The main reason for moving to Bletchley late October 1965 was that housing was cheaper than in London and, working in Harrow, it was easy to commute from Bletchley railway station to Harrow and Wealdstone and either get the bus or walk from the station. The fare in those days was approximately £11 per month return. You could also get to London on Thursday’s and Friday’s cheap evening return) for about 7/6d (prior decimalisation) enabling us to visit family, go shopping, go to the theatre or cinema, or meet friends, etc. With family living in Harrow and London it was good to be able to keep in touch on a regular basis.

Coming back I used to try and catch the (around) 5.30pm train from H&W. It wasn’t too bad a service considering the line was in process of electrification. There was one Christmas Eve though when we got stuck outside Bletchley for about two hours (not sure what the reason was but I seem to remember that something had frozen up – points maybe!). After about 15 minutes of fidgeting and coughing, some bright spark (no doubt becoming very bored with the situation!) decided to liven things up, so opened their shopping bag and passed around the mince pies etc. That broke the ice a bit (in the carriage we were in anyway! – separate carriages in those days with a walkway outside), and the two hours passed by with a bit of merriment added to it. Everyone wished each other a “very merry Christmas” when we finally got to our destination. I remember it being very cold (1965). My first Christmas in Milton Keynes.

And then a more recent railway journey experience...

In July 2004 a day out in London was planned between myself and three lasses I was at school with in the 1950's, with me starting the journey on the 09.30am train from Bletchley, Alice getting on it at Hemel Hempstead, Jean getting on it at Harrow & Wealdstone and the other Jean meeting us at Waterloo. The ticket office at Bletchley was open and not too busy, so that was no problem. I got to the station and on the right platform in good time and waited, listening for the train announcements and keeping an eye on the train arrival panel which said my train was running approximately 4 minutes late (not too bad in 2004, I suppose!). But suddenly it was announced that the 09.30am train to London, stopping at....etc.etc. had been cancelled due to mechanical problems. Help!, there goes our schedule. Thank goodness for mobile phones! So I 'phoned Alice at H.H. waiting for the train I should have been on and told her I would be on the next one (10 minutes later) fortunately stopping at H.H. and H&W) and would she please 'phone Jean (I didn't have Jean's number...!) waiting at H&W. So we did have that magic day in London catching up with each other. What would we have done without our mobile 'phones, it could have been a disaster. And thank goodness the ticket office was open - those dreaded fare machines, who dreamt them up?... (go to write words uk archive 1387 asp rr 1 and "Harrowing Wealdstone by Lisa" for a frantic account). And, how did I recognise my school friends who I hadn't seen in about 40 years, well, we hadn't changed a bit.....!