and future travel-but-not-hiking companion – has a friend who lives in Stratford-on-Avon<\/a>. And Stratford – as it thirdly<\/em> turns out – is halfway between London and Liverpool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But first, some preliminary details. First, the plan: Fly to London – another red-eye<\/a> from Atlanta – and arrive next morning, all jet-lagged. Then get a modest place for that night, and next day take the train from London to Liverpool’s Lime Street Station. (The same one Brian Epstein<\/a> repeatedly<\/strong><\/em> left from and came back to in 1962, trying to get a record deal for the Beatles. “Time and again he boarded the London train from Lime Street station… And time and again he would return with bad news for the band. One record label after another turned the group down.”) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, the point is that through a confluence of circumstance – ones I couldn’t foresee when I made my plane reservations for August – I am now able to make this mid-May trip to England. In turn that means I can both do a little recon<\/a> for the Canterbury hike, while also being able to cross off a number of other Bucket list<\/a> items that have been hanging fire<\/a> lo these many years. (Decades in fact.) So this post will look ahead to that mid-May trip: 1) as a “preview of coming attractions,*” 2) as a point of reference for when I get over there, and 3) for future reference, for when I get home and can compare how dreams and plans matched up with reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, aside from visiting London – for a second time; I went over in 1979 – on this trip in May I hope to: 1) take that ferry across the River Mersey, 2) come through Lime Street Station, with its historic connection to Brian Epstein and the Beatles, 3) see other Beatles-connected sites in Liverpool, 4) visit Stratford-on-Avon, with its historic connection to William Shakespeare, 5) make a day trip  to Winchester (via BritRail<\/a>), where my hiking companions and I will start out in August, and 6) make a similar day trip to Canterbury, where we’ll end our hike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to Lime Street Station. We’ll arrive there – after three hours* on the train – just like Brian Epstein returning from London in 1962, with the great news that his then-unknown group (the Beatles) finally <\/strong><\/em>had a record contract. (Though perhaps not coming in as “majestically” as Paul McCartney once put it.) We’ll only have one night in Liverpool, but that’s okay because the next day we only have to travel half-way back to London, to arrive at Stratford-on-Avon. (Or maybe the Leamington Spa station<\/a>, a 24-minute car ride from Stratford.) Meaning that while we’ll only have that one night in Liverpool, most of the things I want to see there are clustered around the same area. (Between Lime Street station and the River Mersey.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the dock at Pier Head (Mersey Ferries | Liverpool<\/a>) is a mere 20-minute walk from Lime Street Station<\/a>, and only two minutes further from the hotel I booked for our one-night stay. There’s a Beatles statue in the area, along with the British Music Experience museum, the Liverpool Beatles Museum and The Cavern Club<\/a> itself. (Where “it all started.”) So we’ll have plenty to do in Liverpool before heading southeast to Stratford. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in Stratford? There are three Royal Shakespeare<\/a> theatres, along with Shakespeare’s Birthplace<\/a>, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage<\/a>, and even a Shakespeare\u2019s Distillery<\/a>, “an artisan gin and rum distillery certified as a carbon-neutral business.” And maybe some practice hikes around the area, drinking in the ambience<\/a> of those long-ago halcyon days<\/a>. (Or so they seem to us.) Possibly followed by a G&T<\/a> at that Shakespeare Distillery<\/a>. And on Sunday, a service at Shakespeare’s Church – Holy Trinity, Stratford<\/a>. There I’ll pray for continued safe travel, before getting ready to hop on the train back to London for seven or eight days. Once back in London we’ll use the remaining days on those BritRail<\/a> passes for day-trips including but not limited to Winchester and Canterbury. (That’ll be the pre-August, pre-hike “on to Canterbury!”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, once the BritRail<\/a> passed run out we’ll see if there’s anything else to do in London…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upper image is courtesy of Liverpool Lime Street railway station – Wikipedia<\/a>. The caption: “LIME STREET STATION LIVERPOOL JULY 2013.” The article included the photo below left, “Inward view of Liverpool Lime Street Station in 1959.” (Closer to the time Brian Epstein frequented the place.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Re, positive thoughts. The full link is to How to Think Positively Every Day: Advice<\/a> (Wikihow). See also 11 Ways to Boost Positive Thinking<\/a>, 5 Tips to Train Yourself to Think Positively – Walden University<\/a>, and others, by Googling “think positive thoughts.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Recon.” The link is to Reconnaissance – Wikipedia<\/a>: “In military jargon, reconnaissance is abbreviated to recce (in British, Canadian, Australian English) and to recon (in American English), both derived from the root word reconnoitre \/ reconnoitering.” I’m familiar with the term because I came of draft-age in the late 1960’s (and thought I might end up involved in such things). More precisely, familiar with the term “LURPs,” long-range reconnaissance patrols in Vietnam. (A LRRP was conducted by a “small, well-armed reconnaissance<\/a> team that patrols<\/a> deep into enemy-held territory.”) For more information see Long-range reconnaissance patrol – Wikipedia<\/a> and Long Range Patrol in Vietnam War| K75 Rangers<\/a>:<\/em> “The long-range reconnaissance patrols (LRRPs) of the Vietnam War operated in a silent netherworld of dark green shadows where error could mean death and where the extraordinary was commonplace.”<\/em> (All of which means some things from your “yoot” are hard to forget. And by the way, “Lurps” is not a misspelling. That’s how they pronounced it back in the day…)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: \u201cPreview.\u201d See the old-time (1960\u2019s) Prevues Of Coming Attractions (1960s) Cinema Promo Trailer<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Stratford-upon<\/strong>-Avon<\/a>. I usually shorten that to “on<\/strong> Avon” on the theory that in this day and age the average reader is overwhelmed with data and so of necessity has the attention span of a gerbil. Thus fewer syllables, fewer words, shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs, etc.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Hanging fire.” See Wiktionary, the free dictionary<\/a>, that aside from figuratively meaning to “wait, or hold back,” it literally referred to the case “when a gun<\/a> does not immediately<\/a> fire<\/a> when the trigger<\/a> is pulled<\/a>, but may fire shortly after.” (Which I didn’t know. See also “misfire.”)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Brian Epstein trying to get a record deal, see Lecture 5 in the Great Course, England, the 1960s, and the Triumph of the Beatles<\/a>. (“Beatles for Sale: Brian Epstein’s Genius.”) Professor Michael Shelden opened by quoting Paul McCartney during a taped interview in 2007. Enduring a number of technical glitches Sir Paul said serenely, “We’ll get it right. We’ll move majestically to the end like the steam train bringing Mr. Epstein into Lime Street Station to tell us we had a record deal.” Shelden added that if the Beatles were to conquer the world “they knew the journey would begin at Lime Street Station with the long trip to London.” And that Epstein repeatedly took that long train ride until, after “many frustrating setbacks,” he finally came back with a deal. (As for that deal, it was officially signed in June 1962. See George Martin offers The Beatles a recording contract<\/a>, though it seems the band’s very first record contract came a year earlier, “in Hamburg, Germany, where the band honed its craft playing gigs in the city\u2019s boisterous nightclub district.”<\/em>) And here’s the full “time and again” quote:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time and again he boarded the London train from Lime Street station and kept pitching the Beatles as the next big thing in music. And time and again he would return with bad news for the band. One record label after another turned the group down.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Re: The Mersey. The link is to Ferry Cross the Mersey – Wikipedia<\/a>, about the Gerry and the Pacemakers<\/a> song “released in late 1964 in the UK<\/a> and in 1965 in the United States.” Also, “The Mersey Ferry<\/a> runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead<\/a> and Seacombe<\/a> on the Wirral Peninsula<\/a>.”<\/em> See also FER Gerry Marsden Ferry Terminal – Seacombe Ferry Terminal<\/a>. And there was also a Ferry Cross the Mersey (film)<\/a>, which I didn’t know until working on this post.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About that “three hour” train ride from London to Liverpool. I’ve seen Google Map references that say many such trips can take seven hours, but I’ve been assured ours won’t take that long.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: Stratford. See e.g. The 18 best things to do in Stratford-upon-Avon – Time Out<\/a>. See also Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon – Wikipedia<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re: “Anything else to do in London.” That was either sarcasm<\/a>, irony<\/a> or maybe hyperbole<\/a>? I sometimes get those three mixed up. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lower image is courtesy of Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon – Wikipedia<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*   *   *   * *   *   *   * March 31, 2025 – “Think positive thoughts, think positive thoughts…” Which I will now try to do, by focusing on a pleasant, upcoming overseas trip – instead of the current sordid and polarized state of American politics. As noted in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22382"}],"version-history":[{"count":203,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22751,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382\/revisions\/22751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}