Outing report - and learning observations, 4.4.2026

Melksham - Reading - Basingstoke - Alton - Winchester - Southampton and back

I know it was supposed to be a recuperative day, but my phone has added up all the in betweens and suggests I walked 11.7 kms.  I found that astonishing and an overestimate until I thought about it and realised that there were four places that I had switched from one mode of public transport to another with a significant walk between them, in three cases because they were disjoint and in one case because I got off the bus in the Town Centre not realising that it carried on past the station.

Other highlights of the day / learning experiences? 

It was the first time I had travelled by train from Alton to Alresford in over 50 years - I can recall changing from an electric train to a Thumper and going through Alresford and Itchen Abbas to Winchester.  Memory fades - I'm not sure where that journey ended, but I do know that I never got as far as Southampton Terminus; was that service diverted in its final days into Central?

And although it's very much in our region, I can't recall ever leaving the station at Winchester before (nor joining a train there).  Of course, that record still holds as I walked from just outside the bus station where our incoming service terminated through the city and to the Station Approach road where staff were directing passengers into Rail Replacement buses.

I suppose the various mapping tools I used combined with facilities on the ground WERE adequate for my purpose - a.k.a. I did not get lost - but I do suspect that some may have struggled.  In Basingstoke, there are indicators to the railway station bus stops, but no clue that I noticed on which way to walk to the bus station, with a much wider range of destinations served.  Clues started to crop up - a symbol that I think was supposed to represent a bus - on the waymarking in the modern shopping centre there.

My longest wait of the day was for the 19:44 to Melksham. And that train was perhaps the busiest of the day, measured by proportion of seats occupied. Also - I will admit - the shortest train of the day.  I knew I had two hours to occupy as I arrived into Reading, and I split my time between Popeye's there and the Queen’s Tap at Swindon.  Occupying time, personally, isn't boring for me these days - a chance to look around and observe, to be refreshed, and with WiFi, phone signal and an unlimited contract, time passes quickly. I will admit to being fortunate in have such a setup and mindset - were I rushing home for something the lack of a "last leg" train within a reasonable time would frustrate, and I know that the sparsity of that service discourages many from using it.  The bus service from Chippenham conveniently (!!) ends at around 17:30 - after the peak of local passengers, after the bus drivers have run out of hours, but highly inconvenient (to the extent that people drive, take taxis or don't travel) - hardly an encouraging situation.

I probably spent about the same on catering and refreshments during the day than I did on my public transport tickets, and even for the cost the catering was less than ideal. Arriving into Swindon - I was feeling nourishment withdrawal. However, I winced at the WHSmith pricing of a "meal deal" which feels like it's doubled in recent years, and the station buffet has stepped up several times over the years to a Starbucks.  I enjoy a nice coffee, but rushing to grab one in a disposable cup, at at extra cost, is needlessly (and for me resentfully) upmarket.  I would have had time to grab a coffee and cake, put the cake in my backpack to get squashed as I joined the train, and as I balanced my coffee. I choose to forego the experience.

On the train, found a quiet seat at the very rear (with a 9 or 10 carriage train, there are noticeably more seats available at the outer (country) end. "I have just passed thought the train" announced the trolley attendant.  "If you want to find me, come along to coach G - and for refreshments I only take card payments". So there I am in coach A, my laptop out and the decision taken to give refreshments a miss.  If I had known where to find the catering as I joined the train, for example had there been a fixed buffet car, I would instead have joined at that point, grabbed a coffee and found a seat in the next carriage.

At Reading, the Basingstoke connection "just misses".  Not a problem - with a service that's running twice an hour, no great shakes to wait for the next one. There's a window in the back of the Three Tuns building serving coffees, advertising coffee and pastry, but with a number of people milling around queueing and a sign on the counter that says "back in 5 minutes" I weighted things up and gave this one a miss too.

So where did I get that coffee and breakfast I was hankering?   Greggs in Basingstoke Bus Station, where (again) there was a disconnect / wait.  But a fresh filled roll, a packet of crisps and a decent coffee for less than I would have paid for a less appropriate or tempting product at any of the previous places.  A table close by to sit with my laptop, people coming and going while I waited for the hourly bus to Bordon via Alton.  Refreshed at last!

"Canadian Pacific" is a lovely locomotive, and an enjoyable steam train ride from Alton to Alresford.  A single ticket cost me almost as much as a daily rover for the line bought in advance would have done, and I could have made a considerable saving by using the parallel service bus.  I would, however, have missed "sing along with the Easter Bunny" as we trundle along to Medstead and Four Marks (and I wondered who the four Marks were), Ropley and Alresford.   The trip on the train on this line for me was one of reminisce and reminders of places I was at - once in my youth - and have seen in pictures since.  The mind is a funny thing - I could have been there last week and not in the century and yet so much else slips from the mind.  I was probable alone in that reminisce - very much a party train and whilst there were other there who were also of the grandparent generation, for the most part they were there with the youngsters.   I'm so glad it was 35005 on the front, not the imposter Ivatt tank on the other train, nor the recently retired sprinter diesel, but I do appreciate the cost of keeping a big steam loco running, and the lack of meaningful appreciation of its value by all but a handful who were there.

At Alresford, Canadian Pacific ran round, lots of photos taken, and a video of her departing back towards Alton.   Taking advantage of the lull in people around, I ventured into the old buffet, Coffee and packeted Eccles Cake, "take a seat and I'll bring it over".  Now I HAVE had better coffees, but the welcome and service were spot on, and something of a reminder or lesson for our "Information at the Station" - indeed the whole day gave me wider "should" and "should not" reminders.

And so onwards ... Winchester, Southampton, Reading ... from lunch time through the afternoon. The rail replacement bus from Winchester STATION to Southampton Central STATION via Southampton Airport STATION.  Railway Stations aren't exactly planned for bus services and in Winchester especially we seemed to be going around the edge of the city along one way roads for an eternity.  A significant wriggle in and out of the car park - turned - bus station and eventually on to Southampton Central.  A 50 minute bus ride, versus the 17 minutes scheduled for a train with the same stops. 

I did wonder about grabbing a coffee in Southampton, but I didn't have all that long and WHSmiths "express" was in the dark and with a "Back in 5 minutes" sign on the door. But it was just a wonder, and I expected other opportunities.   An 8 carriage Cross Country train to Reading - diverted because of Engineering works via the Laverstock (Salisbury) curve which completed for me my final passenger railway route / line in Wiltshire.  Again, a trolley announcement encouraging us to walk halfway up the train to find the trolley which has the whole "impractical" label for the solo traveller who's settled in. 80 minutes to Reading versus 50 minutes had the normal line been open, but far more comfortable and settled and not the intermediate changes off and onto a bus. 

Of course, 30 minutes longer to Reading meant no connecting set of services on to Melksham.  Back to "frequency matters" - if we had a "metro" style service into Melksham, the 30 minute delay would have pushed back my 18:30 arrival home to 19:00.  With a gap of 130 minutes, half past six turned into twenty to nine.  Fine for me, and I am used to it - but again a reminder of an opportunity to be addressed to make improvements and where, I suggest, that a doubling of the train frequency would more than double the passenger numbers, and where an alternative evening bus service from Chippenham, with interoperable information and ticketing, would be to the traffic benefit of both road and rail public transport.

I was - prepared - and made good use of my two hours. An evening meal in Popeye's in the centre of Reading - enjoyed the food but the systems are totally inconsiderate of the lone eater (and they call it a "big box" which contains a lot of air and a little meal), and a pint in the Queen's Tap across from the station in Swindon which - once I got to the bar - was a far more practical set up.

Lessons - many; some stuff (and we tend to gloss over it) works well.  Some things are frustrating and of concern to newcomers.   So much more potential for public transport to make adjustments - often apparently small ones - to encourage people to make better use of it, for the benefits of it working better, and for saving many private car trips.

On Monday, I walked across Melksham and visited a friend.  She was telling me of a nightmare drive into Bristol last week. Her mother drove, but is getting to an age where she'll need to give that us, and is concerned about then being isolated.  My friend isn't a public transport user; like so many, she would just not know where to start. In hindsight "we would have been better taking the train to Temple Meads and walking".  Yep - that makes sense, even with current issues.  Sorting out matters raised, and looking forward here in the future for Melksham we should have a society in which a much higher proportion of our mobility is on shared public transport.

W - Melksham Station
T - Swindon
T - Reading
T - Basingstoke Railway Station
W - Basingstoke Bus Station
B - Alton High Street
W - Alton Railway Station
HT - Alresford Railway Station
W - Alresford High Street
B - Winchester Bus Station
W - Winchester Railway Station
RRB - Southampton Central
T - Reading Station
W - Reading Centre
W - Reading Station
T - Swindon
T - Melksham
W - Home