Tag: Trams

Lyon 6.5.26

7 May 2026 / admin

Empty l;ocker space 6-5-26

Having spent a fortune on her Amex card we became entitled to a companion voucher on BA and whilst they have made these less attractive and usable over the years they do enable an almost free flight to European destinations so when it arrived last year we determined that we would visit Lyon. Hotel booked, Restaurants booked and hopefully a few pleasant days would ensue, which looked even better when a previously unavailable dining location re-opened bookings to co-incide with our time in the City. All good news.

Off to Heathrow and as usual into a pod from the pod parking to the terminal. Convenient even if a little expensive and of course our second trip using this route in a short time.

We have both packed with two cabin bags – Jackie with her new cabin bag as acquired in Den Haag and me with a black case I had for short trips at work. We also have a second bag all in accordance with BA guidance. At the gate we are minding our own business when a BA employee asks to see our boarding passes and then tells us that our bags are going in the hold. He had walked around the waiting passengers and we were the only ones he approached. Apparently the plane was full and the luggage had to go in the hold. When we pointed out that this was not right we were told we would be offloaded and could not fly. There was none of the usual – can you help us please or any politeness – it was his way or the highway. The lack of customer awareness was unbelievable.

So at Lyon I checked the overhead locker – it was completely empty. In other overhead lockers we could see cases with luggage labels indicating they were destined for the hold. Put simply there was no need for it. One bag each would have gone in the overhead and the other one under the seat in front. It was handled so badly that it put us off completely – this is not the BA that once claimed to be the world’s favourite airline.

The next nightmare is border control. They have three open booths (of 6), no-one is managing the queue and it takes two hours, no seats, no water and no-one keen on actually welcoming us to the country. No instructions on how to use the electronic gates or even information on if they could be used (as we registered on the new system entering the Netherlands). When we do reach the border person she and her adjacent colleague are discussing the next night out and Jackie is pretty sure she does not even look at her to compare the photo taken. Absolutely awful.

Rhone Express 6-5-26

The airport is adjacent to the TGV station to which we walk. On the far side of the station is a platform for the “tram” known as the Rhone Express into Lyon which terminates adjacent to the main station and also our hotel as Jackie wanted a short walk from tram stop to the hotel – which is just as well as it actually raining at this point.

Now I can offer some advice. Nothing wrong with the hotel. However the area on this side of the station is less than attractive. We wander around some adjacent streets in the hope of a little bar or similar but nothing appeals and at one point there are some less than welcome drunks lying in the street. Not appealing at all. To save going out again we cancel the restaurant booking this evening and decide to eat in the hotel. The wine is good even if the food is slightly lacking.

In summary not a good start to this particular trip.

Coronation Street 22.6.24

23 June 2024 / admin

Weatherfield Precinct

This is our third visit to Coronation Street and our second to Media City having previously visited the earlier set at the Quays. It is our first visit since the most recent set extension covering the famous Weatherfield Precinct and playground which was added to the set about two years ago.

Our tour today starts with the outside of the Tony Warren building – which contains many of the internal sets and externally has the signage associated with Weatherfield Hospital. We then join the main outside set via the Freshco car park – which merely consists of a trolley park these days! Originally filming in Freshco used a local Morrisons supermarket on Sundays.

We then move around to the Weatherfield Precinct and associated shops plus the flats above. One amusing feature is that all of the flats have external doors (with letter boxes) which are visible above the shops along the walkway – but visitors to the flats always enter from the rear of the flat – which appears to be completely impossible as the main door is at the front. Ours is not to reason why!

The playground equipment is made from recycled plastic but does look entirely new and unused – which is not surprising given the very rare appearances of many of the younger children in the programme – Glory, Aled, Bryn, Carys, Lilo, Harry, Bertie and Alfie! As ever access is limited and it is not possible to pass directly in front of the individual shops.

Our tour then moves onto the Police station and then into Victoria Street area which was relatively new on our last visit. The vegetation in Victoria Gardens is particularly verdant (our last visit was in late Autumn) preventing decent photographs of the memorial bench to Martyn Hett and those who lost lives in the Manchester bombing.

Seb Memorial Garden

A Sainsburys / Argos store is coming next door to Hays Travel with past incumbents in this area now being a distant memory. Seb’s memorial garden is a new addition but currently the entrance to the former gym and the builder’s yard are unused with the latter apparently now boarded up. Trim Up North appears closed.

Although Nuttall’s brewery is closed there are still abandoned barrels and no sign of any change whilst there were a couple of StreetCars outside the office. There are few changes obvious along Coronation Street itself since our last visit. Indeed it may even be the same menu outside the Bistro! A few cheeky shots were taken of the Platt garden and around the back of the factory.

The other major addition since our last visit is the internal exhibition which has various costumes on display plus display boards telling the stories of the families and characters past and present. In addition there are internal sets – mainly a mock up of the Rovers and Roys Rolls. Not mentioned in the literature is the Duckworth’s living room with bar – but I have a feeling this may not be as permanent.

Prior to visiting the above addition we also met Alan Halsall who briefly meets the visitors for a photo. He was particularly good with an individual on the tour to whom the Street is obviously a passion. And he is not very tall as he admitted!

Bistro Menu

Our travel to and from Media City was by tram – use the Imperial War Museum stop and it is a short walk past that Museum to the entrance. The return trips on the trams cost a total of £3.10 each – a bargain.