A day on the trams

I had an unexpected free day today and so decided to use it for a bit of time on my own away from both work and home.  As I had a return rail ticket to Croydon I decided to go up there and have a look around some of my old haunts.  I caught the 8.27 a.m. train from Grateley and after changing at Clapham Junction arrived at East Croydon Station at around 10 a.m. - a really good journey with a quick connection.  I bought a Day Travelcard and caught the tram from East Croydon to Beckenham Junction.   This was followed by a tram from Beckenham Junction to Arena, from Arena to Elmer's End; Elmer's End to Sandilands; Sandilands to New Addington; New Addington to Church Street; Church Street to Wadden Park; Wadden Park to West Croydon; West Croydon to East Croydon and finally East Croydon to Wimbledon where I then caught a train to Woking which connected with the Grateley train from London Waterloo. A total of ten tram journeys covering the whole of the Tramlink system.  I had seen the trams in Croydon on many occasions but other than a very quick journey between East Croydon and West Croydon, had never experienced the smooth and fast running of the trams out in the suburbs.  I was very impressed with a quite a lot of street running in Croydon town centre itself.  I was horrified to see the damage which had been done at Reeves' Corner where the riots of a few months ago had destroyed so much.  The junction seems so different now.   Tonight we had House Group in which we discussed the style and effectiveness of the group itself and I used it to help me with some of my theological reflection work.  James stayed behind afterwards to discuss the Growing the Church initiative which I have agreed to help him with - the impetus having come from me in the first place.