A thought for AFCB fans from Manchester

A

Audenshaw Cherry

UTC Legend
It took my son and I four hours by train (usually it’s two and a half hours) to get to the game yesterday, which meant we missed the first 15 minutes of the match. (We arrived just as Cookie hit the bar with a header)

I stayed over in London as I am going to the NFL game this evening.

My son headed home to Manchester on the train, which took SEVEN hours to reach its destination due to flooding.

He got home at 12.45 am.

:utc:
 
Audenshaw Cherry said:
It took my son and I four hours by train (usually it’s two and a half hours) to get to the game yesterday, which meant we missed the first 15 minutes of the match. (We arrived just as Cookie hit the bar with a header)

I stayed over in London as I am going to the NFL game this evening.

My son headed home to Manchester on the train, which took SEVEN hours to reach its destination due to flooding.

He got home at 12.45 am.

:utc:
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Think yourrself lucky. We got as far as Ashley Heath and the front brakes on the car jammed. So rather than watching Afcb I spent the afternoon in the pissing rain trying to fix it.
 
It took us 4 hours to drive from Bournemouth we missed the first 20 minutes they closed both the lanes onto the m25 from the m3 but only informed the motorists after queuing for 45 minutes. I think my trips to Watford may be over, the only one I’ve missed since we‘ve been in the Premier League is when we won 4-0!
 
afcblady said:
It took us 4 hours to drive from Bournemouth we missed the first 20 minutes they closed both the lanes onto the m25 from the m3 but only informed the motorists after queuing for 45 minutes. I think my trips to Watford may be over, the only one I’ve missed since we‘ve been in the Premier League is when we won 4-0!
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That M3/M25 thing was crazy. The intelligent (?) motorway signs said M25 South entry closed !! Well firstly to me the M25 goes East or West from there. Secondly when you actually got there it appeared as if entry was closed to all traffic and it pushed the inside 2 lanes out as if to carry on up the M3 to London - then just after pushing the vehicles out a lane reappeared that gave entry to the westbound M25 towards Heathrow (and Watford).
Must admit I hedged my bets and stayed in the outside lanes till I could see what was happening then got across to do the exit. Absolute shambles of traffic management. How much did that bit of "SMART" motorway cost.
 
Thanks to Rob Trent calling "Debbie the Driver" to inform her of the snarl up, she was able to avoid it and we arrived at Vicarage road about 1-30. Thankfully the stewards had all attended the "common sense" seminar and moved the barrier to let her complete the final 10 yards of the journey. Unlike last year when we had a 20 minutes crawl around the back streets to complete the voyage because they couldn't move the barriers because the "road's closed" : )

It was also good to see the "procession" as we were disembarking from the Unlimited Magic Minibus. Headed by Sir Robert of Trent, travelling at a regal 4 m.p.h. down the centre of the road, in his powered chair. Dave, his trusty manservant, walking a dutiful 10 yards behind. Followed by the Watford team bus, a further 10 yards back. : )
 
redharry said:
That M3/M25 thing was crazy. The intelligent (?) motorway signs said M25 South entry closed !! Well firstly to me the M25 goes East or West from there. Secondly when you actually got there it appeared as if entry was closed to all traffic and it pushed the inside 2 lanes out as if to carry on up the M3 to London - then just after pushing the vehicles out a lane reappeared that gave entry to the westbound M25 towards Heathrow (and Watford).
Must admit I hedged my bets and stayed in the outside lanes till I could see what was happening then got across to do the exit. Absolute shambles of traffic management. How much did that bit of "SMART" motorway cost.
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Have to say, did very similar thing,started to queue then realised we were a couple of miles from junction so outside lane straight through. ..... but junction has always been north or south as far as I been travelling on it
 
Count yourself lucky that a lot of you live in/near bournemouth - for most exiles every game is like an away match!
 
Watford should be one of our more straightforward away days for travel. Yet always seems stressful. Have driven before and had experiences like above. So train, which i like , yesterday. Engineering works meant SWR decided to take us on a scenic tour of Surrey. You then have the delight of a crowded SR train waddling around west london at about 20mph before trundling north to watford. Then a hike to the ground which on return was a cold wet one. Traveling in this country with our overcrowded and dreadful infrastructure is rarely a pleasant experience.
 
Really hard work on the trains yesterday. As the poster above said, Woking to Clapham was the scenic route, with a much reduced service. Finally arrived at Clapham to find the 11-32 overground cancelled.

On the return, we got on a late arriving train at Clapham at about 10pm which was only 5 carriages and rammed. Decided to get off again at Woking which took about an hour to get to (via the scenic route). Had a few beers in Woking, then got on the next late train about 1am ish, the boards were saying it was coming into platform 4, but someone changed it to 5 with no information saying so. Very busy train again, but odd seats dotted around. Terminated at Eastleigh where we were greeted with a double deck bus which went to Southampton Central first then trundled back to Bournemouth.
 
tedisking said:
I live 50 miles from Bournemouth.......am I an exile ?
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Hey Rob, yes, if you are feeling left out!

Every home game is a 4 1/2 to five hour round trip. I know others do longer than this. At least I will enjoy being home by 10.15 after the December game at palace. Watford away always seems a pain even for me though!
 
Why don't you find a way of letting supporters know of the troubles trying to travel to our games? The club could have a updated travel page for match days on their web-site or maybe on here.
 
siggyboy said:
Watford should be one of our more straightforward away days for travel. Yet always seems stressful. Have driven before and had experiences like above. So train, which i like , yesterday. Engineering works meant SWR decided to take us on a scenic tour of Surrey. You then have the delight of a crowded SR train waddling around west london at about 20mph before trundling north to watford. Then a hike to the ground which on return was a cold wet one. Traveling in this country with our overcrowded and dreadful infrastructure is rarely a pleasant experience.
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I was going to go by train but the SWR site warned of those engineering works. Parked at Watford Junction which was free for Blue Badge holders. Quite a trek to and from the ground. Got wet both ways.
 
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