City visit

Cities are not really our thing. This might sound strange coming from a couple who have lived most of their lives in or close by large centres of population but after we retired and our lives were no longer constrained by proximity to a work location then our viewpoint shifted somewhat. This is not something we are aware of on an everyday basis but having just returned from a trip to the city of Bristol to visit our son and his wife we find the trip has allowed us to stop and reflect upon the journey and upon the world beyond the sparsely populated West of Scotland where we live.

We made the decision to travel by train on the basis that this would be more relaxing for us than driving as well as being, thanks to our Senior Rail Cards, somewhat less expensive. Of course, catching the bus in order to get to the train station in Glasgow meant an early start, something we are not terribly good at, particularly when the cold and dark has yet to be lifted away at seven in the morning, but we did manage it and thus were able to arrive there comfortably before our midday train departure time. Coffee and a croissant in a station cafe brought us into contact with a man called George with whom we shared much in common, including a love of remote living, a musical background and a love of sailing. Chatting and exchanging personal information like this with strangers is to be expected in the village we now inhabit, a place where a nod or a greeting is made to everyone who passes by, but it can be quite rare in a city environment.

Once boarded on our train we sat and waited for its departure as an announcement informed us that the driver had been taken ill and a replacement had to be found. Trains, of course, cannot simply go faster to make up time, overtaking like cars do on roads, so the delay meant we were stuck behind a slow moving goods train for the next few hours, something that must be quite common as the train manager gave us details on how to claim compensation for the delay. We missed our connecting train in Wolverhampton but the Birmingham area does have a regular service to the West Country so this made little difference in the end. One has to wonder how train operators can make money when even a short delay enables passengers to claim back so much of the fare.

It was dark by the time we rolled into Bristol Temple Meads station and much colder than we had been led to expect from the forecast we had seen earlier that day. Our first night was in a pre-booked room in the local YHA (youth hostel) where we were able to feed ourselves and warm up. The noise from buses and lorries rumbling past our window did seem to ease off in the night but the real fascination for us was the number of cyclists and electric scooter riders crowding the streets and intermingling with pedestrians at crossings or on shared pathways. Bristol is one of very few British cities to have embraced the cycling culture and put in place infrastructure to enable and encourage it. It was the closest we had seen to a Dutch city outside of Holland, the main difference being that in Bristol the cycle lanes do tend to disappear once you are out of the city centre. Nonetheless it was a culture shock for us to spend time walking through the streets of such a busy city yet feel that our role as pedestrians was acknowledged and catered for, allowing us time to cross roads safely when we needed to along with all the cyclists.

Bristol has another claim to fame too. It is a world filled with graffiti, sometimes massive artworks covering the sides of houses visible from the road or rail network. These spray painted offerings come in all shapes and sizes and it seems that this acceptance of the imaginative and artful has led to other everyday strangeness, artworks that I simply cannot imagine being acceptable anywhere else. It is, however, a busy city, full of students and working people who all seemed to be focussed upon going about their business with no time for social pausing or reflection. We felt like outsiders in this environment, one where simply navigating to the correct bus stop for the short ride to our son's house seemed like a major exercise. Sadly our Scottish bus passes were of no use to us in Bristol (doh!) but a quick tap of a bank card on the machine beside the driver had us on our way and thankfully we soon found ourselves greeting a rather timid Toby the cat and drinking tea in our son's living room.

This was only to be a short visit but we were delighted to be taken on a visit to Tintern Abbey just across the border in Wales, a place with an amazing history that documents so many of the changes in British life over the centuries. Henry VIII was so upset by the wealth of monastic life reflected at the abbey that he forced it to close, ripping out and selling off all the massive decorative windows and also the lead flashings on the roof, this causing the structure of the massive building to deteriorate rapidly. Local people made good use of some of the stone before vegetation took over and the ivy covered ruin became a tourist attraction in its own right, tourists arriving by boat along the nearby River Wye from where all that remained of the abbey could be seen in all its glory. In recent times the vegetation has been cut back and the present day ruins are being preserved as best they can with an eye to maintaining the draw of the place for visitors. The height of what remains of the structure is still impressive although the tall unsupported walls do appear somewhat unstable.

What the city of Bristol did provide for us was the opportunity to shop in a place where there is something we do not always have at home.... choice. My main aim was to buy a new pair of shoes, ones that I could try on to ensure they fit my feet comfortably, but when we first started walking through the city the streets were lined with places to eat rather than places selling shoes. It was also almost empty of people, no doubt a symptom of the work-related timetable which must operate in most cities, so asking for the location of the nearest shoe shop would have been difficult. Finally though, we hit lucky and turned into a wide pedestrian avenue with an endless supply of shoe shops just waiting for us. All through this city walkabout we were being passed by cyclists and electric scooter riders who weaved in and out all around us, coming from all directions but not once causing us any fear or concern. So often one hears about conflict between cyclists and pedestrians (to say nothing about conflict between cyclists and car drivers) whereas in reality with sensible tolerance on both sides they can exist together. All it takes is for one to have some awareness of the likelihood of a cyclist passing by and similarly an awareness by the rider of how pedestrians might suddenly change direction. Neither has a right of way - it is all about shared space.

I have commented before about how modern technologies have changed our world. We notice the minor changes to things we see around us and, rather than just taking them for granted, we might speculate on how the differences could impact our own way of living. This time, having spent many hours travelling on public transport systems, it was the way that both buses and the trains now cater for mobile phone charging that struck us. Each bus seat had a charging port on the back for the passenger behind to use and the trains had the same, together with a power socket for the laptop. Both buses and trains gave continuous position updates on a large monitor coupled with tannoy announcements of the next stop. Then whilst the buses clearly still accept cash payments we saw nobody using this, everyone being happy with a quick tap on a card reader. This saves time and also avoids the need for conversation with the driver. If we ignored these technological changes then we would have to carry cash with us together with bundles of street guides or maps to avoid getting off at the wrong stop. But we don't and just like everyone else we have our cards and phones handy for when they are needed.

So what can we take away from our short city visit? Oh, I should point out that the train home was delayed as well but fortunately we didn't miss our last bus home at the end of the day. So perhaps this illustrates the limitations of the modern technology we experienced. No amount of fancy electronics overcomes the practical stuff - driver illness or leaves on the line. In hindsight I think we would admit to feeling uncomfortable, somewhat out of place, perhaps a little scared by the unfamiliarity of the city world we had experienced. There were good things - the bike lanes and the scooters - and I am sure we could adapt if we had to live in a city again but given the choice we feel the world we now live in is more relaxed and is a better representation of how our human species should live.