47. Freedom!

Caroline and I had an appointment at an establishment in Kennington in South London the other day.  We were informed that there were parking spaces available and so I suggested to Caroline that I drive and meet her there. “Then we can drive back together,” I said.

“No, don’t,” she said.  “It’s south of the river.  It could take two hours and you’ll have to pay the Congestion Charge to go through the centre of London.   We’d also be coming back in the rush hour.  Why not meet me in Camden and we’ll go together on the tube?  You can use your Freedom Pass.”

This, upon reflection, made sense.   Caroline would already have bought a Daily Travel Pass as she would have been working in Camden all day.  

Camden is on the Northern Line – the same line as Kennington and I had my Freedom Pass that gives me free travel anywhere within Greater London.  Travelling by tube would save us money as well as being simpler.

As I’ve told you before (Brief Encounter), Winchmore Hill is not on the tube network.  The nearest Northern Line station is at East Finchley, four miles away but it is on the way into London.  

I drove to East Finchley, parked in the station car park and then caught the tube to Camden where I met Caroline.  By seven o’clock we were back at East Finchley, having finished our business in Kennington and were walking across the car park.  We hadn’t spent anything.

“Let’s eat at The Clissold,” Caroline suggested.

The Clissold is a pub where Caroline and I, with others, would often go for a drink after work.  In the five years we were in Cayman, it was completely refurbished and is now more of a restaurant than a pub.  The car park is much too small for the number of patrons that it has but otherwise, it is very good indeed.   It was on the way home too.

The next morning Caroline noticed a scratch running the length of the car.  It had obviously been done in the car park at the pub.  I took it to a BMW dealer yesterday and today they have sent me an estimate to repair the damage.

I can now produce a balance sheet for the day:

Money Spent
Travel Card for Caroline	£6.40
Congestion charge	$8.00
Total:	£14.40
Real Cost
Diesel to reach East Finchley and back	£1.00
Parking charge at the station	£3.00
Dinner at the Clissold	£60.00
Bodywork repair	£2165.77
Total:	£2229.77
Total Cost of using the FREE travel card:	£2215.37

 That Freedom Pass is a wonderful thing!