Manningtree

[reb0118]

I have heard good things about the Station Buffet at Manningtree. I've just booked the "Night Boat" from Harwich Int. [HPQ] to Hoek van Holland [HVH] which leaves at 23:15. This might be a bit late for a full meal on board so I was thinking of using the buffet at Manningtree.

Can anyone confirm the opening times (travelling on Sunday 14th October), & whether there will be food served late evening. (Traditional pub grub is fine - Fish & Chips or Steak Pie, &c.)

Any reviews would be most welcome. I've tried checking on t'internet but seem to just find directory sites. I've heard there is not a lot to do at Parkeston Quay of an evening - and even less on a Sunday prior to boarding the ship. Would it be worthwhile travelling on to Harwich Town if there was time to kill?

TIA

 

[hluraven]

Not actually answering your question, but you can get on board the boat quite a bit earlier than departure, and you get a top restaurant quality meal on board for a good price if booked with your travel ticket. Highly recommended unless you really can't cope eating that late.

 

[Lad Brookes]

I haven't been for many years, but a few people I know who have tell me it has gone massively downhill.

 

[Greenback]

Not actually answering your question, but you can get on board the boat quite a bit earlier than departure, and you get a top restaurant quality meal on board for a good price if booked with your travel ticket. Highly recommended unless you really can't cope eating that late.

I believe boarding starts at 2100. I will be doing the trip the other way in November, and I;m looking forward to sampling the cuisine on board.

 

[Sleepy]

:cry: AFAIK The bar does not open Sunday evenings, Harwich Town is very limited even on a Weekday (only a cafe on the jetty to my knowledge) and handful of pubs, no idea if they serve food. Dovercourt is the main town area with shops etc. HTH

 

[ChiefPlanner]

It is OK - but not the eccentric place it was back in the day with cheap gammon and chips , seat cushions recovered from BR rolling stock , a marble bar counter with ancient and proper beer pumps. Used to use it as a managment meeting place Hwch / Colchester /Ipswich - as all could return home by train after a few pints. (this was in the early 1980's pre electrification)

When the old Manningtree box was there , the signalman would ring a bell code to the bar allowing drinking up time before the up or down train arrived.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Would echo the comments on it being only a shadow of it's former self. It was well worth dropping off and missing trains for back in the day. Last two visits have resulted in poor food and ale - to the extent that heading back late-ish recently it was preferable to get a snack and bottle of beer from Dovercourt Co-op to consume on the train back to Liverpool Street than to break the journey there.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Harwich Town on a sunday night will offer you next to nothing of what you seek, I'm afraid. And the area around Dovercourt station is not very much better food-wise.

 

[billio]

I have not used this service for 3 years, but before that I used to travel to Holland this way, on a Sunday evening. every fortnight. It was absolute hell when the line was being upgraded a few years ago.

However, if you are travelling from London I think the best bet is to eat and drink in London before you travel or put up with eating very late on the ferry.

 

[reb0118]

Not actually answering your question, but you can get on board the boat quite a bit earlier than departure, and you get a top restaurant quality meal on board for a good price if booked with your travel ticket. Highly recommended unless you really can't cope eating that late.

Looks likely the option for me now. It's not that eating late is a problem but losing the hour in bed heading to the continent when I have a long day ahead. I thought that leaving at 23:15 would mean I would not finish dinner onboard until 00:30 at the earliest - that turns to 01:30 in the blink of an eye, bed for 02:00 (unless a few nightcaps intervene) then up at 06:45.

Boarding at 21:00 would give me an extra two hours - bonus!

I believe boarding starts at 2100. I will be doing the trip the other way in November, and I;m looking forward to sampling the cuisine on board.

You get the benefit of the extra hour & the ferry leaves slightly earlier from the Netherlands - jammy!

I'm still looking forward to the trip:-

Edinburgh - Euston (Sleeper); Paddington - Cardiff (International); Cardiff - London - Cambridge (Friends); Cambridge - Harwich (Ferry) - Brussels (International); Brussels - Maastrict - Koeln (Why not?); Koeln - Brussels - London (Eurostar) - Edinburgh (Bed)

 

[a good off]

For those of you that want a Manningtree nostalgia trip take a look at this:

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/613

Their entire catalogue has some gems.

 

[eastdyke]

For those of you that want a Manningtree nostalgia trip take a look at this:

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/613

Their entire catalogue has some gems.

Thank you for that!

Yes, I remember it well. The 'plastics factory' served by the gronk was BX Plastics* (now a few derelict buildings and heaps of rubble) and where Margaret Thatcher worked for a short time as a Research Chemist in the late 1940's. I worked 'next door' in the lab at Bexford Ltd. in the late 1960's until just after the full takeover by ICI.

*The factory was over the river in Suffolk, technically in Cattawade, sometimes referred to as Brantham (but that was up the hill). Before being known as BX Platics Ltd it was Bakelite Xylonite Co. Ltd and later taken over by Wardle Storeys. But by that time was well in decline.

Industrial nostalgia!!

 

[dave55uk]

Wonderful film - thanks very much for the link.

 

[D1009]

Wonderful film - thanks very much for the link.

Agree totally, so rare to see such aspects of everyday railway operation 33 years ago recorded on film.

 

[GarethW]

For those of you that want a Manningtree nostalgia trip take a look at this:

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/613

Their entire catalogue has some gems.

Agree with that - a lot of fascinating stuff - I've particularly enjoyed some of their seaside resort films. Very good resource.

 

[reb0118]

... [Y]ou [can] get a top restaurant quality meal on board for a good price if booked with your travel ticket.........

I booked via the call centre at Holyhead. I was not offered the option to purchase meals and to be honest I did not ask either. To be fair, even if offered, I may have turned this offer down at the time due to thinking I would eat at the station buffet.

I'm sure, however, that I will be able to book them separately or failing that just order on the night. Does the restaurant fill up of an evening?

For those of you that want a Manningtree nostalgia trip take a look at this:

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/613

Their entire catalogue has some gems.

Thanks for posting this! Makes me sad that I will now not be changing at Manningtree. The direct "Boat Train" from Cambridge bypasses the station. Still if the journey is good then I will probably return this way.

If anyone else has reminisces of this route then feel free to post.

Cheers,

reb0118

 

[eastdyke]

If anyone else has reminisces of this route then feel free to post.

If you havn't already found it, this one from the catalogue may be of interest:

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/794

Features the Harwich-Zeebrugge train ferry service (after an Alfred Hitchcock clip).

 

[hluraven]

I booked via the call centre at Holyhead. I was not offered the option to purchase meals and to be honest I did not ask either. To be fair, even if offered, I may have turned this offer down at the time due to thinking I would eat at the station buffet.

I'm sure, however, that I will be able to book them separately or failing that just order on the night. Does the restaurant fill up of an evening?

You get a reserved table if you book in advance, and a couple of pounds off, but it wasn't completely full when I used it and really was excellent quality. There is also another larger "cheap and cheerful" restaurant if the worst comes to the worst.