Trains – Dexter

Ludlow here we come

We were hurried along last Saturday and found ourselves being walked across the field in front of the house. This was unusual as we had already been for a walk and we were looking forward to a good snooze. All this country air seems to have the desired effect on us. In any case it was clear that there was a deadline to meet so we weren’t allowed to loiter and snack on the gifts that the sheep had left us. Across the road, and then right turn into the train station. Aha, an adventure! Now we’re talking.

Onto the train when it arrived and we were then speeding along, we knew not where. The countryside went past the window as Lenny and I tried to hoover up the various specks of food that people had kindly dropped on the train floor. We also tried to make friends with people on the train but found ourselves being told to behave. As the train arrived at the next stop we got off and found ourselves in Ludlow. Off we trotted to see what we could find, pulling our parents behind us. Ludlow was founded around 1066-1085 somewhere around the Norman Conquest. Its castle sits high upon the hill overlooking the river Teme and is a very impressive, if somewhat ruinous, structure.

Sometime after the castle was built the town was fortified around 1233 due to the squabbles between various English kings and Welsh Princes. There remain over 500 listed buildings in the town which are very impressive.

We went through the streets, past the market, around the castle, down to the riverside walk, back up into the town, around the market square and then back toward the station for our return trip. It was very busy as the Saturday market was in full swing and there were plenty of people enjoying the early Spring sunshine. On our way back, we had to make a detour to the Ludlow Brewery & Tap Room. This is a very dog friendly place in which we also saw another beagle enjoying a relaxing time.

After a while we had to make our train home and strolled to the station for the journey home.

Once more Lenny and I tried to make friends with the other passengers, whilst trying to eat all the tasty morsels dropped onto the floor. We travelled past Stokesay Castle which was built in the 1280’s by very rich wool merchants. It’s looked after now by English Heritage. Stokesay appears in the Domesday Book so it is a very old settlement.

We will visit Stokesay Castle one day soon, although we aren’t allowed inside the building.

Off the train and hurried back across the field, we were deposited into our beds for a snooze after a successful trip. We are going to Ludlow again, more than likely on a quieter day than Saturday market. It seems very dog friendly and we want to get the chance of checking out more places.

An unexpected journey

Off we go for our walk this morning, little knowing what the day held. Down through the town and back through the little wooded area. I have been on shorter walks recently due to the allegation that I may have overdone my longer walk last Sunday and injured my wrist. What is an eleven year old beagle harrier supposed to do? Walk nicely? Anyway we returned home to have some breakfast and then wandered about whilst we allowed our parents to have some food too.

Suddenly we were re-harnessed, found ourselves strolled up and down a local road and then back to the car. This was different and I was extremely surprised to see Lenny jump straight into his travel crate. Hmm, what did he know that I didn’t? Off we went up the road, turn right, under the big road, left, right and a few more turns we arrived at a multi storey car park. Wow, if this was our final destination, it was a bit boring. Once our parents had worked out how to work the parking meter we found ourselves heading toward another ticket machine. Two tickets were delivered and we pulled our parents onto the train station. As the train pulled in, we tried to get on before the doors opened. We got reminded that this was criminally stupid and we should calm down. There were quite a few people on the train but we weren’t allowed to say hello. Ugh good grief, parents can be really boring sometimes. We whizzed along toward our destination and, all the while, the train filled with more people for us to try and befriend.

Quick sharp you two, we are here, was the call that Lenny and I got. As we exited the train we breathed in and then coughed as we tasted the stale air. London! We are in London. As neither Lenny or I can read we had to rely on the station announcer telling everyone this is London Bridge. Excellent, let the shenanigans commence. As we descended from the platform into the street the number of people increased dramatically. Our parents looked at one another with dread and fear etched on their faces. Anyway Lenny and I had other ideas so we quickly pulled them in the direction of London Bridge itself.

As we crossed we laughed and bumped into one another.

Turn right at the top and then stroll down Eastcheap and into Great Tower Street.

Past the Tower of London and we strolled quickly across Tower Bridge before finally turning right again into Tooley Street and back to the station.

All too soon we found ourselves on the return train back home and our adventure was nearly over.

For some reason we slept all the way home in the car and crashed out on our sofas after we had eaten our food. Sometimes we have good surprises from our parents.

Hello, I’m pleased to meet you

So there I was, two years ago today, waking up to what I thought was a normal day with the normal walks, small food portions, usual lack of tickles and generally being told to lay down and behave myself. Oh no, how wrong could I possibly be.

I found I was being hurried along through my walk, I then had my attendants watching me eat breakfast and finally found myself quickly returned to my harness. Off up the hill to the station and onto the train. We whizzed past fields, houses, sports stadiums and then into the tunnel before arriving at our first destination station. I stepped off the train and tried to breathe in the stale London air. Being moved along the platform at great pace, I wondered what was happening. It only got more intriguing when we left the station and I was allowed to walk through Regents Park so I could chase squirrels. At least that is what I thought I was doing there, but my parents had other ideas. Leaving the park and crossing the very busy road we descended into the bowels of the London Underground whereupon I was told in no uncertain terms to “Behave”. It was only appropriate for me to arooo and make everyone on the tube carriage smile. This was behaving, right?

We ascended to street level somewhere called Aldgate and I was swiftly marched across another wide road. I was enjoying this but I had no idea what exactly was happening. We stopped at a small cafe near the Tower of London and this unfamiliar pair of hands suddenly descended upon my ears. As I looked up I saw a face full of love and a pair of hands that just couldn’t leave my ears alone. Hola tia Carolina, como estas? I gently woofed at this new person who had come all the way to London, via Europe and most of the rest of the UK, from Argentina. I couldn’t believe my luck. I was so happy that I immediately grabbed the nearest piece of fried chicken laying on the pavement nearby and started to chew the bone. It took much persuasion and plenty of fingers (dads) in my teeth to make me drop this tasty morsel.

Once I had been denied a tasty snack it was decided that I was to show auntie Carolina around London. We walked around the Tower of London, across Tower Bridge, underneath London Bridge, past Sir Francis Drake’s ship, to Shakespeares Globe, across the Millennium Bridge, around St Pauls and thence back onto the tube to Buckingham Palace via St James Park.

The humans had lunch there and I even managed to do some expert squirrel bothering, much to my mums distress as I pulled and jerked on my lead. The squirrel was being fed by a nice lady and it ran away rather quickly when it saw me trying to get to it so I could dental cuddle it.

It was mid afternoon that I started to tire and a decision was taken on my behalf that I should be returned home where I could rest my weary bones. So I sadly said my “adios” to auntie Carolina and started the long process of guiding my parents back through the hullabaloo of London to the train station and eventually home.

I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I hope she can come back soon.