37. Getting to London. 1970

Night Ferry

 Once the money arrived that my father sent me, I caught the ferry from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Newcastle, England.

Customs House in Newcastle

It was a nice ride and uneventful until I attempted to go through customs in Newcastle!  They would not allow me to enter the country!  It seemed  I did not have enough money to satisfy the customs agent.  It did not matter that my ferry ticket included train passage on to London and I was also carrying a plane voucher for a flight scheduled to leave from London to New York in two days.  I also had enough money for a couple of meals.  He was not impressed!  He said I might not catch my flight and, without a work permit, I would be a drain on society!  He had me scared, and after dancing around and talking to him for about 5 minutes trying to convince him I was going to catch my flight and leave his country and at that same time I was currently employed as a writer writing about my travels.  I showed him my journal of mediocre hand written poems to try and convince him of this fantasy.  I don't know how or why, but it worked and I was soon out of customs.

I hopped on the first train I saw that had London displayed on the side of the rail cars.  Naturally, after a few stops the conductor looks at my ticket and informs me that I am headed in the wrong direction.  The train originated in London and was headed north into Scotland.  He escorted me off at the next stop.  This stop was a little hamlet and the morning rush of commuters had already passed through.  The station master was sitting at a small table on the loading dock with a cup of tea (presumption) with milk smoking a cigarette.  After an hour or so he put me on the correct commuter and told me which stop to get off.


After arriving in London I went directly to the ticket agents office to exchange my plane voucher to a ticket for my next day's charter flight back home.  The woman was kind enough to show me the clause in the fine print that says  I needed to give them 20 to 30 days notice of my intention to take the return flight.  I did not do this.  Someone else was scheduled in my place and already had the ticket.  The agent said that she would try to put me on the next available charter flight scheduled for the following week, and to check with her in five days.  There was no such thing as passengers rights in those days.  I now had to survive a week in London with very limited funds.  It was going to be fun.

Left without me!